Wells Fargo down payment assistance program helps 11,000 homeowners

NeighborWorks America has teamed up with Wells Fargo to offer residents of more than forty communities down payment grants via its newly created Neighborhood LIFT program. To date, more than 11,000 homeowners have been provided with down payment assistance.

Wells Fargo said it's now planning an expansion. The next step is to introduce the Neighborhood LIFT program to neighborhoods in San Diego Country this month, before rolling out to residents in the Philadelphia area in April.

HousingWire reports that Wells Fargo has paid out more than $300 million to help homeowners via its LIFT programs, in the form of down payment assistance grants, home buyer education, program support and other areas. Wells Fargo first launched the program back in 2012, to help boost local economies in the aftermath of the housing crisis. In particular, the program was established with the goals of “advancing neighborhood revitalization” and “boosting sustainable home ownership”, the bank said.

“The reaction we receive from home buyers receiving a down payment assistance grant is true excitement,” Kim Smith-Moore, LIFT programs national manager with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, told HousingWire. “Having completed home buyer education, these 11,000 families and individuals are better prepared to be successful and sustainable home owners over time.”