I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8285 

To direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to award grants 

to provide financial assistance to certain educators to make down payments on certain homes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2024 

Mr. SWALWELL (for himself, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. CARSON, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

SOTO, Ms. STRICKLAND, Ms. TOKUDA, and Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 

to award grants to provide financial assistance to certain 

educators to make down payments on certain homes, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Educator Down Pay5 ment Assistance Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYER DOWN PAYMENT ASSIST2 ANCE PROGRAM. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Housing 

4 and Urban Development shall award grants, on a competi5 tive basis, to eligible entities to provide financial assistance 

6 to eligible educators in accordance with subsection (d). 

7 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking a grant 

8 under this section shall submit to the Secretary an appli9 cation in such form, at such time, and containing such 

10 information as the Secretary determines appropriate, in11 cluding an assurance that such entity will use an existing, 

12 or establish a new, down payment assistance program to 

13 provide financial assistance to eligible educators. 

14 (c) GEOGRAPHIC AREAS.—In the case of a geo15 graphic area that is served by an eligible entity that is 

16 a unit of local government and an eligible entity that is 

17 a local educational agency, the Secretary may only award 

18 a grant to 1 such entity in such geographic area. 

19 (d) USE OF AMOUNTS TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL AS20 SISTANCE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re22 ceives a grant under subsection (a) shall use such 

23 grant funds to provide financial assistance to eligible 

24 educators. 

25 (2) APPLICATION.—An eligible educator seeking 

26 a financial assistance under this subsection shall 


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1 submit to the eligible entity an application in such 

2 form, at such time, and containing such information 

3 as the eligible entity determines appropriate, includ4 ing an assurance that such educator will— 

5 (A) complete the housing counseling re6 quired under paragraph (8); and 

7 (B) use an eligible residential mortgage 

8 loan to purchase an eligible dwelling. 

9 (3) USE OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—An eligi10 ble educator who receives financial assistance under 

11 this subsection shall use such financial assistance to 

12 pay, with respect to the purchase of an eligible 

13 dwelling using an eligible residential mortgage loan, 

14 for— 

15 (A) direct down payment costs associated 

16 with such purchase; 

17 (B) closing costs associated with such pur18 chase; and 

19 (C) costs related to reducing the rates of 

20 interest on such eligible residential mortgage 

21 loan associated with such purchase. 

22 (4) AMOUNT OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

24 under subparagraph (B), the amount of finanVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Jun 04, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8285.IH H8285

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1 cial assistance awarded to an eligible educator 

2 under this subsection may not exceed $25,000. 

3 (B) EXCEPTION.—In the case of an eligi4 ble educator purchasing an eligible dwelling 

5 that is located in a high cost area (as deter6 mined each year by the Federal Housing Fi7 nance Agency under the Housing and Economic 

8 Recovery Act of 2008), the amount of financial 

9 assistance awarded to an eligible educator 

10 under this subsection may exceed $25,000. 

11 (5) LIMITATION.—An eligible educator may 

12 only receive financial assistance under this sub13 section one time. 

14 (6) ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—An eligible entity 

15 may award financial assistance under this subsection 

16 to an eligible educator who is receiving funds from 

17 other sources, including other State, Federal, local, 

18 private, public, and nonprofit sources, for the pur19 pose of purchasing an eligible dwelling. 

20 (7) OCCUPANCY REQUIREMENT.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible educator 

22 who is awarded financial assistance under this 

23 subsection shall use the eligible dwelling pur24 chased using such financial assistance as a pri25 mary residence for a period of not less than 3 


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1 years beginning on the date on which the eligi2 ble educator receives financial assistance under 

3 this subsection. 

4 (B) ENFORCEMENT.— 

5 (i) RETURN OF FUNDS.—An eligible 

6 educator who does not comply with the re7 quirement under subparagraph (A) shall 

8 return to the eligible entity the total 

9 amount of the financial assistance awarded 

10 to such educator under this subsection. 

11 (ii) TIMING.—Such funds shall be re12 turned in accordance with clause (i) not 

13 later than 1 year after such educator 

14 ceases to use such dwelling as a primary 

15 residence in violation of the requirement 

16 under subparagraph (A). 

17 (iii) EXCEPTION.—An eligible educa18 tor who does not comply with the require19 ment under subparagraph (A) due to an 

20 emergency event shall not be required to 

21 return financial assistance under clause (i). 

