Homes by CFE

Homes by CFE is a nonprofit lender that increases homeownership for low- to moderate-income households, strengthening disinvested communities and helping to build generational wealth and opportunity. They provide capital and advisory services to ensure equitable access and increase homeownership among those who have been priced out of the housing market. They primarily serve Black and Latino households in the DC and Baltimore Metro areas.

Their main offering is a Down Payment Assistance (DPA) Program as a Special Purpose Credit Program (SPCP). Eligible buyers may obtain a down payment assistance loan up to 20% of the property’s purchase price, after any grant funds have been applied, for a maximum loan amount of $60,000. They partner with first-trust mortgage lenders to issue a second-trust mortgage for down payment assistance.

The interest rate is set at that of the first trust mortgage minus 2%. Program participants receive a five-year interest deferred period with no required monthly payment. At the end of the five-year period, borrowers begin making monthly principal and interest payments for the remaining 25 years or until the property is sold, refinanced, or the note matures, at which time the balance of the down payment and closing cost assistance is repaid in full.