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11 Mortgage Lenders Serving Black Communities
Black-led lenders make more home loans to Black borrowers — and they can be a good fit for allies, too.
Some or all of the mortgage lenders featured on our site are advertising partners of NerdWallet, but this does not influence our evaluations, lender star ratings or the order in which lenders are listed on the page. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners.
Kate Wood Lead Writer/Spokesperson | Homebuying, mortgages, student loans
Kate Wood is a mortgages and student loans writer and spokesperson who joined NerdWallet in 2019. With an educational background in sociology, Kate feels strongly about issues like inequality in homeownership and higher education, and relishes any opportunity to demystify government programs. Prior to joining NerdWallet, she wrote about home remodeling, decor and maintenance for This Old House magazine.
Mary Makarushka Assigning Editor | Housing market trends, mortgage rates, homebuying and selling
Mary Makarushka is a former editor on the Home/Mortgages team at NerdWallet. She was previously managing editor of Bloomberg Personal Finance and has also held editing positions at Entertainment Weekly, The New York Observer and Manhattan, inc. For the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she was in charge of health communication strategy for the campus throughout the H1N1 influenza pandemic.
Banks and credit unions that have significant Black leadership among their executives and board members tend to serve communities that are majority Black. A higher percentage of the home loans these banks and credit unions originate go to Black borrowers, compared with mortgage lenders without such leadership, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Because these institutions tend to be smaller and community-focused, you typically need to live within one of their states or primary locations, or sometimes within a specific metro area, to get a home loan from one of them.
There's currently only one Black-led nonbank mortgage lender in the U.S., Legacy Home Loans, which does business in 23 states as well as Washington, D.C.
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Getting a mortgage from a lender that serves Black communities doesn't only enable you to become a homeowner. Doing business with these institutions can help support their mission of increasing economic opportunities for underserved populations.
Whether or not you live in an area where working with a Black-led or Black-owned mortgage lender is an option, consider working with Black professionals or others who share your values during your home search and while securing your mortgage. For example, you can look for a real estate agent who is a Realtist, which designates an affiliation with the National Association of Real Estate Brokers. NAREB, which has a primarily Black membership, is focused on promoting fair housing and equal rights.
Many financial institutions that provide home loans then sell them to other companies to service, which frees up funds for them to make more loans. For that reason, you may end up making your mortgage payments to a nonbank servicer rather than the lender you started out with. If you envision a different type of ongoing relationship with your mortgage lender after closing, ask the loan officer whether the lender services its own loans.
Black-led and Black-owned mortgage lenders
Click or tap to expand and learn more about each lender.
Andrews Federal Credit Union • DC, MD, NJ, VA
Good for: Military borrowers, since Andrews FCU specializes in serving veterans and service members. That said, anyone can join the credit union, and Andrews offers first-time home buyer incentives that are enticing no matter your loan type.
Primary locations: Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington, D.C.
Good for: First-time home buyers in Atlanta. Via partnerships with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta and the Atlanta Housing Authority, Citizens Trust offers eligible first-timers up to $25,000 in down payment and closing cost assistance.
Good for: Michigan and Minnesota borrowers looking for less common loan types, including portfolio loans and doctor loans. First Independence also offers typical fixed- and adjustable-rate home loans.
Good for: Low- to moderate-income borrowers in the South who may be able to take advantage of Affordable Housing Loans, which offer greater credit and underwriting flexibility. Hope Credit Union also offers ITIN loans for borrowers who do not have Social Security numbers.
Good for: Borrowers who live outside of major metro areas but want to work with a Black-led lender. Legacy has physical branches in the states listed below, but the lender is licensed to do business in 30 states plus Washington, D.C.
Primary locations: California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas
Good for: Home buyers looking for less common loan types. In addition to offering conventional and government-backed mortgages, Liberty Bank also has jumbo loans, non-QM loans and options for financing new construction and renovation. The bank's Detroit Home Restoration and Acquisition program gives Motor City home buyers the opportunity to finance home purchases and repairs.
Municipal Employees Credit Union of Baltimore • MD
Good for: Potential home buyers in Baltimore. MECU offers a 0.25% interest rate discount for first-timers using conventional loans for residences in Baltimore city or county. You don't have to be a credit union member to apply for a mortgage, making it easier to comparison shop.
Good for: Buyers looking for affordable housing in the highly competitive cities where OneUnited operates. OneUnited partners with local organizations that provide payment assistance. The bank also provides loans for homes in Community Land Trusts, which create sustainable, affordable communities.
Good for: First-time home buyers in the St. Louis area. In addition to helping qualified borrowers connect to assistance programs, the credit union also provides credit counseling and other support to help prepare borrowers for homeownership.
Good for: Baltimore borrowers looking for hands-on service. SecurityPlus has a large number of loan officers for its relatively small size, plus a full menu of conventional and government-backed home loans. Substantial grants are available for first-time home buyers and "community partners" (frontline workers, first responders and more), though income limits apply.
Good for: Home buyers in the Southeast who have credit challenges or little savings for a down payment. Self-Help boasts no-down-payment mortgage options that don't require private mortgage insurance. The credit union is open to borrowers with nontraditional or alternative credit data, too.
Primary location: Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina
Methodology: To come up with this group of lenders, we looked at lists of "minority depository institutions," or MDIs, from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). Both of these organizations track financial institutions that are led by or focus on serving people of color, though their qualifications for MDIs differ.
The FDIC considers banks and other financial institutions to be MDIs if at least 51% of the voting shares are held by "minority individuals"; or a majority of the institution's directors, as well as the community it serves, identify as non-white.
The NCUA designates credit unions as MDIs if a majority of the credit union's board of directors, members and the community it serves identify as Black, Asian American, Hispanic or Native American. The credit unions provide this information to the NCUA.
Both the FDIC and NCUA lists indicate whether an institution meets their criteria for MDIs on the basis of having Black leadership or serving predominantly Black communities.
To be considered for inclusion in this article, lenders needed to be listed as a Black-led or Black-community-serving MDI by either the FDIC or NCUA, offer home loans and provide consumer-facing information about mortgages on their websites. The largest lenders appear on this list.
We also included Legacy Home Loans, which is currently the only Black-led nonbank mortgage lender in the U.S.
