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How to Buy a House: Native American Home Loan Program

How to Buy a House: Native American Home Loan Program

If you’re an American Indian or Alaska Native, you may be able to participate in a special Native American home loan program designed to help you purchase, construct, rehabilitate or refinance your home easier. This program is known as the Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program. Keep reading – I’m going to explain what it is, who qualifies and how you can participate.

Looking for other low income home buyer options? Click here!

What is Section 184?

Section 184 is a loan guarantee program offered by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Native American Programs.

As a loan guarantee program, Section 184 basically tells the lender that they will be paid for the loan even if you are unable to make payments on it. Since the lender doesn’t need to worry about losing their investment, they’re more willing to work with low income borrowers!

Why should I consider a Section 184 loan?

There are many benefits to using a Section 184 loan to purchase your home.

Down payments are incredibly low! Loans over $50,000 require a 2.25 percent down payment. Loans less than that require just 1.25 percent! These are some of the lowest rates I’ve ever seen.

Interest rates are based on market rates, not credit scores. This is a huge benefit to most low income borrowers!

Repair costs can be included in your Section 184 loan! Weatherization and rehabilitation can be included in a Section 184 loan.

Manual underwriting ensures that each loan application is given individual attention from a real person. Automatic underwriting is not allowed with the Section 184 program.

Home types can vary with this program. Section 184 will finance existing home purchases or new home construction (including manufactured homes). They will help you fix up a home you’re buying. They’ll also help you rehabilitate or refinance a home you already own.

Who qualifies for Section 184 loans?

Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program is exclusively for American Indians and Alaskan Natives. You must be a member of one of these federally recognized tribes in order to qualify for this program.

In addition, the home to be purchased must be in an eligible area. Although areas are NOT limited to tribal lands, they must be located in a participating state and county.

The following states are “full approval states.” This means that any home in any county in the state will qualify for financing through the Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program.

  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Florida
  • Idaho
  • Indiana
  • Kansas
  • Maine
  • Massachussetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Montana
  • Nevada
  • New Mexico
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Utah
  • Washington
  • Wisconsin

There are a dozen more states with counties that qualify for Native American home loans. However, you will have to choose a home in one of the eligible counties if you want to participate in this program. The states with partial approval are:

  • Alabama (Baldwin, Elmore, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Washington counties only)
  • Connecticut (Fairfield, Litchfield, New London counties only)
  • Iowa (Black Hawk, Linn, Marshall, Monona, Polk, Pottawattamie, Poweshiek, Tama, Woodbury counties only)
  • Illinois (Cook, DuPage, Kane and Lake counties only)
  • Louisiana (Allen, Avoyelles, Concordia, Evangeline, Grant, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson Davis, La Salle, Rapides, Saint Mary and Washington counties only)
  • Missouri (Barry, Jasper, Lawrence, McDonald, Newton counties only)
  • Mississippi (Attala, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Kemper, Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Scott, Winston counties only)
  • Nebraska (Boyd, Burt, Cuming, Dixon, Douglas, Hall, Holt, Know, Lancaster, Madison, Platte, Irchardson, Sarpy, Sheridan, Stanton, Thurston, Wayne counties only)
  • New York (all counties EXCEPT Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond)
  • Rhode Island (Washington county only)
  • Texas (El Paso and Hudspeth counties only)
  • Wyoming (Fremont and Hot Springs counties only)

How do I sign up for Native American home loans?

You will need to meet with a Section 184 approved lender to begin the application process. Here’s a list of approved lenders from the HUD website!

Looking for more ways to save money and get free stuff? We can help with that!

Nicole is the owner and lead researcher for Low Income Relief. She has over 20 years of professional research and writing experience, and she has been solely dedicated to investigating low income topics for the last 10 years. Nicole started Low Income Relief after a personal experience with poverty. When her husband was medically discharged from the US Army, their family experienced tremendous financial hardship. Nicole was able to gather help from multiple community agencies and move into a nearby low income housing unit in just two weeks! Since then, Nicole has been dedicated to helping low income families in crisis. She regularly spends hundreds of hours combing through countless resources to make sure that Low Income Relief has the most comprehensive and complete resource directories on the internet today. Prior to starting Low Income Relief, Nicole worked as a novelist, journalist, ghostwriter and content creator. Her work has been featured in various print and online publications, including USA Today, The Daily Herald, The Chronicle and more. Her work has also been featured by Google for Publishers and other leading industry publications.

Leah

Wednesday 30th of June 2021

This page would not redirect me to the list of recognized tribes, may I please have a copy? Also, does the individual have to have low income to qualify? Thank you for your time.

Hannah Benge

Thursday 1st of July 2021

Its not just for low income. We will work on getting that link fixed as soon as possible. Thank you! -Hannah