Fifth Third Mortgage could be the latest lender to enter the slowly growing playing field of mortgage companies offering low down mortgages, taking it one step further by announcing – for those who qualify – a zero down payment mortgage program. Its down payment assistance program offers 3% of the purchase price in down payment assistance, as much as $3,600, for low-income borrowers or those purchasing in a designated low-income area and financed through Fifth Third.
Fifth Third Mortgage offers mortgage with no down payment
While borrowers don’t have to be first-time buyers, Fifth Third’s terms and conditions states that borrowers must be “either located in a Low Income Census Tract or borrower must meet the low income limit threshold in accordance with the qualifying income per FFIEC website. Down payment assistance could be taxable as income and reported to the IRS. Consult your tax advisor.”
It isn’t available to everyone across the U.S. though. This program is only available in the bank’s 10-state footprint, which includes Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Fifth Third stated that it intends to keep the product at least through the end of the year and potentially through 2017.
“We want to help build strong communities,” said Chad Borton, head of the Consumer Bank and executive vice president for Fifth Third Bancorp. “We know that making homes affordable is one of the best ways we can help improve our neighborhoods.”
Both Quicken Loans and Guaranteed Rate recently announced 1% down programs, and while they’re not zero down, they’re still low.
This is on top of Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and quite a few other major lenders already launched into 3% down mortgage programs earlier this year. And the entity behind the majority of low down payment programs? Freddie Mac.