Movement Mortgage announced a new down payment assistance program for first-time homebuyers that allows borrowers to put nothing down on a home.
To make it so homebuyers put 0% down but still have equity, Movement Mortgage said it will provide grants up to 3% of a home's sales price, thus creating 97% conventional financing.
The Movement Assistance Program combines a non-repayable down payment grant provided by Movement Mortgage with a 30-year conventional loan.
Movement Mortgage emphasized that borrowers do not have to repay the grant, and it comes with no second loans, liens or promissory notes.
Movement Mortgage isn’t the first lender to dabble in low down payment assistance programs.
Other lenders, such as Quicken Loans and Guaranteed Rate, have also come out with down payment assistances programs through grants. Plus, Fifth Third Mortgage around this time last year announced a zero down payment mortgage program.
In order to qualify, first-time homebuyers must meet specific income and asset criteria based on need and median income in their geography.
Meanwhile, the program also provides access to job-loss insurance coverage for non-self-employed borrowers for two years.
The benefit covers up to six monthly mortgage payments due to involuntary unemployment, with a maximum monthly benefit of $1,500 ($9,000 total benefit over coverage period). However, borrower must opt in.
"MAP will help more families become homeowners by providing assistance with the upfront costs of home buying," Movement Mortgage Co-Founder and CEO Casey Crawford said. "This is a program our entire Movement community takes great pride in offering. It's one more way we are leading a Movement of Change in our industry and communities."
