ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9611070079
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
A NEW PROGRAM allows couples to open an account in which family and friends can deposit cash gifts toward the down payment on that first dream house.
Searching for an alternative to the usual blender or crystal bowl wedding gift for that special young couple? Federal officials have a suggestion: cash for their dream house.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros unveiled a program Thursday that he said will give couples a head start in making a down payment on their first home.
``It's the kind of help we used to get in an earlier era, when family members and friends pitched in to build the house only they're helping financially,'' Cisneros said. ``And it helps avoid the problems of the fourth avocado-colored blender.''
The federal program allows couples who are getting married to open an interest-bearing savings account at a Federal Housing Administration-approved bank. Family and friends can deposit cash gifts in the account toward a down payment, Cisneros said.
Of course, some couples receive cash as a wedding gift. But the new effort is intended to help couples avoid the urge to spend the wedding-gift nest egg on something else, he said.
So far, more than 30 lenders with thousands of branches nationwide have agreed to participate in the program, and Cisneros said he expected hundreds more lenders will sign up.
The program is available to people who qualify for FHA loans, which the agency said is almost anyone.
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