Home – A habitable owner-occupied residential dwelling unit existing or to be constructed on property located in Washington County, WI that the recipient is purchasing to use and maintain as the recipient’s full-time, primary residence and not for use as a vacation home, rental property (accessory dwelling units are permitted under this provision) or for any investment, trade or business purposes other than remote work conducted as part of flexible work arrangements with recipient’s employer(s).

Earnings Period –  The five year period beginning on the Settlement Date of the Home purchase (as documented on the fully executed Settlement Statement for the Home’s purchase) during which recipients can accrue Incentive Earnings.

Participating Agency – A community-based public or private nonprofit charitable organization approved from time to time by the county for purposes of the Incentive, a list of which shall be made available to recipients on the county website.

Family – A person who is a spouse, child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, stepparent, grandparent, niece, nephew, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother, sister, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law, including adoptive relationships, of the recipient, any person sharing the Recipient’s household, any trust in which any one or more of these persons have more than fifty percent of the beneficial interest, and any other entity in which one or more of these persons (or the recipient) own more than fifty percent of the voting interests.

Incentive Earnings – The amount earned as a result of volunteer time or financial contributions of the incentive recipient and / or family living in the Home to one or more Participating Agencies during the earnings period

Lender–  The financial institution providing recipient’s first mortgage financing in connection with the purchase of the home, which financial institution must be licensed by the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (NMLS) and must accept the Pre-Paid Incentive as part of recipient’s down payment of the purchase price of the home or other eligible costs as determined by the county or the county’s agent (such as closing costs, escrow reserves, and home renovation expenses). Lender must consider the Pre-Paid Incentive to be equity the recipient is bringing to the home’s purchase.

Pre-Paid Incentive – An amount equal to 10% of the home purchase price or $20,000, whichever is less, paid at the time of close on the home purchase and applied by the lender part of the recipient’s down payment on the first mortgage for the home or toward other eligible costs. The recipient must have submitted to the county or county’s agent a complete Incentive application and received a corresponding Letter of Approval prior to disbursement of the Incentive.

Unearned Incentive Balance – An amount equal to the Pre-Paid Incentive Amount disbursed on the Settlement Date of the Home’s purchase less cumulative Incentive Earnings properly reported by the recipient according to the terms of the Incentive Agreement through the date of calculation of the Unearned Incentive Balance. Any Unearned Incentive Balance remaining at the end of the Earnings Period shall become permanently unearned and remain as Unearned Incentive Balance until reimbursed in full, which shall be an obligation of recipient.