(2) Funds in the Home Ownership Assistance Account must be granted to organizations that both sponsor and manage homeownership programs for households with below area median income, including:

(a) Lease-to-own programs;

(b) Construction of new housing; or

(c) Acquisition or rehabilitation of existing structures.

(3) The council shall develop a policy for disbursing grants for any or all of the following purposes:

(a) To aid homeownership programs for households with below area median income, including program administration, in purchasing land, providing assistance with down payment costs, or providing homeownership training and qualification services or any combination thereof. Funds in the Home Ownership Assistance Account may not be used by an organization to pay for its general operations.

(b) To match public and private moneys available from other sources to provide homeownership housing for households with below area median income.

(c) To administer the Home Ownership Assistance Account as provided for in the legislatively approved budget, as that term is defined in ORS 291.002, for the Housing and Community Services Department.

(4) The council, in developing policy under subsection (3) of this section, shall give preference in making grants to those entities that propose to:

(a) Provide the greatest number of homeownership housing units constructed, acquired or rehabilitated for households with below area median income for the amount of account money expended by matching account funds with other grant, loan or eligible in-kind contributions;

(b) Ensure the longest use for the units as homeownership housing units for households with below area median income, such as by including some form of equity recapture, land trust or shared equity provisions, as determined by the council;

(c) Include social services for occupants and proposed occupants of the proposed housing including programs that address home health care, mental health care, alcohol and drug treatment and post-treatment care, child care, homeownership training, mortgage qualification service, credit repair and case management; and

(d) Support a comprehensive strategy to reverse the decreasing rates of homeownership among minorities, giving priority to activities that support adopted comprehensive community plans that incorporate recognized best practices or demonstrate proven success in increasing homeownership for minorities. [1995 c.174 §3; 2007 c.70 §269; 2009 c.18 §7; 2011 c.605 §3; 2013 c.646 §4; 2015 c.180 §28; 2018 c.109 §12; 2019 c.88 §1]