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CHAPTER 10MORTGAGE CREDIT CERTIFICATES265—10.1(16) General. Mortgage credit certificates (MCCs) were authorized by Congress in the 1984 Tax Reform Act as a new concept for providing housing assistance. The Iowa finance authority may elect to allocate a portion of its mortgage revenue bonding authority for single-family housing toward an MCC program. The program will be made available to home buyers through participating Iowa lenders on a first-come, first-served basis.The MCC operates as a federal income tax credit. The MCC tax credit will reduce the federal income taxes of qualified home buyers purchasing qualified residences, in effect assisting buyers with their house payments.A purchaser of a new or existing single-family residence may apply for an MCC through a participating lender at the time of purchasing a home and obtaining financing through the lender. An MCC cannot be issued to a home buyer who is refinancing an existing mortgage or land contract, nor can it be used in conjunction with a mortgage financed through a mortgage subsidy bond.MCCs will be made available to home buyers with generally the same noncredit eligibility requirements as are in effect for the authority’s single-family mortgage program. However, mobile and manufactured housing are eligible under the MCC program.265—10.2(16) Participating lenders. The authority will disseminate a summary of the MCC program to mortgage lenders operating within Iowa. Each branch office of a mortgage lender is deemed to be a separate mortgage lender. Any mortgage lender as defined in Iowa Code section 16.1 may become a participating lender by entering into an MCC lender participation agreement with the authority. All other participating lenders may take applications for MCCs on loans closed after the effective date of the participation agreement. The authority shall set and post on its Web site annual participation fees to be paid by participating lenders as a condition of participating in the MCC program.Related ARC(s): 1845C265—10.3(16) Eligible borrowers. To be eligible to receive a mortgage credit certificate, an eligible borrower must, on the date the loan is closed:
- Be a resident of Iowa.
- Be a purchaser of a single-family residence who will occupy the single-family residence as a permanent, primary, principal residence located within the state.
- Have the legal capacity to incur the obligations of the loan.
- Agree not to rent the single-family residence any time during the term of the loan except under special circumstances and with a lease arrangement, the terms and conditions of which are acceptable to the authority.
- To the extent determined by the authority to assure its MCCs will be qualified mortgage credit certificates pursuant to a qualified mortgage credit certificate program, the authority shall require that the eligible borrower meet the requirements of Section 25 of the Internal Revenue Code and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, as well as the requirements set forth in the MCC program guide. Copies of the program guide are available from the authority.