Helpful Links

NAREB

The purpose of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers® is to enhance the professional and business conditions of NAREB® Realtist® members by strengthening the consumer capacity of Black, minority, and emerging target market segments that Realtists® serve. And by promoting the real estate industry in general, utilizing economic, political, legal, and social leverage to remediate disparate and discriminatory housing and property ownership policies and practices prevailing in the United States.

NAHREP

National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) is propelled by a passionate combination of entrepreneurial spirit, cultural heritage, and the advocacy of its members. Their mission is to advance sustainable Hispanic homeownership. NAHREP accomplishes its mission by educating and empowering the real estate professionals who serve Hispanic home buyers & sellers, advocating for public policy that supports the trade association’s mission, and facilitating practitioner relationships.

AREAA

NAMMBA’s Mission 2025

The National Association of Minority Mortgage  Bankers of America (NAMMBA) is a national trade association dedicated to the enrichment and betterment of women and minorities who work in the real estate finance industry.

Mission 2025 is to prepare 50,000 Students for a career in the mortgage industry by 2025 Support the mission to bring a better-prepared workforce to the mortgage industry. It’s a strategic process that will lead to a more diverse, qualified, and equitable landscape for both employers and borrowers.

MBA - Home for All Pledge

MBA recognizes and values the opportunities for working together as an industry to promote inclusion in housing. MBA believes that these opportunities can, and need to be, significantly expanded. The Home for All Pledge represents our industry’s long-term commitment on a sustained and holistic approach to address racial inequities in housing. By signing, you are agreeing to be a champion for change in addressing the barriers to sustainable housing for persons and communities of color.

MBA - CONVERGENCE

CONVERGENCE is driving collective action with lenders, other industry participants and government partners to facilitate new solutions to our nation’s rental and housing affordability challenges. By using a cohesive approach, CONVERGENCE promotes more sustainable, affordable homes for purchase and rental for underserved people and communities, especially minorities and low-to-moderate-income Americans.

CONVERGENCE is currently found in Memphis Tennessee and Columbus Ohio with more sites coming online soon.

Visit the MBA site and reach out to member of staff to nominate your community and get tools to help you test the interest level for a local CONVERGENCE and/or build a local program in your area.

NFHA - Keys Unlock Dreams

Homeownership Gives You Options & Opportunities Keys Unlock Dreams is a nationwide initiative dedicated to providing consumers and communities with the resources and expert advice they need to build thriving, inclusive communities and make homeownership a reality for millions of people.

HCA - CLIMB

HCA works with both nonprofit and corporate homeownership lenders through our Community Lending Initiatives in Mortgage Banking (CLIMB) program.  We bring an analytical and technical process, working hand in hand with our partners to develop sustainable mission-business models, innovative product solutions, and programs that reach underserved communities like SPCPs.

HUD Housing Counseling Agencies

HUD certified housing counseling agencies are the most focused on housing stability and qualification for the consumers they serve. You can use this HUD Agency lookup tool to find potential partners in your footprint. There are roughly 2,000 HUD-approved organizations alone, serving over 600,000 BIPOC consumers annually to build their credit, establish housing stability, increase their income, and buy their first home.

Oweesta Native CDFI Intermediary

Oweesta is the longest standing Native CDFI intermediary offering financial products and development services exclusively to Native CDFIs and Native communities. Specifically, Oweesta provides training, technical assistance, investments, research, and policy advocacy to help Native communities develop an integrated range of asset-building products and services, including financial education and financial products.

National CAPACD

A progressive coalition of local organizations that advocate for and organize in low-income Asian America and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities and neighborhoods.  We strengthen and mobilize our members to build power nationally and further our vision of economic and social justice for all.

NHRC

NHRC is a national trade association for HUD-Approved Housing Counselors.  NHRC’s membership encompasses many intermediaries and their affiliates and unaffiliated housing counseling agencies throughout the country.   Housing counseling assists prospective first-time homebuyers in achieving mortgage readiness.

NFCC

The National Federation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) provides programs and services for debt reduction and credit repair through a national network of nonprofit member agencies.  NFCC Certified Financial Counselors staff each agency.  Their work includes financial advocacy, budgeting, and personalized financial action plans

Credit Builders Alliance

Credit Builders Alliance (CBA) is a national nonprofit network dedicated to building the capacity of hundreds of nonprofits.  CBA serves as a bridge to the modern credit reporting system.  Their reporting helps millions of individuals with poor or no credit participate in the mainstream financial system by building credit.

