In Brief: Home Loan Bank Expands 1st-Timer Aid

The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York this month doubled, to $2 million, its aid for first-time homebuyers.

Members of the First Home Club are required to keep a savings account for at least 10 months with a bank or thrift participating in the program. The institution, in turn, will contribute up to $5,000 to the borrower's account by adding up to $3 for every $1 the customer saves toward homeownership.

The banks also will cooperate with neighborhood groups to provide counseling for the borrowers.

Twenty-two lenders in New Jersey, New York, and Puerto Rico are participating in the First Home Club. The program began with a pilot program at Roosevelt State Bank in Garden City, N.Y., but is now available to any of the Home Loan bank's members.

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