Yahoo News Fact Check: Harris Proposed $25K Down Payment Plan for First-Time Homebuyers, But Not Undocumented Immigrants
Claim:
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has proposed a $25,000 home down payment to assist immigrants, including those who are undocumented.
Rating:
What's True:
One of Harris' campaign promises was a program in which first-time homebuyers would receive $25,000 towards a down payment. The program added extra support for first-generation homebuyers — people whose parents did not own a home. However ...
What's False:
Based on existing housing support programs, it was not likely that undocumented immigrants would benefit from it, as they are barred from current assistance programs.
What's Undetermined:
The Harris campaign had not expounded on all eligibility criteria, and it is unclear whether other details of the proposal would resemble those of existing plans.
As the 2024 election approached, internet users shared claims that Democratic candidate and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris had proposed a plan to give $25,000 in down payment help for first-time homebuyers that would benefit only immigrants (archived):
(Facebook/Galton Terrel)
Kamala gonna give $25k down payment to "first-generation," i.e. immigrants, not us, to buy homes
Several Snopes readers also shared versions of this claim with us that said this proposal was designed "exclusively" for undocumented immigrants:
The fine print for Harris's $25K for first time home buyers; if your mother, father, brother, sister has ever owned a home, you are NOT eligible… pretty much a program exclusively for illegals, and YOU'RE going to pay for it.
While it is true that this proposal for first-time homebuyers is one of Harris' campaign promises, it expands on an existing plan. Further, based on current housing legislation, it was unlikely that undocumented immigrants would benefit from it. As such, we've rated the claim as a mixture of true and false statements.
The Harris Plan
On Aug. 16, 2024, Harris announced in a speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, a plan to support prospective homebuyers:
We also know that as the price of housing has gone up, the size of down payments have gone up as well. Even if aspiring homeowners save for years, it often still is not enough.
So, in addition, while we work on the housing shortage, my administration will provide first-time homebuyers with $25,000 to help with the down payment on a new home.
We can do this. We can do this, all to help more Americans experience the pride of homeownership and the financial security that it represents and brings.
Her campaign website confirmed her promise (emphasis ours):
As more new homes are built and affordable housing supply increases, Vice President Harris will provide first-time homebuyers with up to $25,000 to help with their down payments, with more generous support for first-generation homeowners. This will help more Americans experience the pride of homeownership and the financial security that it represents and brings — offering more Americans a path to the middle class and economic opportunity.
In a statement released the same day Harris announced the proposal, the campaign elaborated (emphasis ours):
The Biden-Harris administration initially proposed providing $25,000 in downpayment assistance only for 400,000 first-generation home buyers—or homebuyers whose parents don't own a home—and a $10,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers. Vice President Harris's plan will simplify and significantly expand that plan by providing on average $25,000 for all eligible first-time home buyers, while ensuring full participation by first-generation home buyers. It will expand the reach of down-payment assistance, allowing over 4 million first time-buyers over 4 years to get significant down payment assistance.
The same statement did not define eligibility, besides saying that prospective homebuyers must have paid rent on time for at least two years to benefit from this program.
The Biden Plan
As the Harris campaign stated, her proposal closely resembles an existing proposal. In March 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden revealed an idea to help "lower housing costs for working families." The plan would provide down payment assistance of $25,000 for first-time, first-generation homebuyers — that is, homebuyers whose parents did not own their home — thereby helping an estimated 400,000 families. Further, Biden's proposal would offer a one-year tax credit of $10,000 for all other first-time buying households.
This idea became the basis for the Downpayment Toward Equity Act, which aims to offer down payment assistance "for qualified homebuyers who are socially and economically disadvantaged." The bill, which was introduced in the Senate in March 2024 and was still under review as of this writing, would provide for a maximum grant of $20,000 or 10% of the purchase price.
According to the bill, a "qualified homebuyer" was a first-time, first-generation buyer (individual or household) whose income did not exceed 120% of the median income of the area where they lived or intended to buy, or 140% in high-cost areas. In turn, the grant would only apply to places where the buyers would reside, as opposed to secondary homes or homes they might put up for rent.
Besides extending the $25,000 down payment grant to all first-time homebuyers, the Harris campaign had not provided more details as to how a homebuyer would qualify. We reached out for more details and will update this report if the campaign responds.
However, based on existing housing support legislation, nothing indicated that the proposal would apply to undocumented immigrants. In fact, noncitizens who were not lawful residents were explicitly excluded from housing programs, according to a 2023 report from the Congressional Research Service. "Unauthorized aliens, DACA recipients, TPS holders, and temporary nonimmigrants are ineligible for assistance under Section 214-covered programs," the report read.
Further, historical down-payment assistance programs had also explicitly barred undocumented immigrants from coverage. This included the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. "The stimulus act specifically denies the credit to nonresident immigrants," NBC News reported in 2009.
Sources:
Aug. 16, 2024 Vice President Harris Lays Out Agenda to Lower Costs for American Families. https://www.democracyinaction.us/2024/harris081624pr.html. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
'Congress Probes Homebuyer Tax-Credit Fraud'. NBC News, 22 Oct. 2009, https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna33431353.
House, The White. 'FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Plan to Lower Housing Costs for Working Families'. The White House, 7 Mar. 2024, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/03/07/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-plan-to-lower-housing-costs-for-working-families/.
---. 'Remarks by Vice President Harris at a Campaign Event in Raleigh, NC'. The White House, 16 Aug. 2024, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/08/16/remarks-by-vice-president-harris-at-a-campaign-event-in-raleigh-nc/.
McCarty, Maggie, and Abigail Kolker. Noncitizen Eligibility for Federal Housing Programs. U.S. Congress, 23 Jan. 2023, https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R46462.pdf.
Warnock, Raphael. Downpayment Toward Equity Act of 2024. S.3930, https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/3930/text.
