1. Before you buy a home, attend a home ownership education course offered by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-approved, non-profit counseling agencies.
2. Interview several real estate professionals (agents), and ask for and check references before you select one to help you buy or sell a home.
3. Get information about the prices of other homes in the neighborhood. Do not be fooled into paying too much.
4. Hire a properly qualified and licensed home inspector to carefully inspect the property before you are obligated to buy. Determine whether you or the seller is going to be responsible for paying for the repairs. If you have to pay for the repairs, determine whether or not you can afford to make them.
5. Shop for a lender and compare costs. Be suspicious if anyone tries to steer you to just one lender.
6. Read everything carefully and ask questions. Do not sign anything that you don't understand. Before signing, have your contract and loan agreement reviewed by an attorney skilled in real estate law, consult with a trusted real estate professional or ask for help from a housing counselor with a HUD-approved agency. If you cannot afford an attorney, take your documents to the HUD-approved housing counseling agency near you to find out if they will review the documents or can refer you to an attorney who will help you for free or at low cost.
7. Be suspicious when the cost of a home improvement goes up if you do not accept the contractor's financing.
8. Do NOT let anyone persuade you to make a false statement on your loan application, such as overstating your income, the source of your down payment, failing to disclose the nature and amount of your debts, or even how long you have been employed. When you apply for a mortgage loan, every piece of information that you submit must be accurate and complete. Lying on a mortgage application is fraud and may result in criminal penalties.
9. Do NOT let anyone convince you to borrow more money than you know you can afford to repay. If you get behind on your payments, you risk losing your house and all of the money you put into your property.
10. Never sign a blank document or a document containing blanks. If information is inserted into the loan document by someone else after you have signed, you may still be bound to the terms of the contract. Insert "N/A"(i.e., not applicable) or cross through any blanks.
11. Be honest about your intention to occupy the house. Stating that you plan to live there when, in fact, you are not (because you intend to rent the house to someone else or fix it up and resell it) violates federal law and is a crime.
12. Make sure that your mortgage payment is no more than 30% of your net income. Make sure you include all of your expenses in determining the 30%.

Find out about:

• Legal Help
• Fair Housing
• Housing Discrimination

Legal Help

Find the nearest Idaho Legal Aid Services office

To find more information about Idaho laws and ways to help yourself:

• Contact your local Court Assistance Office (CAO). There are many forms, instructions, and/or videos that you can use as a legal resource.
• Go to the CAO website to download forms, instructions, and/or videos.

http://www.courtselfhelp.idaho.gov/

To find a pro bono attorney:

• Call the Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program
  (208) 334-4510
  -or-
  1-800-221-3295
• Write the Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program
  IVLP
  P.O. Box 895
  Boise, ID 83701-0895

To find a private attorney:

• Call the Idaho State Bar Lawyer Referral Service
  (208) 334-4500

If you have any questions about a lawyer, call the Idaho State Bar, (208) 334-4500

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Fair Housing

If you, as an individual or family, are seeking housing, the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination because of:

• race
• color
• national origin
• religion
• sex
• familial status: Children under 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, or people trying to get custody of someone under the age of 18.
• disability: mental and/or physical.

The term "housing" includes the following:

• apartments
• condominiums
• duplexes
• multi-unit dwellings:  rental units of 4 units or more
• mobile homes/trailer courts
• private homes and housing for sale
• vacant land
• homeless shelters (although not a place of permanent residence)
• shelters for battered women and their families
• group homes for recovery of drug addicts and alcoholics
• seasonal bungalows
• hospices
• senior/nursing homes

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Housing Discrimination

If you feel you have been discriminated against, you can file a complaint with the following state and federal authorities:

• Intermountain Fair Housing Council:

• United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD):

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If you have a fair housing issue or a predatory lending question, the following resources are available:

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
1-800-669-9777, or (TDD) 1-800-927-9275, or on the web at www.hud.gov

Intermountain Fair Housing Council
(208) 383-0695 in Boise calling area, or statewide toll-free 1-800-717-0695

For more information on predatory lending: www.responsiblelending.org

PDF download available in two parts.

All of the Idaho Legal Aid Services' (ILAS) offices may be able to provide the following kinds of help with housing issues:

• eviction, 3-day notices
• repairs
• discrimination
• mobile homes
• fair housing violations
• public housing

In order to be eligible, you must be the following:

• a low-income household
• a tenant
• still living in the residence

Some exceptions are:

• ILAS cannot help someone who is behind in their rent or has violated the terms of his/her lease
• If ILAS does not have enough resources and/or staff to help, they may not be able to take the case.

Contact your local ILAS office for more information.

Renters have rights, but as homes are foreclosed tenants can feel helpless. You should feel empowered, though, because you cannot be pushed around. See the KBOI TV news video here.

By Tami Tremblay - KBOI TV Boise

Washington, DC -- Requests by low-income Americans for help with foreclosure and unemployment problems are increasing, officials at the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) said at a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing today on LSC's budget request for Fiscal Year 2011...

Read More...