Houston City Council proposes “Credit Score Enhancement Program” If passed, Houston will give up to $3,000 in grants to individuals who are trying to qualify for mortgages through the city’s homebuyers assistance program. This money will be given to individuals to pay off their credit cards, car loans, or other debts to improve their credit score by 10-20 points, allowing them to qualify for another city grant.

The city has three programs that provide grants for down payments and closing costs for qualified homebuyers. The most generous one offers a $37,500 grant tobuy a home that costs $135,000 or less, but only in certain disadvantaged Houston neighborhoods the city is trying to revitalize. The city made 130 grants to homebuyers last year and hopes to raise that to 540 in 2009, according to Juan Chavez, manager of the city’s Homebuyers Assistance Program.

The money for this grant would come out of the $440K left over from $1.5 million allocated for emergency home and roof repairs after Hurricane Ike. I didn’t realize there were any monies still available. There are two houses with blue tarps on my street… in the city of Houston.