RS 100.94 - Grants for Grads Program; grants; recapture of grant funds under certain circumstances
A. Application for the grant. A graduate who has registered for the program shall apply for a grant during the period of time which starts on the due date of the filing of his fifth Louisiana state individual income tax return since graduation and ends on the ninetieth day thereafter. A married person shall apply as an individual and shall indicate whether his spouse is registered for the program.
(1) The application shall include information as determined by the agency for the awarding of a grant, but at a minimum shall include:
(a) Evidence that the graduate has paid Louisiana state individual income taxes through the timely filing of five Louisiana state individual income tax returns over five consecutive taxable years following the year of his graduation, each of which must indicate a tax liability owed to the state by the graduate. For married persons, the tax returns must indicate a tax liability on the part of both spouses in order for them to receive the higher grant award available for married persons.
(b) Evidence that the graduate has maintained his primary residence and employment within the state since his registering for the program.
(2) A graduate who, at any time during the period from his program registration until his application for a grant, has been deemed by the state to be delinquent in the payment of individual income taxes shall lose his registration status and shall be deemed ineligible to receive a grant pursuant to this Subpart.
(3) The agency shall review each application for compliance and accuracy and shall determine whether a graduate shall receive a grant, and the amount thereof, based on the information provided to the agency in the application. An application found to be insufficient by the agency may be resubmitted by the graduate within the ninety-day period of time for which he may apply for a grant.
B. Grant award. (1) Grant awards shall be provided from monies appropriated by the legislature. A grant award shall be given to a graduate whose application has been deemed by the agency to be timely, authentic, and complete and who has been selected as one of one hundred grantees in a random lottery conducted by the agency by January thirty-first of each year. The lottery pool shall include all graduate applicants who have filed applications within the last calendar year. If there are less than one hundred applicants for grant awards in a given calendar year, then the requirement of a lottery shall be dispensed with and all applicants shall be awarded grants. At the time of the awarding of a grant to a married person, if his spouse has registered for the program, then the spouse's participation in the program shall be combined with the grantee spouse's application for purposes of this Subpart. The awarding of a grant shall be evidenced by written notification to the grantee, which notification shall clearly state the amount of the grant and the start and end dates of the award period. The agency shall provide such notification within sixty days after completion of the lottery. The award period shall be from the start date through the last day of the thirty-sixth month thereafter. Once a grant has been awarded to a married person, then there shall be no eligibility for any additional award or increment of an award to his spouse.
(2) The amount of each awarded grant or cash payment shall be calculated as follows:
(a) For an individual, an amount equal to the total cumulative Louisiana state individual income tax paid by the grantee as evidenced by the tax information contained in his application, or ten thousand dollars, whichever is less.
(b) For a married person, an amount equal to the total cumulative Louisiana state individual income tax paid by the grantee and his spouse, filing jointly or separately, as evidenced by the tax information contained in his application, or fifteen thousand dollars, whichever is less.
(3) The grant shall be provided as a cash payment to be received by the grantee when obtaining a mortgage loan, such amount to be applied only to pay a portion of the closing costs or required down payment on the purchase of his home. There shall be no cash back to the grantee at the time of closing. The grantee must take receipt of the grant within thirty-six months of the date of the award, after which time the grant will expire.
C. Recapture of grant funds. If the Louisiana Housing Corporation finds that a grantee or grant recipient fails to comply with the criteria of home ownership as provided for in R.S. 39:100.91(B)(4), then the grantee or grant recipient's state income tax for the applicable taxable period shall be increased by an amount necessary for the recapture of the amount of the grant awarded according to the provisions of this Section. An action to recapture grant funds shall be initiated within three years from December thirty-first of the year in which the grant was awarded.
Acts 2008, No. 748, §1, eff. July 6, 2008; Acts 2011, No. 408, §5(B), eff. July 5, 2011; Acts 2012, No. 834, §9, eff. July 1, 2012.