Apparently the U.S. Senate is saying that down payment assistance programs like Ameridream Inc. and Nehemiah Corp. are now banned. A statement from Scott Syphax, CEO of Nehemiah:

“This decision turns a blind eye to the overwhelming success of these programs and their role in helping hundreds of thousands of working families become homeowners. . . . Despite what the Administration and members of the Senate falsely profess, privately funded down payment assistance is not the reason that FHA is looking at a budget imbalance in the coming years.”

I wrote about this a week ago and discussed some of the pros and cons then. Since then, I think that those people using FHA have decent credit scores and income, they just don’t have that big down payment. And really, is this any different than having a private seller drop the price $10,000 so you can buy it?