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Home Purchase Assistance Option (HPAO)

Coconino County, Arizona

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Repayment

Deferred

No payments until the home is sold or refinanced

What is Home Purchase Assistance Option (HPAO)?

Home Purchase Assistance Option (HPAO) is a deferred second loan for homebuyers in Coconino County, Arizona.

  • The Home Purchase Assistance Option (HPAO) is a Coconino County retention benefit for commissioned law enforcement officers and detention officers. Through HPAO, eligible officers may borrow against their own vested balance in the County's Program Individual Trust Investment Account (a participant-directed retirement trust used as part of the County's officer retention program) to help offset the up-front costs of buying a home (down payment and closing costs). Because HPAO is structured as a participant loan against a retirement-trust account rather than a public DPA grant or subordinate lien, terms (loan amount cap, interest rate, repayment schedule, default treatment) are set by the County's plan administrator and applicable IRS rules. Housing Solutions of Northern Arizona, the County's HUD-approved housing counseling agency, lists HPAO as one of the homeownership tools available to local workforce buyers and provides the HPAO flyer and homebuyer counseling, but does not originate or service the loan.
  • Eligible commissioned law enforcement and detention officers may borrow against their own Program Individual Trust Investment Account (an employer/pension-type retirement trust account) to help cover the up-front costs of homeownership (down payment and/or closing costs). Loan amount is capped by the participant's vested Trust Investment Account balance.
  • repayment terms set by the plan administrator. Listed by Housing Solutions of Northern Arizona alongside CHAP / WISH / EAH as a Coconino County workforce homeownership tool.
  • Funding comes from Coconino County and Pension Trust.

Do you have to pay it back?

Home Purchase Assistance Option (HPAO) is deferred, so no payments are due until the home is sold, refinanced, or the first mortgage is paid off.

  • Repayment is triggered by Per pension-plan rules: separation from County employment, loan default, or end of scheduled repayment term typically triggers full repayment or treatment as a taxable distribution.
  • The assistance is recorded in Loan against participant's retirement trust balance (no recorded real-property lien); first mortgage remains in 1st position. position.
  • Forgiveness and repayment terms are set by the program and can change — confirm them on the official program page before applying.

Who qualifies?

Home Purchase Assistance Option (HPAO) is open to buyers who will live in the home as their primary residence.

The program requires

  • The home is occupied as a primary residence
  • Residency: Property must be the borrower's primary residence; no specific geographic residency rule beyond eligibility as a Coconino County commissioned law-enforcement / detention officer.
  • Eligibility is restricted to commissioned law enforcement officers and detention officers employed by Coconino County who participate in the County's Program Individual Trust Investment Account (the County's officer retention / pension plan). Applicant borrows against their own vested account balance; loan must be used for down payment and/or closing costs on the purchase of a primary residence. Must remain employed and continue plan participation per plan rules; defaulted loans typically reduce vested benefits or are treated as taxable distributions per IRS retirement-plan rules. Coconino County Human Resources / pension plan administrator handles eligibility, loan amount, interest rate, and repayment schedule. Housing Solutions of Northern Arizona provides the program flyer and homebuyer counseling but does not underwrite the loan.

These are the program's own published rules, not a decision about any individual — the administering agency and a lender determine who actually qualifies.

What are the income limits?

Home Purchase Assistance Option (HPAO) sets its income limit as follows: No published household income limit; eligibility is occupation- and plan-participation based (commissioned Coconino County law enforcement and detention officers).

  • Area median income figures are published by HUD and updated annually, so check the current table for the county before relying on a number.

What kind of home can it be used for?

Home Purchase Assistance Option (HPAO) can be used for Single-Family, Townhome, and Condo.

  • New construction is eligible.

Is there eligibility for specific groups?

Home Purchase Assistance Option (HPAO) names law enforcement officers among the groups it serves.

  • Being named here means the program mentions the group, not that membership alone qualifies an applicant — the rest of the eligibility rules still apply.

Where does it apply?

Home Purchase Assistance Option (HPAO) serves buyers purchasing in Coconino County, Arizona.

How do you apply?

Applications for Home Purchase Assistance Option (HPAO) go through the administering agency, which publishes the current terms and the application steps on its own site.

  1. Contact the administering agency to reserve funds

    Funds are reserved through Apply through Coconino County HR / pension plan administrator; HSNA can provide the HPAO flyer and refer eligible officers., and are subject to availability.

  2. Work with a lender who handles the program

    Hey Prescott is not a lender and does not accept applications; this page describes the program so a buyer can take it to a lender or housing counselor.

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