CHFA Schools To Home can help essential members of our community—public school employees—begin their homeownership journey.

About CHFA Schools To Home program
The Colorado General Assembly authorized CHFA to develop and manage a shared appreciation down payment assistance program for public school employees, funded by investment from the Public School Permanent Fund (PSPF).

Homeownership contributes significantly to the long-term affordability and stability of communities. CHFA Schools To Homesm was created to help Colorado public school employees purchase homes and live in the communities where they work.

Program Overview

  • Fixed interest rate first mortgage loan
  • Down payment and/or closing cost assistance: second mortgage loan* for up to 25% of the first mortgage loan
  • Shared appreciation component: borrower shares percentage of appreciation gained with the Public School Permanent Fund (PSPF)

*Second mortgage loan repayment, along with the shared appreciation payment, is required but is deferred until the end of the loan term or an earlier event such as payoff of first mortgage loan, sale or refinance of home, or if the home is no longer your primary residence.

Who is a “public school employee?”

CHFA Schools To Home is for any individual employed by a preK-12 Colorado public school, school district, charter school, institute charter school, board of cooperative educational services, or innovation zone, provided they are classified as a full-time employee by their employer. Participating Lenders may use the Colorado Department of Education’s website to pre-verify eligible employers. If using the Colorado Schools List Excel spreadsheet, confirm that the employer is listed as “Public, Detention Center, 100% Home Option, or Head Start” in the “School Type” column.

Please note: If the employer is listed as “100% Home Option” or “Head Start,” the employee may be eligible. As not all employees of 100% Home Option or Head Start school type are part of a public school district, a Participating Lender must perform additional verification to confirm the employee is employed by an eligible employer per the definition above.

In all cases, Participating Lenders must document the employee’s eligibility with appropriate supporting documentation, such as a current paystub, written verification of employment, or other acceptable employer-issued documentation. The documentation must confirm that at least one borrower is a full-time employee of an eligible employer per the eligibility definition above.
A wooden home and a small chalkboard

Be ahead of the class

  1. Review the training slides.
  2. Ensure your borrowers take the required "Understanding Your Financial Commitment" course so they are informed about program requirements and their financial obligation.
     
  3. Download the CHFA Schools To Home flyer (PDF). It has a section for cobranding!

Example: How CHFA Schools To Home Shared Appreciation Works (for illustrative purposes only.)

Graphic flow chart for a borrower who purchases a home for $437,500. The borrower receives $87,500 in the form of the CHFA DPA Second Mortgage Loan. That $87,500 represented 25%25 of the first mortgage loan amount. The borrower later sells the home for $480,000 – an increase in value of $42,500. The percentage of appreciation the borrower must share with PSPF will always be 5%25 lower than the percentage of DPA the borrower received. In this example, the borrower received 25%25 of the CFHA First Mortgage Loan amount in DPA, so the borrower owes 25%25 of the home’s appreciation as a shared appreciation payment to PSPF. 25%25 of the $42,500 increase, or $10,625, is the shared appreciation the borrower owes. Repayment of $87,500 in DPA plus a shared appreciation payment of $10,625 results in the borrower owing a total payment of $98,125 when the borrower sells the home. This leaves you with $31,875 in remaining equity. For illustrative purposes only. Shared Appreciation percentage to be determined but may never exceed the percentage of DPA provided. Appreciation is not guaranteed and any negative appreciation will be considered 0%25 appreciation.

CHFA Schools to Home FAQs

CHFA Schools To Home is available to individuals employed by a preK–12 Colorado public school, school district, charter school, institute charter school, board of cooperative educational services, or innovation zone, provided they are classified by their employer as a full-time employee. There are no tenure requirements.
Participating Lenders may use the Colorado Department of Education’s website to pre-verify eligible employers. If using the Colorado Schools List Excel spreadsheet, confirm that the employer is listed as “Public, Detention Center, 100% Home Option, or Head Start” in the “School Type” column.

If the employer is listed as “100% Home Option” or “Head Start,” its employee may be eligible. As not all employees of 100% Home Option or Head Start school type are part of a public school district, a Participating Lender must perform additional verification to confirm the employee is employed by an eligible employer per the definition above.

In all cases, Participating Lenders must document the employee’s eligibility with appropriate supporting documentation, such as a current paystub, written verification of employment, or other acceptable employer-issued documentation. The documentation must confirm that at least one borrower is a full-time employee of an eligible employer per the eligibility definition above.
Borrowers are eligible to receive up to 25 percent of the CHFA First Mortgage Loan in down payment assistance. The maximum dollar amount allowed is the conforming loan limit.
Subordinate financing is not allowed. However, should the borrower(s) qualify for another down payment assistance grant, that is permissible.
No buydowns of any kind are permissible with this program.
Remember, the CHFA DPA Second Mortgage Loan and shared appreciation are a two-part obligation.

Borrowers will be required to pay both the CHFA DPA Second Mortgage Loan and the calculated shared appreciation amount.

While we do not prohibit you from taking the course, we recommend you instead download the PDF version of the course. This helps limit the number of users utilizing the learning management system that hosts the course and ensures quiz and survey data reflect borrower experiences.

You may also download the CHFA Schools To Home Sample Financial Obligation Calculation PDF to walk through a financial obligation example.
Yes, each borrower must individually take the class and receive their own certificate of completion.
No. Transaction-related expenses incurred by the seller during the sale of the home are not factored into the program's shared-appreciation calculation. Examples include real estate compensation, seller concessions, closing costs, taxes, title insurance and fees, and other customary costs associated with the transaction.
The CHFA DPA Second Mortgage Loan and shared appreciation are a two-part obligation. In the event the property shows no appreciation or a decline in value, the appreciation will be zero, and there will be no shared appreciation repayment component. Borrowers will still be required to repay the CHFA DPA Second Mortgage Loan regardless of appreciation amount.
Remember, only Fannie Mae loans are permissible under this program. You must utilize Desktop Underwriter when originating these loans. Enter the product as “HFA Preferred” and run it with the special feature codes “781 and 782” to ensure the proper results.
Conventional loans that have an LTV of 80 percent or lower don’t require private mortgage insurance and are considered uninsured. In such cases, ensure you select the product indicating “No” under the Insured Colum and “Uninsured” in the Product Description. Don’t just click on the first listing! Pay attention to insurance type in the Description.
Yes. Please ensure you use and complete:
  • CHFA Form 390, Subordinate Shared Appreciation Note
  • CHFA Form 395, Subordinate Shared Appreciation Deed of Trust.
  • CHFA Form 250, Shared Appreciation Rider. (Important: must be recorded with the Subordinate Deed of Trust)
  • CHFA Schools To Home documents are available Doc Magic, Docutech®, and Encompass systems.
  • If you cannot access documents from one of our partner document preparation services, please use the documents found on CHFA’s website and/or in HomeConnection.
All CHFA Participating Lenders with the ability to originate Fannie Mae loans have automatic access to this program.

No additional training is required. However, if you missed schedule training, we encourage you to review the training materials available on the CHFA website.