LOWELL, Mass.—Align Credit Union has launched the Community Dream Mortgage Program in partnership with MassHousing, Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership and the Coalition for a Better Acre.
Align Credit Union and the groups have pledged $2 million to give families the opportunity to own their own home and help build strong, vibrant communities in Greater Lowell.
“We were looking for ways to give back to the Greater Lowell community,” said Kenneth Del Rossi, ACU’s president and CEO. “With the concept in place, we reached out to some of the housing-focused organizations in the Merrimack Valley who we work with regularly to help strengthen the program. Align Credit Union is committing $2 million to help buyers, who might not qualify for other traditional programs, finance their dream home in the Greater Lowell area. We are offering first-time homebuyers a mortgage for purchase and/or rehabilitation needs, both fixed and adjustable rate products will be available. We do initiatives like the Community Dream Mortgage Program because it’s the right thing to do.”
According to Peter Milewski, director of Home Ownership Lending with MassHousing, “We have a unique product that’s called Unemployment Benefit Protection, that in the event that a borrower loses their job at any time during the first 10 years of the mortgage, we will cover their principal and interest payments up to 100%, for up to five months. Over the last 10 years, we’ve had over 1,000 borrowers lose their jobs and the average unemployment duration has been five months. Of those 1,000 borrows, 850 are still in their homes and making their mortgage payments on time. That’s an 85% recovery and foreclosure prevention rate. However, we can’t do that without institutions like Align Credit Union. We are so pleased to be partnering with you and are honored to be part of the program.”
To qualify for Align’s Community Dream Mortgage Program, applicants must be first-time homebuyers, meet low-to-moderate income requirements and must not own any other property at the time of closing. Loans are limited to properties located in Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Lowell, Tewksbury and Tyngsboro, Mass.