Full Text of SB1224 095th General Assembly
SB1224enr 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning teachers.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 |
| Teacher
Homebuyer Assistance Act.
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| Section 5. Legislative findings and declarations. The | 7 |
| General
Assembly finds and declares all of the following:
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| (1) Attracting and retaining fully qualified teachers | 9 |
| is of
paramount importance in ensuring that pupils have | 10 |
| fair access to a
quality education and a fair chance to | 11 |
| succeed academically. This is
especially critical for | 12 |
| schools that have the greatest number and
percentage of | 13 |
| pupils with the most acute educational needs, who
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| predictably may score lowest on academic achievement | 15 |
| examinations.
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| (2) A high priority should be placed on attracting and | 17 |
| retaining
quality teaching professionals who have | 18 |
| demonstrated exemplary
teaching ability, who serve in | 19 |
| hard-to-staff schools, and who live in
high-cost areas.
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| (3) Teachers face housing problems that exacerbate | 21 |
| school
districts' efforts to attract and retain qualified | 22 |
| teachers. Many
cannot afford to live in the communities in | 23 |
| which they teach, making
it difficult for them to become |
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| active members of their school's
community. Providing | 2 |
| opportunities for teachers to participate in
after-school | 3 |
| activities, from tutoring to coaching, benefits the
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| children and community in which the teacher is employed.
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| Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
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| "Authority" means the Illinois Housing Development | 7 |
| Authority.
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| "Hard-to-staff position" means a teaching category (such | 9 |
| as special education, mathematics, or science) in which | 10 |
| statewide data compiled by the State Board of Education | 11 |
| indicates a multi-year pattern of substantial teacher shortage | 12 |
| or that has been identified as a critical need by the school | 13 |
| board.
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| "Hard-to-staff school" means an elementary or secondary | 15 |
| school that ranks in the upper third of schools in this State | 16 |
| in the number of teachers who leave their positions. The State | 17 |
| Board of Education shall rank schools for this purpose based on | 18 |
| mobility and teacher attrition over a 5-year average. | 19 |
| "Teacher" means a person who is currently employed as a
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| full-time teacher in a hard-to-staff school or a hard-to-staff | 21 |
| position and who is
certified in this State in the subject | 22 |
| field or grade level for which
the teacher is employed.
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| "Termination of employment" means that for whatever | 24 |
| reason,
the borrower is no longer a teacher at any time during | 25 |
| the first 5 years
immediately following the date of recordation |
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| of the subordinate
mortgage loan deed of trust. However, it | 2 |
| shall not be considered
termination of employment if the | 3 |
| borrower is still employed at the
same school at the time of | 4 |
| recordation of the subordinate mortgage
loan, but the school is | 5 |
| no longer considered a hard-to-staff school or the position in | 6 |
| which the teacher is employed is no longer considered a | 7 |
| hard-to-staff position or if the borrower accepts a teaching | 8 |
| position at
another public school and his or her departure from | 9 |
| the hard-to-staff school was involuntary. The Authority may
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| establish guidelines for consideration of hardship cases in | 11 |
| which it
may waive this 5-year continuous employment | 12 |
| requirement.
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| Section 15. Teacher homebuyer assistance program.
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| (a) Subject to appropriation, the Authority shall | 15 |
| establish and administer a teacher homebuyer
assistance
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| program and allocate funds in accordance with this Act. The | 17 |
| purpose of
this program is to provide down payment assistance | 18 |
| to teachers for
purchasing residences within the jurisdiction | 19 |
| in which they are
employed.
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| (b) The maximum down payment assistance to a teacher under
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| this Act shall be determined by the median home price in the | 22 |
| school
district where the teacher is employed, as follows:
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| (1) Any teacher employed in a school district with a | 24 |
| median
home price over $300,000 is eligible for maximum | 25 |
| down
payment assistance of $20,000.
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| (2) Any teacher employed in a school district with a | 2 |
| median
home price from $150,000 to $300,000, inclusive, is | 3 |
| eligible
for maximum down payment assistance of $15,000.
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| (3) Any teacher employed in a school district with a | 5 |
| median
home price below $150,000 is eligible for maximum | 6 |
| down
payment assistance of $10,000.
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| (c) Assistance under this Act shall be in the form of a
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| deferred payment, low-interest subordinate mortgage loan with | 9 |
| a term
not longer than the term of the first mortgage loan. | 10 |
| Interest on
this subordinate mortgage loan shall accrue at a | 11 |
| rate of up to 5% per
annum.
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| (d) The borrower's obligation to repay the loan shall be | 13 |
| evidenced
by a lien consisting of a deed of trust, subordinate | 14 |
| in priority to
the borrower's first mortgage loan financing | 15 |
| required to purchase the
property. If the borrower has | 16 |
| continuously been a teacher for the 5-year
period immediately | 17 |
| following the date of recordation of the
subordinate mortgage | 18 |
| loan deed of trust and there has been no
termination of | 19 |
| employment, then repayment of the subordinate mortgage
loan | 20 |
| shall be forgiven and considered a grant so long as the | 21 |
| borrower
produces employment records, to the Authority's | 22 |
| satisfaction, that the
borrower has continuously been a teacher | 23 |
| during that 5-year period.
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| (e) Repayment of the principal and accrued interest is due
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| and payable at the earlier of the following events:
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| (1) sale of the residence;
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| (2) the borrower's failure to continuously occupy the
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| residence in accordance with paragraph (3) of Section 20 of | 3 |
| this
Act; or
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| (3) satisfaction of the first mortgage loan.
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| In no event shall this loan be assumable.
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| (f) In the event of termination of employment by the | 7 |
| borrower
within the first 5 years following recordation of the | 8 |
| subordinate
mortgage loan deed of trust, the borrower shall be | 9 |
| obligated to repay
to the Authority, in addition to other | 10 |
| amounts due on the loan, the pro
rata amount of principal and | 11 |
| accrued interest on the loan that
directly relates to the | 12 |
| period of time within that 5-year period
in which the borrower | 13 |
| was not a teacher. In order to qualify for any pro
rata | 14 |
| forgiveness of repayment of the loan, the borrower shall | 15 |
| produce
employment records to the Authority's satisfaction | 16 |
| that the borrower was
a teacher for the period in which the pro | 17 |
| rata forgiveness of loan is
sought. If the borrower produces | 18 |
| evidence acceptable to the Authority
that the borrower has | 19 |
| satisfied all of the requirements specified in this
Section to | 20 |
| qualify for forgiveness of the loan in total, the Authority | 21 |
| must
execute any documents that may be necessary so that the | 22 |
| borrower may
clear title.
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| Section 20. Qualifying for loan. In order to qualify for a | 24 |
| loan
under this Act,
all of the following
criteria must be met:
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| (1) The borrower must qualify as a teacher.
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| (2) The borrower's gross household income must not | 2 |
| exceed
125% of the area median income, as defined by the | 3 |
| U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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| (3) The residence financed under this Act must be
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| continuously occupied by the borrower as his or her | 6 |
| principal
residence for at least 5 years following the | 7 |
| recordation of the
deed of trust securing the subordinate | 8 |
| mortgage loan. If the
borrower fails to meet this | 9 |
| condition, the principal and accrued
interest of the loan | 10 |
| is immediately due and payable.
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| (4) The residence being financed must be a | 12 |
| single-family
residence, condominium, or manufactured home | 13 |
| located within the
boundaries of the school district that | 14 |
| employs the borrower.
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| Section 25. Rules. The State Board of Education and the
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| Authority may adopt any rules necessary to carry out their
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| responsibilities under this Act.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 19 |
| becoming law. |
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