Eligible EBP Uses of EBP Grants
Members can use EBP grants to:

• Provide down-payment and closing-cost assistance.
  
  
• Pay rehabilitation costs associated with acquisition.
  
  
• Pay the approved home-buyer-counseling organization for the cost of home-buyer counseling.

In addition, any of the above can be used in conjunction with home buyer's savings through an Individual Development Account (IDA) or matched-savings program.

EBP grants may not be used to create a principal, interest, taxes, and insurance (PITI) reserve; to pay the costs of prepaid life insurance premiums; to reimburse home buyers for earnest deposits; to return cash back to a buyer at the closing in excess of $250; or in conjunction with an Affordable Housing Program subsidy awarded to the same borrower for the same transaction.

To receive EBP funding, members must agree to:

• Work with an experienced home-buyer counseling agency to offer buyers homeownership education, including a component on financial literacy alerting the buyer to the characteristics of predatory lending.
  
  
• Originate the buyers' first mortgages.
  
  
• Provide buyers with concessions or other special incentives in connection with the mortgage financing, including waived or reduced fees, a reduced interest rate (a rate below that for a standard, conventional market-rate mortgage), relaxed underwriting standards or downpayment assistance, or other cash contributions made by the member at closing.
  
  
• Certify, prior to disbursement, to a household's eligibility for the program and that the funds will be used for eligible purposes.

Please see the EBP Program Guide and Instructions Manual for more information.