Union Bank has received $1.75 million in program funds from The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of San Francisco to provide matching grants to low- and moderate-income, first-time home buyers.
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Union Bank will provide this year's matching grants to qualified homebuyers in California, and for the first time, Oregon and Washington.
The funds are available for home buyers with loans in escrow between April 1, 2016 and July 31, 2017.
The bank received $1.5 million in Workforce Initiative Subsidy for Homeownership (WISH) Program funds and $250,000 in Individual Development and Empowerment Account (IDEA) Program funds. This is the sixth year that the bank has received WISH and IDEA program funds.
"We are honored that the FHLB of San Francisco has entrusted us again this year with both WISH and IDEA program funds," said Julius Robinson, head of Corporate Social Responsibility for the Americas at Union Bank.
"Like the FHLB, we believe that home ownership is critical to building strong, vibrant communities and we look forward to putting these funds to work to help even more buyers achieve the dream of home ownership."
The WISH and IDEA first-time homebuyer programs offer eligible low- and moderate-income households 3-to-1 matching grants of up to $15,000 for the purchase of a home. The funds can be applied to the home buyer's down payment or closing costs.
WISH grants are targeted to working families and individuals who are ready to make the transition from renting to owning.
The WISH funds can complement or supplement a number of local, state, and federal homeownership programs and initiatives. IDEA grants are targeted to homebuyers who have been saving for the purchase of their first home through an Individual Development Account (IDA) or participating in their local housing authority's Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) homeownership program or in a lease-to-own program administered by a government entity or nonprofit organization.
Last year, the bank provided 45 WISH matching grants for a total of $650,000. ■