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Congresswoman Leger Fernández highlights proposed $30,000 grants for first-time home buyers

Teresa Leger Fernández discusses a pilot home ownership grant with beneficiary Rosa Mendoza
Alice Fordham
/
KUNM
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández wants to make down payment assistance more accessible for potential homebuyers.

Recently, KUNM asked listeners to send us questions for candidates ahead of the election. And one of the top issues for people is housing.

U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) is running for re-election and earlier this year, along with nine other members of Congress, introduced the  Home of Your Own Act. It would create $30,000 grants to help people buy their first homes.

The funds would be available to people who earn at or below 120 to 150% of the area median income. The money could be used for down payments but also things like closing costs or necessary repairs.

Applicants would complete a mandatory financial counseling program, to make sure they understand what's involved in having a mortgage and owning their own place.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion Friday, Leger Fernández said the impact of such a federal program could be significant.

"Forty percent of renters will say that their number one issue of not being able to buy a home is they do not have that down payment," she said at the roundtable discussion. Her proposed bill authorizes $33.5 billion for the grant program over five years.

The program is modeled after a project by New Mexico nonprofit Homewise, which Leger Fernández worked to get federal funding for last year. It is meant to help 25 families buy houses. Two people it has helped so far spoke at the event including Rosa Mendoza, who was able to purchase a house in Santa Fe for herself and her three children.

"It changed my life, because I'm buying my property, I'm using that money instead of giving it to someone else by renting," she told KUNM.

Leger Fernández's challenger for the seat in the 3rd Congressional District which covers a swath of the state including Santa Fe and the Navajo Nation, is Republican Sharon Clahchischilliage.

When KUNM asked her about what her policies are on housing, on the sidelines of a recent event, she said home ownership is out of reach for many people in the district, including the Navajo Nation of which she is a tribal member.

"A lot of my people, the priorities for them are their monthly paycheck, being able to put food on a table, and paying their bills. Anything else they said they can't handle," she said.

But she thinks there should be less government spending.

"See this goes back to the economy, if the state would spend wisely," she said.

In the presidential race, Kamala Harris has proposed a plan similar to the one Leger Fernández supports, which would provide $25,000 to first time buyers. Leger Fernández supports Harris's proposal. Critics have said it would be very expensive while not addressing the root causes of expensive housing. Leger Fernández says the government needs to address both things.

"We need to recognize that homeownership requires both supply-side and removing the barriers to actually acquiring a home for renters," she said.

Alice Fordham joined the news team in 2022 after a career as an international correspondent, reporting for NPR from the Middle East and later Latin America and Europe. She also worked as a podcast producer for The Economist among other outlets, and tries to meld a love of sound and storytelling with solid reporting on the community. She grew up in the U.K. and has a small jar of Marmite in her kitchen for emergencies.
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