Do you have to pay back down payment assistance?
It depends on the program: 798 of the 2,700-plus down payment assistance programs Hey Prescott tracks are forgivable, meaning the balance is written off once the homeowner has stayed in the home for a set period.
The rest are typically second mortgages or deferred loans, repaid when the home is sold, refinanced, or stops being the owner’s primary residence. Forgiveness periods are set by the administering agency and commonly run five to ten years. Each program page lists that program’s own published terms.
State by state
51 states and territories have at least one. Each links to that state's full directory.
| State | Forgivable programs |
|---|---|
| Texas | 76 |
| Florida | 43 |
| New York | 43 |
| Pennsylvania | 42 |
| New Jersey | 33 |
| Ohio | 33 |
| California | 31 |
| North Carolina | 30 |
| South Carolina | 30 |
| Georgia | 28 |
| Virginia | 28 |
| Illinois | 25 |
| Minnesota | 25 |
| Michigan | 23 |
| Maryland | 21 |
| Oklahoma | 21 |
| Tennessee | 19 |
| Louisiana | 15 |
| Missouri | 15 |
| Indiana | 14 |
| Wisconsin | 14 |
| West Virginia | 14 |
| Iowa | 13 |
| New Hampshire | 12 |
| Utah | 11 |
| Connecticut | 10 |
| Kansas | 10 |
| Arizona | 9 |
| Nevada | 9 |
| Washington | 9 |
| Alabama | 8 |
| Oregon | 8 |
| Rhode Island | 7 |
| Arkansas | 6 |
| District of Columbia | 6 |
| Kentucky | 6 |
| Massachusetts | 6 |
| Alaska | 5 |
| Colorado | 5 |
| Delaware | 4 |
| Idaho | 4 |
| Maine | 4 |
| Montana | 4 |
| Nebraska | 4 |
| Mississippi | 3 |
| New Mexico | 3 |
| Vermont | 3 |
| South Dakota | 2 |
| Wyoming | 2 |
| Hawaii | 1 |
| North Dakota | 1 |
Questions, answered
Do you have to pay back down payment assistance?
It depends on the program: 798 of the 2,700-plus down payment assistance programs Hey Prescott tracks are forgivable, meaning the balance is written off once the homeowner has stayed in the home for a set period. The rest are typically second mortgages or deferred loans, repaid when the home is sold, refinanced, or stops being the owner’s primary residence. Forgiveness periods are set by the administering agency and commonly run five to ten years. Each program page lists that program’s own published terms.
Where do these numbers come from?
Hey Prescott maintains a catalog of active down payment assistance programs across all 50 states and DC, each verified against the administering agency's own published material and carrying the date it was last checked. The counts on this page are drawn from that catalog and refresh as it does.
Is Hey Prescott a lender?
No. Hey Prescott is an educational directory of down payment assistance programs. We list programs and link to official sources; we do not make loans or give individualized lending advice.
More questions
- Do you have to be a first-time buyer to get down payment assistance?
- Can you combine down payment assistance programs?
- Do you need a homebuyer education class for down payment assistance?
- What credit score do you need for down payment assistance?
- Can you use down payment assistance on a manufactured home?
- Can you use down payment assistance on new construction?
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