Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) reintroduced the bipartisan Affordable Housing Bond Enhancement Act, which would make homeownership more accessible and sustainable for working families. The bill would update and expand the Mortgage Revenue Bond (MRB) and Mortgage Credit Certificates (MCC) programs that have helped more than four million working-class families purchase their first home. The legislation would also help homeowners disaster-proof their houses to mitigate damage from increasingly common fires, devastating storms, and other natural disasters and would permit homeowners to refinance to a lower-cost mortgage.
“Hardworking families deserve the safety and security of a roof over their heads, said Senator Cortez Masto. “These tax credits and interest rate reductions will give working Nevadans a meaningful break as they take the important step of buying a first home. I will continue working in a bipartisan way to make sure that Nevadans have access to secure, affordable housing.”
“Buying a home is increasingly out of reach for first-time buyers. This addresses that issue,” said Dr. Cassidy. “By giving them a boost, we get them on the ladder of homeownership.”
Families with incomes of 115% of Area Median Income or less are able to receive discounted interest rates when they buy a home with an MRB. They also may be able to utilize an MCC that helps families qualify to buy a home and allows them to sustain homeownership over time. Cortez Masto and Cassidy’s bipartisan legislation makes updates and reforms to the MRB and MCC programs to better serve working families. Specifically, the Affordable Housing Bond Enhancement Act would:
- Simplify the administration of both MRB and MCC programs and make commonsense changes to ensure the tax benefits will aid working families.
- Add additional flexibility for homeowners, including allowing homeowners to refinance their mortgages.
- Increase the amount of money homeowners with MRB loans can direct towards making home health and safety improvements—including adding accessible bathrooms and ramps to help older and disabled Americans remain in their home, as well as supporting energy efficiency upgrades and disaster mitigation renovations. The bill raises the current funding limit of $15,000 to $75,000 and indexes it for inflation.
- Provide housing finance agencies with flexibility to extend loan and credit periods to account for delays due to supply chain issues or construction shortages.
You can find a one-pager about the bill here and the full bill text here.
Senator Cortez Masto has been a leader working to lower costs and build more housing supply. Recently, she reintroduced the HOME and PRICE Acts to increase the supply of and access to affordable housing. Last year she secured $9.4 million from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco’s targeted Nevada fund — almost twice as much as Nevada received the previous year — to build more middle-class homes, and she’s pushing to reform the FHLB system.
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