The County of Los Angeles County HERO program provides up to $85,000 to help qualified buyers purchase bank-owned (REO) homes.  The HERO Program assistance is a deferred repayment ("silent") junior (second position) loan that requires no monthly payments for 30 years.  You pay off the loan with 0% interest charges when you sell the home in the future. 

Here are the basic requirements of the HERO Program:

1. The home must have been most recently acquired through a foreclosure action by the seller.  In other words, it must be an REO, "bank-owned" or foreclosure property.  Pre-foreclosure, short sales and privately-owned homes are not eligible.
2. The home must be located in one of the target areas.  You can download a list of the target areas at the link provided at the bottom of this page.  For buyers interested in the East San Fernando Valley, the HERO program severs areas in the City of San Fernando and areas north of Sylmar (Castaic, Canyon County).
3. The final sales price must be one percent (1%) less than the appraised value of the home.  Additionally, all lender-required repairs must be completed before the close of escrow.  We recommend that these requirements be included as contingencies in your purchase agreement.  If you have questions about submitting offers to home sellers under the HERO Program, please call Francisco Lopez at (310) 614-7419, Director of Real Estate Services for Go Home LA.
4. Your household income must be within the limits shown below.
5. You must contribute at least one percent of the home purchase price from your own funds.
6. You must be able to qualify for a first mortgage.  Generally this means that you are able to verify your income with pay stubs, W2s, bank statements and tax returns and that you have a middle FICO credit score of 620 or better.  Call (562) 696-3200 to schedule your loan pre-approval appointment.
7. You must agree to occupy the home as your principal residence and at the time of purchase you can not own other residential real estate.

Click on the lick below for a list of the eligible HERO Program Areas, it listed the eligible areas by city name and then by census tract.  The property you select MUST be in one of the listed census tracts:

http://www.lacdc.org/CDCWebsite/HDP/HERO.aspx?id=3383

HERO Program Income Limits By Household Size