Three bills approved by the Legislature during the 2014 session will help ensure our veterans and service members can afford a home that meets their families’ needs.
Between January 2009 and June 2013, Iowa’s Military Home Ownership Assistance Program boosted Iowa’s economy by leveraging more than $178 million toward home purchases, but the program hasn’t been able to keep up with demand among military families that want to settle in our communities. House File 2463eliminates the waiting list for the program with a $2.5 million appropriation to provide service members and veterans with a $5,000 grant toward the down payment and closing costs on a qualifying home purchase.
Senate File 303 expands eligibility and financing options for the Military Home Ownership Assistance Program. Currently, eligibility is limited to those who served on active duty since 9/11. The bill extends eligibility for home ownership grants to those who served during the Persian Gulf Conflict (August 2, 1990, to April 6, 1991). It also expands financing options so that our veterans and service members can get the best possible deal when applying for a home loan.
The Department of Veteran Affairs reports that 2,754 Iowa veterans are 100 percent disabled; 60 percent of them own their home. Under current law, the Disabled Veterans Homestead Tax Credit goes to disabled veterans who have an annual income of $35,000 or less and have acquired their home through certain federal programs for special adaptive housing because of a service-connected disability.
Senate File 2352 makes the tax credit available to any eligible veteran with a permanent and total disability due to service-related injuries—regardless of income and how the home was purchased. The bill also extends the credit to surviving spouses or children of troops killed in action or who died because of service-related illness or injury, as certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.