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Public Act 095-0449
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| SB1224 Enrolled |
LRB095 10553 NHT 30771 b |
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AN ACT concerning teachers.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, |
represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the |
Teacher
Homebuyer Assistance Act.
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Section 5. Legislative findings and declarations. The |
General
Assembly finds and declares all of the following:
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(1) Attracting and retaining fully qualified teachers |
is of
paramount importance in ensuring that pupils have |
fair access to a
quality education and a fair chance to |
succeed academically. This is
especially critical for |
schools that have the greatest number and
percentage of |
pupils with the most acute educational needs, who
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predictably may score lowest on academic achievement |
examinations.
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(2) A high priority should be placed on attracting and |
retaining
quality teaching professionals who have |
demonstrated exemplary
teaching ability, who serve in |
hard-to-staff schools, and who live in
high-cost areas.
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(3) Teachers face housing problems that exacerbate |
school
districts' efforts to attract and retain qualified |
teachers. Many
cannot afford to live in the communities in |
which they teach, making
it difficult for them to become |
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active members of their school's
community. Providing |
opportunities for teachers to participate in
after-school |
activities, from tutoring to coaching, benefits the
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children and community in which the teacher is employed.
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Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
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"Authority" means the Illinois Housing Development |
Authority.
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"Hard-to-staff position" means a teaching category (such |
as special education, mathematics, or science) in which |
statewide data compiled by the State Board of Education |
indicates a multi-year pattern of substantial teacher shortage |
or that has been identified as a critical need by the school |
board.
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"Hard-to-staff school" means an elementary or secondary |
school that ranks in the upper third of schools in this State |
in the number of teachers who leave their positions. The State |
Board of Education shall rank schools for this purpose based on |
mobility and teacher attrition over a 5-year average. |
"Teacher" means a person who is currently employed as a
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full-time teacher in a hard-to-staff school or a hard-to-staff |
position and who is
certified in this State in the subject |
field or grade level for which
the teacher is employed.
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"Termination of employment" means that for whatever |
reason,
the borrower is no longer a teacher at any time during |
the first 5 years
immediately following the date of recordation |
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of the subordinate
mortgage loan deed of trust. However, it |
shall not be considered
termination of employment if the |
borrower is still employed at the
same school at the time of |
recordation of the subordinate mortgage
loan, but the school is |
no longer considered a hard-to-staff school or the position in |
which the teacher is employed is no longer considered a |
hard-to-staff position or if the borrower accepts a teaching |
position at
another public school and his or her departure from |
the hard-to-staff school was involuntary. The Authority may
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establish guidelines for consideration of hardship cases in |
which it
may waive this 5-year continuous employment |
requirement.
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Section 15. Teacher homebuyer assistance program.
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(a) Subject to appropriation, the Authority shall |
establish and administer a teacher homebuyer
assistance
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program and allocate funds in accordance with this Act. The |
purpose of
this program is to provide down payment assistance |
to teachers for
purchasing residences within the jurisdiction |
in which they are
employed.
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(b) The maximum down payment assistance to a teacher under
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this Act shall be determined by the median home price in the |
school
district where the teacher is employed, as follows:
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(1) Any teacher employed in a school district with a |
median
home price over $300,000 is eligible for maximum |
down
payment assistance of $20,000.
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(2) Any teacher employed in a school district with a |
median
home price from $150,000 to $300,000, inclusive, is |
eligible
for maximum down payment assistance of $15,000.
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(3) Any teacher employed in a school district with a |
median
home price below $150,000 is eligible for maximum |
down
payment assistance of $10,000.
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(c) Assistance under this Act shall be in the form of a
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deferred payment, low-interest subordinate mortgage loan with |
a term
not longer than the term of the first mortgage loan. |
Interest on
this subordinate mortgage loan shall accrue at a |
rate of up to 5% per
annum.
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(d) The borrower's obligation to repay the loan shall be |
evidenced
by a lien consisting of a deed of trust, subordinate |
in priority to
the borrower's first mortgage loan financing |
required to purchase the
property. If the borrower has |
continuously been a teacher for the 5-year
period immediately |
following the date of recordation of the
subordinate mortgage |
loan deed of trust and there has been no
termination of |
employment, then repayment of the subordinate mortgage
loan |
shall be forgiven and considered a grant so long as the |
borrower
produces employment records, to the Authority's |
satisfaction, that the
borrower has continuously been a teacher |
during that 5-year period.
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(e) Repayment of the principal and accrued interest is due
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and payable at the earlier of the following events:
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(1) sale of the residence;
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(2) the borrower's failure to continuously occupy the
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residence in accordance with paragraph (3) of Section 20 of |
this
Act; or
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(3) satisfaction of the first mortgage loan.
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In no event shall this loan be assumable.
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(f) In the event of termination of employment by the |
borrower
within the first 5 years following recordation of the |
subordinate
mortgage loan deed of trust, the borrower shall be |
obligated to repay
to the Authority, in addition to other |
amounts due on the loan, the pro
rata amount of principal and |
accrued interest on the loan that
directly relates to the |
period of time within that 5-year period
in which the borrower |
was not a teacher. In order to qualify for any pro
rata |
forgiveness of repayment of the loan, the borrower shall |
produce
employment records to the Authority's satisfaction |
that the borrower was
a teacher for the period in which the pro |
rata forgiveness of loan is
sought. If the borrower produces |
evidence acceptable to the Authority
that the borrower has |
satisfied all of the requirements specified in this
Section to |
qualify for forgiveness of the loan in total, the Authority |
must
execute any documents that may be necessary so that the |
borrower may
clear title.
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Section 20. Qualifying for loan. In order to qualify for a |
loan
under this Act,
all of the following
criteria must be met:
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(1) The borrower must qualify as a teacher.
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(2) The borrower's gross household income must not |
exceed
125% of the area median income, as defined by the |
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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(3) The residence financed under this Act must be
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continuously occupied by the borrower as his or her |
principal
residence for at least 5 years following the |
recordation of the
deed of trust securing the subordinate |
mortgage loan. If the
borrower fails to meet this |
condition, the principal and accrued
interest of the loan |
is immediately due and payable.
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(4) The residence being financed must be a |
single-family
residence, condominium, or manufactured home |
located within the
boundaries of the school district that |
employs the borrower.
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Section 25. Rules. The State Board of Education and the
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Authority may adopt any rules necessary to carry out their
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responsibilities under this Act.
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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
becoming law. |