HomeFree USA

HomeFree-USA is a HUD Intermediary dedicated to ending racial inequality in homeownership. HomeFree-USA provides homebuyer education and counseling.  They run The Center for Financial Advancement™ (CFA) to recruit, train, and places student from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) into internships and careers with partnering mortgage and real estate companies.  Students also receive credit, money management, and homeownership information.  HomeFree-USA’s national intermediary network oversees 53 affiliated organizations that served 37,827 homebuyers, homeowners, and renters last year.

Unidos US

The mission of UnidosUS is to create a world where there are no barriers for Latinos to reach their fullest potential.  Unidos has helped 1.4 million immigrants become citizens, 33,000 people buy their first home, and 99,000 people avoid foreclosure.  UnidosUS provides housing counseling and is a HUD housing counseling intermediary.  UnidosUS has 285 affiliated organizations, and builds solutions to decrease income inequality, advocate for better access to affordable homeownership, and promote policies to lift more Latinos out of poverty.  UnidosUS firmly believes that when we open doors for more people to participate in our economy, we can all do better.

NeighborWorks America

NeighborWorks America, through its funding and support of affiliates, creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities.  NeighborWorks is a congressionally chartered and funded nonpartisan nonprofit.  NeighborWorks has a network of nearly 250 organizations in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.  These organizations provide their communities with affordable housing, financial counseling and coaching, training, resident engagement, and collaboration in health, employment, and education.  NeighborWorks is a HUD housing counseling intermediary.

National Urban League

The National Urban League (NUL) is a historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization with 90 affiliates serving 300 communities, providing direct services that impact and improve the lives of more than two million people nationwide.  The National Urban League advocates for economic and social justice for African Americans and against racial discrimination in the United States.  The National Urban League provides housing counseling and is also a HUD housing counseling intermediary.

Low Income Support Corp.

LISC was created by the Ford Foundation to act as an intermediary connecting public and private resources with underinvested places and people.   LISC receives funding from banks, corporations, foundations, and government agencies. In turn, LISC uses that funding to provide financing and technical and management assistance to local partners and developers.  LISC has 38 local offices serving more than 2,200 counties in 45 states.  Additionally, they have a vast network of community-based partners.    LISC has a national network of 100 Financial Opportunity Centers® (FOCs).  FOCs are career and financial coaching service centers that help families living on a low- to moderate-income build effective money habits and focus on the financial bottom line.

Urban Institute

Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization that provides data and evidence to help advance upward mobility and equity, providing facts that inspire solutions.

Polygon Research

Lender-First Market Intelligence – Data is evidence of something that happened in the real world. Polygon Research provides housing finance stakeholders with interactive data to inform sales, hiring, marketing, technology, and policy decisions.

iEmergent

At iEmergent, we look at what’s coming in mortgage markets. What have we found? That diversity in lending can no longer be an afterthought. It’s mission critical for the future of lenders and for the homebuyers in the communities they serve.

Down Payment Resources

Down payment assistance is available. The number one obstacle for most homebuyers is the down payment, but help is out there. Down Payment Resource connects homebuyers with the down payment help they need and provides tools for housing professionals to help them along the way

Say Lambda

Say Lambda gives prospective homebuyers the information and community they need to make better-informed decisions on homeownership, including down payment grants, loans, tax assessments, and more.

FannieMae

The Equitable Housing Finance Plan outlines a range of specific actions Fannie Mae will take over the next three years to knock down barriers faced by Black homeowners and renters throughout their housing journey. The Plan includes efforts to enhance homebuyer education, pilot programs to improve credit scores and to explore security deposit alternatives as well as the creation of Special Purpose Credit Programs (SPCPs) to serve specific areas of need and opportunity, such as down payment assistance.

FreddieMac

Created in response to a 2021 request by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Plan includes a series of ambitious actions to advance equity in both the single-family and multifamily housing markets.

Among the many initiatives is a commitment to fully explore the use of the Special Purpose Credit Program framework to expand access to mortgage funding for traditionally underserved minority communities.