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SF505 • 2026

A bill for an act codifying a firsthome program administered by the Iowa finance authority.

A bill for an act codifying a firsthome program administered by the Iowa finance authority.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
BLAKE, BENNETT, WEINER, DOTZLER, DONAHUE, WINCKLER, ZIMMER, TOWNSEND, STAED, PETERSEN, QUIRMBACH, BISIGNANO, TRONE GARRIOTT and KNOX
Last action
2025-03-11
Official status
Subcommittee: Rozenboom, Schultz, and Staed. S.J. 491 .
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act codifying a firsthome program administered by the Iowa finance authority.

A bill for an act codifying a firsthome program administered by the Iowa finance authority.

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act codifying a firsthome program administered by the Iowa finance authority.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-03-11 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Rozenboom, Schultz, and Staed. S.J. 491 .

  2. 2025-03-04 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, referred to State Government. S.J. 402 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act codifying a firsthome program administered by the Iowa finance authority.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Senate

File

505

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

505

BY

BLAKE

,

BENNETT

,

WEINER

,

DOTZLER

,

DONAHUE

,

WINCKLER

,

ZIMMER

,

TOWNSEND

,

STAED

,

PETERSEN

,

QUIRMBACH

,

BISIGNANO

,

TRONE

GARRIOTT

,

and

KNOX

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

codifying

a

firsthome

program

administered

by

the

Iowa

1

finance

authority.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

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505

Section

1.

NEW

SECTION

.

16.54A

Firsthome

program.

1

1.

For

the

purposes

of

this

section:

2

a.

“First-time

homebuyer”

means

any

of

the

following:

3

(1)

An

individual

who

has

not

owned

a

primary

residence

in

4

the

last

three

consecutive

years

immediately

prior

to

the

date

5

of

the

individual’s

application

for

the

firsthome

program.

6

(2)

A

member

of

the

military

who

has

not

previously

used

a

7

mortgage

revenue

bond

program

to

finance

a

home

purchase.

8

(3)

An

individual

who

is

purchasing

a

home

in

a

targeted

9

area

as

determined

by

the

authority.

10

b.

“Member

of

the

military”

means

any

of

the

following:

11

(1)

An

individual

who

has

served

ninety

days

active

duty

12

between

August

2,

1990,

and

April

6,

1991,

or

September

11,

13

2001,

to

the

date

of

application

for

the

firsthome

program.

14

The

ninety

days

of

active

duty

may

be

cumulative,

but

are

not

15

required

to

be

consecutive.

Inactive

duty

training,

annual

16

training,

and

active

duty

for

training

shall

not

count

toward

17

the

ninety

days.

18

(2)

An

individual

who

is

a

former

member

of

the

national

19

guard,

or

a

reserve

or

regular

component

of

the

armed

forces

of

20

the

United

States,

who

was

honorably

discharged

due

to

injuries

21

incurred

while

on

federal

active

duty

beginning

on

or

after

22

September

11,

2001,

or

during

the

period

of

the

Persian

Gulf

23

Conflict,

beginning

August

2,

1990,

and

ending

April

6,

1991,

24

that

precluded

completion

of

a

minimum

aggregate

of

ninety

days

25

of

federal

active

duty.

26

(3)

The

surviving

spouse

of

an

individual

under

27

subparagraph

(1)

or

(2).

28

c.

“Program”

means

the

firsthome

program

established

in

this

29

section.

30

d.

“Second

loan”

means

a

loan

that

is

up

to

a

certain

31

percentage

of

the

sale

price

of

a

home,

or

a

certain

fixed

32

dollar

amount,

that

must

be

repaid

when

the

home

is

sold,

33

refinanced,

or

the

first

mortgage

on

the

home

is

satisfied.

34

2.

The

firsthome

program

is

established

to

continue

the

35

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505

firsthome

program

administered

by

the

authority

to

provide

1

assistance

to

eligible

first-time

homebuyers.

The

firsthome

2

program

shall

be

administered

by

the

authority

and

shall

3

provide

down

payment

and

closing

cost

assistance

grants,

second

4

loans,

free

Iowa

title

guaranty

owner’s

certificates,

or

other

5

assistance

to

eligible

first-time

homebuyers.

6

3.

To

qualify

for

assistance

under

the

firsthome

program,

an

7

individual

must

meet

the

following

requirements:

8

a.

The

individual

must

be

a

first-time

homebuyer.

9

b.

The

individual’s

household

income

must

meet

the

10

eligibility

requirements

established

by

the

authority

by

rule.

11

c.

The

purchase

price

of

the

home

that

the

individual

wants

12

to

purchase

must

be

within

the

price

limits

established

by

the

13

authority

by

rule.

14

d.

The

individual

must

occupy

the

purchased

home

as

a

15

primary

residence

within

sixty

days

of

closing.

16

e.

The

individual

must

have

a

minimum

credit

score

of

six

17

hundred

forty.

If

an

individual

does

not

have

a

credit

score,

18

nontraditional

credit

documentation

may

be

submitted

to

the

19

authority

as

established

by

the

authority

by

rule.

20

f.

The

individual’s

debt-to-income

ratio

must

be

no

greater

21

than

forty-five

percent.

22

g.

The

individual,

if

applying

for

a

conventional

loan,

must

23

complete

homebuyer

education

as

established

by

the

authority

24

by

rule.

25

h.

The

individual

must

contact

an

Iowa

finance

authority

26

participating

lender.

27

4.

An

individual

must

submit

an

application

for

the

program

28

in

the

form

and

manner

as

established

by

the

authority

by

rule.

29

5.

An

individual

who

receives

assistance

under

the

30

firsthome

program

may

also

participate

in

other

loan

and

grant

31

programs

administered

by

the

authority

if

the

individual

32

qualifies

for

the

other

loan

or

grant

program.

33

6.

Assistance

provided

in

the

form

of

a

grant

to

an

34

individual

under

the

firsthome

program

shall

not

exceed

ten

35

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505

thousand

dollars.

1

7.

The

authority

shall

adopt

rules

pursuant

to

chapter

17A

2

as

necessary

to

implement

and

administer

this

section.

3

EXPLANATION

4

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

5

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

6

This

bill

codifies

the

firsthome

program

administered

by

7

the

Iowa

finance

authority

and

requires

that

the

program

8

be

administered

by

the

authority

to

provide

down

payment

9

and

closing

cost

assistance

grants,

second

loans,

free

Iowa

10

title

guaranty

owner’s

certificates,

or

other

assistance

to

11

eligible

first-time

homebuyers.

“First-time

homebuyer”

and

12

“second

loan”

are

defined

in

the

bill.

The

requirements

for

an

13

individual

to

qualify

for

the

program

are

detailed

in

the

bill.

14

The

maximum

assistance

that

may

be

provided

in

the

form

of

a

15

grant

to

an

individual

under

the

firsthome

program

is

$10,000.

16

The

Iowa

finance

authority

shall

adopt

rules

as

necessary

to

17

implement

and

administer

the

bill.

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