REGION : Bond Issue Will Aid Housing in 3 Cities

Hawaiian Gardens, Norwalk and Paramount are teaming up to sell nearly $20 million in tax-exempt bonds to help residents with low or moderate incomes buy their first homes or upgrade existing housing.

Hawaiian Gardens and Norwalk will receive $6.75 million each, while Paramount will get $6.4 million. Norwalk will offer half of its allotment to first-time home buyers and half to existing homeowners who want to upgrade their property. Paramount will use $5.45 million to help first-time buyers--those who have not owned a home for three years. The remaining $950,000 will go to home rehabilitations. Hawaiian Gardens has designated its entire allotment for first-time buyers.

Interest rates on the home loans will be 1 to 1 1/2 percentage points below rates charged by conventional lenders, said Richard Leahy, Paramount’s assistant city manager. Income limits are $45,200 for one- or two-member households and $51,890 for a household of three or more.

In the rehabilitation program, homeowners must borrow enough money to pay off their current mortgages and make improvements that increase the value of their homes by at least 25%.

Residents must plan to live in their homes for at least two years.