United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) on Wednesday announced two new home-affordability mortgage products designed to help underserved borrowers become homeowners.

UWM, America’s top mortgage lender, is offering Special Purpose Credit Programs (SPCP) for Fannie Mae‘s HomeReady and Freddie Mac’s BorrowSmart Geo-Target programs.

These offerings will be available in select metro areas including Detroit, Baltimore and Chicago for Freddie Mac’s BorrowSmart and Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago, Atlanta, Memphis and Philadelphia for Fannie’s HomeReady program.

The lender said qualified buyers will receive up to $10,000 toward their downpayment/closing costs with BorrowSmart Geo-Target, or $5,000 toward their downpayment/closing costs and up to $1,000 toward home warranty and appraisal costs with the HomeReady SPCP.

In early 2022, seven agencies, including the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, gave lenders the green light to develop SPCPs and increase credit access to historically disadvantaged individuals without worrying that they’d violate fair lending laws.

UWM is one among a growing number of lenders turning to Fannie and Freddie’s special purpose programs to narrow the homeownership gap. The programs are key to the GSEs’ equitable housing finance plans.

“The Equitable Housing Finance Plans represent a commitment to sustainable approaches that will meaningfully address the racial and ethnic disparities in homeownership and wealth that have persisted for generations,” Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Sandra Thompson said last year in announcing the landmark plans. “We look forward to working with the enterprises, lenders, and other housing industry participants to further develop the ideas described in these plans.”

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