7/27/2019 Increasing the Presence of Fannie Mae's Community HomeChoice Program in Massachusetts By: Cathy Boyle from Autism Housing Pathways

1/1

Increasing the Presence of Fannie Mae's Community HomeChoice Program in Massachusetts

By: Cathy Boyle from Autism Housing Pathways

One major barrier facing families when trying to figure out housing solutions for their adult family members with

disabilities is financing. While there are a number of programs aimed at providing financing for lower-income and first-

time home buyers, families creating housing are largely treated as purchasers of vacation homes.

There is one mortgage product aimed at these families: Fannie Mae's Community HomeChoice, a variant of Fannie

Mae's MyCommunity Mortgage.

HomeChoice can be used by individuals with disabilities and their families. It permits family members to be considered

"non-occupying co-borrowers". This means their income can be considered in determining the ability of borrowers to

repay, while still allowing the individuals with disabilities to be considered low income, and thus qualify for the program.

Community HomeChoice allows individuals with disabilities to put 3% down, and only $500 of it has to be their own

money; the rest can be from family members.

Unfortunately, there do not appear to be any mortgage lenders in Massachusetts offering HomeChoice. Fannie Mae

does not have the ability to identify lenders offering specific products. I have been able to establish that most (if not all)

Massachusetts participants in MyCommunity do not engage in manual underwriting, which is necessary to use theHomeChoice option.

I have been in discussions with officials at MassHousing regarding the possibility of MassHousing working with a small

group of lending institutions (probably 6 or 7) scattered around the state, to offer HomeChoice. There is some openness

to the idea. I have been told that it would be helpful to get as many public comments as possible on MassHousing's draft

strategic plan asking for this option.

MassHousing is accepting public comments until the close of business on November 8th. You can comment at:

https://www.masshousing.com/portal/server.pt/community/about_masshousing/221/strategic_plan

In your comments, please touch on the following points:

* Individuals with disabilities and their families need a mortgage product that has a 3% down payment and that

recognizes the need for family members to help financially

* Fannie Mae's Community HomeChoice is such a product

* Community HomeChoice does not appear to be offered by any lender in the state

* MassHousing should work with a small group of lenders to make Community HomeChoice available throughout the

state

* Such an initiative would fit into MassHousing's proposed objectives of expanding housing options for special

populations and expanding home ownership opportunities for underserved populations

Please cc Cathy Boyle at ccampboyle@comcast.net on your comments. Any questions about this should be directed to

Cathy Boyle at ccampboyle@comcast.net .