Span of disaster loan program cut by half

DES MOINES – Homeowners receiving forgivable loans in response to last year's weather disasters could see the terms shaved from 10 years to five years under a bill unanimously approved by the Iowa Senate Monday.

Along with shortening the loan's forgiveness period by half, Senate File 289 would take effect immediately and would be retroactive to Sept. 1, 2008, said Sen. Wally Horn, D-Cedar Rapids, floor manager of the bill that passed 47-0.

“By speeding up that period, we make the Jumpstart program more usable and it really helps people,” said Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids. “This is a small thing we can do to help the people who have lost their homes in the disaster of 2008.”

The homeowner program administered by the Iowa Finance Authority provided up to $72,000 for qualifying disaster victims on the federal program side, while a separate state program approved by lawmakers in January provided up to $25,000 for qualifying homeowners. Hogg said it would put the homeowner forgivable loan program on even keel with a five-year program for landlords.

Currently under the program, people who received the loans are required to stay in their homes for 10 years, with 10 percent of the loan forgiven annually. The remaining loan balance is due upon the sale if the home is sold before the 10 years are up.

In other action Monday, senators voted 47-0 to approve legislation that would assist Iowa communities in marketing themselves as “senior friendly” places aimed at attracting retirees to settle there.

“The purpose of this program is to encourage retirees to make their homes in Iowa, to help communities promote and market themselves as retirement destinations for retirees and to assist economic development of rural communities,” said Sen. Daryl Beall, D-Fort Dodge.

“If a community can attract a retired person, that is the equivalent of attracting three-and-a-half manufacturing jobs to that community,” he added in promoting Senate File 291.

Also Monday, the Senate approved legislation establishing a yearly reporting requirement for charitable trusts with assets of $25,000 or more.

Senate File 320 marked a compromise between the Iowa Attorney General's Office and representatives of attorney and trust associations to boost state oversight of charitable trusts.

State officials estimated the provision would cover about 2,000 trusts and provide information that will help track whether money set aside is being used for the purpose it was intended.