22 (8) SERVICE REQUIREMENT.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible educator 

24 who is awarded financial assistance under this 

25 subsection shall be required by the Secretary to 


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1 continue in their role as a public elementary or 

2 secondary school teacher, principal, paraprofes3 sional, school leader, or other staff for not less 

4 than 3 years after the date on which the eligible 

5 educator is awarded financial assistance. 

6 (B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) shall 

7 not apply if an eligible educator is a military 

8 spouse as such term is defined in section 

9 45AA(d)(1) of title 26, United States Code. 

10 (e) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

11 shall, each year submit a report to the Congress that in12 cludes include a breakdown of financial assistance pro13 vided under this section, by demographic breakdown, 

14 mean income, and mean purchase price. 

15 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 for fiscal 

17 year 2025 and 5 years thereafter. 

18 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) ELIGIBLE DWELLING.—The term ‘‘eligible 

20 dwelling’’ means a residential property with not 

21 greater than 4 dwelling units, an apartment, a con22 dominium, or a manufactured dwelling unit 

23 (2) ELIGIBLE EDUCATOR.—The term ‘‘eligible 

24 educator’’ means a public elementary or secondary 


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1 school teacher, principal, paraprofessional, school 

2 leader, or other staff who— 

3 (A) is a first-time homebuyer; 

4 (B) has served in their position or another 

5 position in the educational system for not less 

6 than a total of 3 years (without regard to 

7 whether such years were consecutive); 

8 (C) has a qualifying income; and 

9 (D) is in good standing. 

10 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti11 ty’’ means— 

12 (A) a unit of local government; 

13 (B) a State housing finance agency; or 

14 (C) a local educational agency. 

15 (4) ELIGIBLE RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE

16 LOAN.—The term ‘‘eligible residential mortgage 

17 loan’’ means a residential mortgage loan that— 

18 (A) meets the underwriting requirements 

19 and dollar amount limitations for acquisition by 

20 the Federal National Mortgage Association or 

21 the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation; 

22 (B) is made, insured, or guaranteed under 

23 title II of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 

24 1707 et seq.) or title V of the Housing Act of 

25 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.); 


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1 (C) is made, insured, or guaranteed under 

2 title VIII of the Native American Housing As3 sistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 

4 (25 U.S.C. 4221 et seq. 

5 (D) is a qualified mortgage, as such term 

6 is defined in section 129C(b)(2) of the Truth in 

7 Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1639c(b)(2)); 

8 (E) is made, insured, or guaranteed under 

9 title V of the Housing Act of 1949; or 

10 (F) is guaranteed under section 184 of the 

11 Housing and Community Development Act of 

12 1992 (12 U.S.C. 1715z–13a). 

13 (5) EMERGENCY EVENT.—The term ‘‘emer14 gency event’’ includes— 

15 (A) military deployment; 

16 (B) divorce; 

17 (C) death of an eligible educator or spouse; 

18 and 

19 (D) other similar unforeseen events as de20 termined by the Secretary. 

21 (6) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

22 school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘other staff’’, 

23 ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘Secretary’’ have the mean24 ings given such terms in section 8101 of the EleVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Jun 04, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8285.IH H8285

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1 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

2 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 (7) FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYER.—The term ‘‘first4 time homebuyer’’ has the meaning given such term 

5 in section 92.2 of title 24, Code of Federal Regula6 tions (as in effect on the date of the enactment of 

7 this Act), except that any reference in such section 

8 to the American Dream Downpayment Initiative 

9 shall be deemed to be a reference to the grant pro10 gram established under this section. 

11 (8) GOOD STANDING.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘good stand13 ing’’ means that, with respect to an eligible ed14 ucator and for the period described in subpara15 graph (B), such educator has not received dis16 ciplinary action from the local educational agen17 cy that serves the school at which such educator 

18 works as an educator. 

19 (B) PERIOD.—The period described in sub20 paragraph (A)— 

21 (i) begins on the date that is 3 years 

22 before the date described in clause (ii); and 

23 (ii) ends on the date on which such 

24 educator submits an application under sub25 section (c). 


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1 (9) QUALIFYING INCOME.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualifying 

3 income’’ means, except as provided in subpara4 graph (B), an income that does not exceed 120 

5 percent of the area median income in which the 

6 eligible dwelling to be purchased is located. 

7 (B) HIGH-COST AREA.—If the Secretary 

8 makes a determination that an area described 

9 in subparagraph (A) is a high-cost area, the 

10 qualifying income shall be an income that does 

11 not exceed 180 percent of the median income of 

12 such area. 

13 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

14 means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop15 ment. 

Æ 


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