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The Delias paid $293,000 in 2003 for their new, three-level townhouse. A year later, they enrolled in the Southwest Home Equity Assurance Program — one of three small government agencies established by referendum in Chicago as a result of the state law — which appraised their home at $360,000 and guaranteed that if they didn’t sell for at least five years, they would get at least that much money when they did. The only cost to enroll: $125 for the appraisal.

The Delias put their home up for sale in January 2010. Fourteen months later, they finally found a buyer — who bought the home on May 3, paying the couple $205,000, or $88,000 less than they paid when they bought it.

Six days later, the home equity program wrote them a check for $155,000 — a taxpayer-financed windfall that not only covered their loss on the sale but also allowed them to make a profit of $67,000, or 23 percent.