HFA1 Affordable Homeownership Lender Toolkit

A young couple surrounded by moving boxes, holding up a key

“As a longtime lending partner of state housing finance agencies around the country, Guild Mortgage sees significant potential to expand affordable mortgage financing opportunities for more lower-income borrowers through these tools.”

— David Battany, Executive Vice President for Guild Mortgage and 2022 Co-Chair of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Affordable Homeownership Advisory Council

Request the Toolkit

Press Release: New Tools Expand Opportunities
for Mortgage Lenders in State Housing Finance
Agency Programs

David Battany

 

 

Divider
About the HFA1 Lender Toolkit

State housing finance agencies (HFAs) are primary sources of funding and down payment assistance (DPA) for low-income home buyers everywhere in the country. HFAs are always looking for ways to make it easier for mortgage lenders of all kinds to participate in their programs to reach more underserved borrowers. In 2022, 80 percent of state HFA program borrowers received down payment assistance (DPA) through a state DPA program.

The National Council of State Housing Agencies and 27 of its member state HFAs have developed two free digital tools that enable lenders to partner more easily with HFAs in providing affordable home mortgage loans and down payment assistance to lower-income home buyers. The tools identify the key features of HFA homeownership programs that are most important for lenders in determining how and where to partner with the agencies and reflect substantial progress by a growing number of agencies to align elements of their programs to support more efficient participation by regional and national lenders.

Using these new, comparative resources, lenders serving these markets in one or more of the 27 participating states can:
HFA1 Mark

  • Understand the key features of the aligned homeownership program in each state;
  • Assess opportunities to partner more efficiently with those programs; and
  • More easily serve lower-income home buyers across multiple states.

The HFA in each of the participating states — Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia — has aligned its affordable mortgage program with that of the other participating states.

About the Tools

The states have developed one tool for conventional home mortgage loans (those backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and a second tool for government loans (those insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and U.S. Department of Agriculture).
White-SQ
To access the free online tools that define the specific programmatic features offered by each HFA1 Aligned state HFA, complete the registration form on this page, indicating your interest in conventional loans and/or government loans. Each tool contains five worksheets:

      • Table of Contents and Disclaimers
      • 1st Mortgage Qualification
      • DPA Qualification
      • 1st Mortgage Closing and Delivery
      • DPA Closing and Delivery

Each worksheet describes the common qualification, closing, or delivery parameter of the state’s HFA1 offering (Columns A and B). In each of the state HFA columns, lenders can find a high-level summary, by state, of what is permitted:

      • Where the HFA offers the “common” parameter, the lender will see a yellow box with a check mark in the state HFA’s column.
      • Where the state is able to be more flexible than the “common” parameter, the lender will find the information in a green box .
      • Where the state has an overlay, the lender will find that detail in a white box .

Lenders interested in learning more about any state HFA’s homeownership offerings, including how to participate, should contact the individual(s) noted in the tools.

Vertical Line

Complete and submit this form to receive the HFA1 Lender Toolkit.

Hidden

Next Steps: Sync an Email Add-On

To get the most out of your form, we suggest that you sync this form with an email add-on. To learn more about your email add-on options, visit the following page (https://www.gravityforms.com/the-8-best-email-plugins-for-wordpress-in-2020/). Important: Delete this tip before you publish the form.
Name(Required)
Please use your organization's email.

Note: Email addresses containing email providers like Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook, and Yahoo cannot be accommodated. Please contact info@ncsha.org for assistance.
Please send me the following HFA1 tool(s):(Required)
Terms and Conditions(Required)

Future Updates and CommunicationsHFA1 Families: Three-person family outside of their new home and couple closing on a mortgage deal

NCSHA will update these tools periodically. Participating HFAs may notify lenders directly of changes to their program at any time. NCSHA encourages interested lenders to check this website regularly for updates and to communicate with HFA participants directly.

The next regular update is expected in late June 2024.

To receive communications about other NCSHA programs and events, please sign up here.

Acknowledgments

These tools were developed through a collaboration of the National Council of State Housing Agencies and the Mortgage Bankers Association and leading members of each organization, along with Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and other industry organizations. Initial development funding for the toolkit was provided by Wells Fargo. Specialty Mortgage Product Solutions provided technical support.

Participating States as of February 29, 2024:

DividerNote to Home Buyers, Homeowners, and Those Seeking Housing Assistance:

The tools described on this page are designed for use by mortgage lending professionals. To learn more about your state HFA and the programs it offers and to get answers to your housing finance questions, visit Find a State Housing Finance Agency.Divider

Other Related Resources

DividerDisclaimer and Terms of Use

NCSHA is providing the HFA1 Affordable Homeownership Lender Toolkit, or the tools described on this page, as a free online service to lenders interested in accessing the affordable mortgage loan programs of multiple state housing finance agencies (HFAs). The information contained on this page and in the downloadable materials is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy securities. NCSHA does not provide investment advice, and these HFA1 Affordable Homeownership Lender Toolkit materials are not to be construed as a recommendation to engage in a transaction with a particular party.

The information contained in each HFA1 Lender Toolkit resource is based solely on information provided to NCSHA by the state HFA, and NCSHA is not responsible for any inaccurate or out-of-date information in these worksheets. Companies utilizing these tools are solely responsible for obtaining necessary clearances from their compliance departments.

The information in each HFA1 Lender Toolkit resource is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. NCSHA does not accept responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, completeness, or reliability of the information contained herein.

NCSHA will not be liable for any loss or damage that may arise as a result of the use of the information contained herein. Each HFA1 Lender Toolkit tool provides direct links to websites owned by other parties. The content of such sites is not within NCSHA’s control; NCSHA cannot take responsibility for the information or content thereon.