Disclosures
The Home-buying Program
The Afford Colorado Home-buying Program (the "Program") helps prospective home-buyers obtain financial aid to buy a home through a guided, online process.
The Program is intended for low- and moderate-income home-buyers who need financial assistance to be able to purchase a home.
The Program is operated by Afford Lending, a licensed mortgage brokerage ("Afford", "we", "us", "our").
You must apply to participate in the Program. Not all applicants will meet the requirements necessary to qualify for admission into the Program. Admission into the Program is not a commitment to lend.
The Program is not a housing counseling program. To receive counseling, you must work with a HUD-approved housing counseling agency. The Program does not directly satisfy any home-buyer education requirement(s) of any down payment assistance program.
Financial Aid
For the purposes of the Program, the term financial aid includes: down payment assistance, grants, donations, and/or commission rebates.
Advertised financial aid amounts typically include multiple sources of aid. Unless otherwise noted, advertised financial aid amounts assume that you elect to be represented by an Afford Partner Agent. You are not required to use an Afford Partner Agent, but if you choose not to do so, your total financial aid amount may be lower.
Down payment assistance, grants, and donations are provided by third-parties, such as local, state, or federal government agencies and/or non-profits. While we participate in said agencies' and organizations' programs, Afford Lending is not legally affiliated with or officially endorsed by any such agencies or organizations unless otherwise noted.
Certain down payment assistance programs are structured as second mortgages. A second mortgage may:
- Allow you to buy a home with no or a very low down payment
- Allow you to use the money to cover some or all of your closing costs
- Require an additional monthly payment
- Place an additional lien on your property
- Increase the interest rate you pay on your first mortgage
- Impose certain restrictions on who is allowed to be on title
- Impose certain repayment conditions based on timely payment of your first mortgage
- Require repayment when you sell or refinance the property
Each program's terms are different. You should request an official Loan Estimate from a Loan Officer to see a detailed breakdown of the sources, amounts, and terms of any financial aid.
Afford Partner Agents
One of the methods in which Program participants may receive financial aid is through a commission rebate (sometimes characterized as a "donation") from an Afford Partner Agent.
You are not required to use an Afford Partner Agent as your real estate agent to participate in the Program.
Afford Partner Agents are licensed real estate agents (also known as "brokers" in some states) that have agreed to help Afford Colorado clients by rebating a portion of their commission. The final amount of any rebate is ultimately in the sole discretion of the Partner Agent. Some states may prohibit commission rebates by law.
Should you choose not to use an Afford Partner Agent, Afford Colorado is not able to solicit any commission rebates on your behalf from any third-party agents.
Qualification criteria
Due to the underwriting criteria of the down payment assistance programs that we work with, there are certain minimum qualifying criteria for admission into the Program:
- Seeking to purchase a home (no refinances)
- Must intend to occupy property as primary residence
- Minimum credit score of 620
Fees
There are no fees for participating in the Program itself. If you don't end up qualifying for a loan you will not be charged any fees. If you are approved for a loan and decide not to accept it, you will not be charged any fees. If you are approved for a loan and accept it, Afford Lending will charge customary fees associated with originating and processing your loan. These fees will be detailed on the Loan Estimate.
Credit inquiries
We strive to avoid unnecessary negative impacts on any of our clients' credit scores. The following details when we pull your credit, the type of credit we pull, and any impacts it may have on your score.
Pre-qualification/pre-approval: soft credit pull, no impact on score
Final approval: hard credit pull, minor temporary impact on score
Please note: all lenders require a hard credit pull for final approval. When a hard pull occurs, unless your phone number is on the federal Do Not Call registry, you may receive phone calls from other lenders. This occurs because the credit bureaus sell your data as something called a "trigger lead". Unfortunately, we cannot control how the credit bureaus treat your data, but please know that we do not sell any clients' data. We highly encourage all of our clients to register with the Do Not Call Registry early in the home-buying process to avoid this unfortunate form of spam.
Equal credit opportunity
We strive to comply with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and all other applicable fair housing regulations.
You do not need to apply to or participate in the Program to apply for credit with Afford Lending. If you would like to apply for a mortgage without participating in the Program, please contact us to request a Loan Application.
All applicants applying for credit from Afford Lending will never be discouraged on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, military status, marital status, age, or because you get public assistance. All information we request is voluntary, and will be kept confidential.
For more information on the ECOA, please visit: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/credit-discrimination#ecor