The Moorpark City Council will vote tonight on opening another affordable housing lottery for low-income residents and first-time homebuyers.

In the last lottery, in October, several applicants had to drop out because they did not financially qualify for the 25 homes in the Pardee Homes development, city staff members said, so the process should be reopened.

Through an agreement with the city, Pardee is offering at a reduced rate 12 three-bedroom units and 13 four-bedroom units in the 102-home development near Spring Road. The homes are now offered at $147,000 for a three-bedroom condo or $160,000 for a four-bedroom condo.

Reasons for ineligibility include credit problems and insufficient down payments, said Nancy Burns, senior management analyst for the city.

Of the 23 applicants, five have already moved in, and four other homes are in escrow. Three families have been ruled ineligible.

Low-income households must make at least $42,850 and no more than $69,550 for a four-person household. The homebuyer is required to put down 5 percent, some reserves and closing costs, and the developer will pay some of the closing costs, Burns said.

"We approve buyers before the units are completed to keep the process going," she said.

Those who were eligible in the past under low-income guidelines can reapply.

The City Council will meet tonight at 7 at 799 Moorpark Ave.

Up to 16 three- or four-bedroom units could become available in the coming year.

If the council approves another round, the lottery list created will be valid until Dec. 31 or until the list is exhausted or the final house is sold.

The affordable units in Pardee's Waverly Place development in the Moorpark Highlands are built in different phases. On the open market, the condos start in the low $400,000s, according to the developer's Web site.

If approved, this would be the city's fourth affordable-housing lottery since 2005 under the city's First Time Homebuyer Program. In 2006, only two of 84 eligible lottery participants were placed in new homes. In the first round in 2005, seven families were placed.

In 2005, the city was expecting seven homes in the Canterbury Lane development to become available as affordable housing, but those plans were put off indefinitely, as were plans for 17 affordable units in the William Lyon Brighton development near Walnut Canyon Road.

Even if the remaining 11 applicants are approved, there would still be five units left to fill in the remaining phases, a staff report says.