PLACENTIA

A group of eager buyers will meet at City Hall on Thursday to take part in a lottery that could help them get the keys to their first home.

The city received 42 applications this year for Placentia’s seventh-annual First-Time Homebuyer Program, which provides $200,000 in low-interest loans to help eight residents make down payments on a house or condominium. A lottery will be held to select the people to receive the loans this year.

Chosen applicants are eligible to receive $25,000 in the form of a 3% simple-interest loan with a 30-year deferment period, development services director Joyce Rosenthal said. The lottery will be at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 401 East Chapman St.

Councilman Michael L. Maertzweiler said the program is Placentia’s way of trying to help its residents and itself. “The better the community is, the more money it makes. The people will want to live here and spend their money here.”