Northeast Ohio has long had a homeownership gap that mirrors the region's uneven economic recovery. Even as housing in Cleveland and its suburbs remains comparatively affordable, Black and Latino residents face higher loan denial rates, lower credit scores on average, and thinner savings cushions than white buyers. CHN Housing Capital, the lending arm of Cleveland-based nonprofit CHN Housing Partners, launched the Believe Mortgage program to address that gap directly.

Why Believe Mortgage Exists

Conventional mortgage underwriting rewards long credit histories, large down payments, and stable W-2 employment. Borrowers who fall outside that template often end up priced out of ownership, even when they can comfortably afford a monthly payment. CHN Housing Capital built Believe Mortgage to rewrite the script for Northeast Ohio buyers.

The program is structured around the idea that credit scores do not fully capture a household's ability to pay. A family that has paid rent on time for a decade, for example, may have a thin or bruised credit file but a strong track record of handling monthly housing costs. Believe Mortgage uses expanded underwriting criteria to look past the score alone.

How the Program Works

Believe Mortgage is a fixed-rate home loan with several features designed to remove traditional barriers to ownership:

Low down payment. Buyers can put as little as 3 percent down. That figure can include gift funds, down payment assistance, or a combination of sources.
No private mortgage insurance. Because the loan is held in a special portfolio rather than sold to typical secondary-market buyers, CHN Housing Capital can waive the private mortgage insurance requirement that usually applies to low-down-payment conventional loans. That shaves real money off the monthly payment.
Flexible credit review. Credit scores that fall below typical conventional thresholds can still be considered. The underwriting team factors in housing payment history and documented compensating factors.
Pairing with other assistance. The loan can be combined with CHN Housing Partners' down payment assistance, closing cost help, and home repair grants for eligible buyers.

Who the Program Serves

Believe Mortgage is focused squarely on low- and moderate-income buyers in Cuyahoga County and the surrounding Northeast Ohio region. The program's own published numbers show a sharp demographic tilt toward buyers who have historically faced the steepest barriers to ownership.

A majority of borrowers are Black or Latino. Nearly half are single mothers. Many are first-generation homeowners, meaning no one in their immediate family has owned a home before. For these households, the program is not only a path to the mortgage itself but a path to the generational wealth that owning a home can help build over time.

Impact Since Launch

CHN Housing Capital launched the Believe Mortgage program in 2021. In its first two years, it closed loans for nearly 200 buyers across Northeast Ohio. By its fifth year, roughly 150 mortgages were in the hands of low-income and minority borrowers who had been shut out of the conventional market. The steady growth reflects both demand and the program's deliberate pace, which prioritizes careful underwriting over volume.

The ripple effect extends beyond the buyers themselves. Each closed loan puts a family into a neighborhood they can now invest in long-term, strengthens the local property tax base, and helps stabilize housing stock that might otherwise rotate through investor ownership.

The Broader Ohio Context

Ohio's overall homeownership rate dropped during the pandemic, bottoming out around 64 percent in 2022. By the end of 2024, the rate had climbed back toward 70 percent, the highest in more than a decade. That rebound has not been distributed evenly. In Northeast Ohio's urban neighborhoods, ownership rates often lag the state average by a wide margin, and communities of color continue to see lower ownership rates than white households.

Believe Mortgage is one of several local efforts working to close that gap. The program sits alongside down payment assistance initiatives, homebuyer counseling services, and habitat-style affordable construction programs offered by other regional partners.

What Buyers Can Expect

Applicants start with a prequalification conversation to review income, credit, and savings. If the file looks promising, CHN Housing Capital refers buyers into required homebuyer education. That training covers budgeting, mortgage mechanics, home maintenance, and the full closing process.

Once a buyer identifies a home, the lender moves through a standard underwriting process, with the Believe Mortgage flexibilities applied as appropriate. Closing timelines are typically similar to a standard conventional loan, and many buyers combine the mortgage with local down payment assistance to bring cash required at closing down to a manageable level.

Pairing Believe Mortgage With Grants

CHN Housing Partners operates one of the largest home repair grant platforms in Ohio and connects Believe Mortgage buyers to lead paint abatement, roof replacement, and energy efficiency upgrade funds where available. Buyers purchasing older Cleveland homes often take advantage of these grants to address maintenance backlogs without draining their cash reserves.

Why the Model Matters

Believe Mortgage shows what portfolio-lending nonprofits can do when they keep loans on their own books and design terms around community needs. Without the constraints of selling loans to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the program can accept lower scores, waive insurance requirements, and pair credit with social services in ways that big-bank underwriting rarely allows.

For Northeast Ohio buyers who have been turned away from conventional lenders, Believe Mortgage is more than a loan product. It is a working example that ownership is possible on terms that reflect how real families actually build their financial lives.

Believe Mortgage Lifts Homeownership Across Northeast Ohio