Mississippi first-time homebuyer grants and down payment assistance (2026)

Three MHC second mortgages and what each one costs you later

The program names give the dollar amount. They differ in how you repay the money and in which first-mortgage rate comes with it.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Rates and terms: program pages and MHC’s rate page updated Oct. 13, 2026 ⁠¹⁠²⁠³⁠⁴⁠⁷⁠⁸. Rates change with the market.

None of the three second mortgages is forgiven. Easy8 and Smart7 cost nothing each month, but the full $8,000 or $7,000 comes due when you sell or refinance ⁠¹⁠². Trusty10 is the only one with a payment. By our calculation, $10,000 at 2% over 180 months is about $64 a month. In exchange, Trusty10’s first-mortgage rate was 0.10 point below Easy8’s on the Oct. 13, 2026 rate sheet ⁠³⁠⁷. All of the money can go toward the down payment, closing costs or prepaid items. None of the programs has a liquid asset limit ⁠²⁠³.

Lenders may charge you up to a 1.5% origination fee on an MHC loan but no discount points. Non-occupying co-signers are allowed. They can sign the note but cannot take title ⁠⁸.

How MHC’s target areas change the first-time buyer test

Easy8, Trusty10 and JustRate are funded with tax-exempt Mortgage Revenue Bonds (MRBs). Federal bond rules therefore apply: you must not have owned or held an interest in a principal residence in the last three years ⁠². Two groups are exempt. Veterans are exempt anywhere, and anyone buying in a “Target Area” is exempt ⁠²⁠³. MHC marks counties three ways on its limit chart:

• An asterisk (*) means the whole county is a target area. Repeat buyers qualify there at the higher target income limit. Most Delta and rural counties are in this group, including Adams, Coahoma, Holmes, Leflore, Oktibbeha, Washington and Yazoo ⁠⁵.
• NT/T means a split county with both non-target and target tracts, such as Hinds, Rankin, Madison, DeSoto and Harrison. Your lender checks the address on MHC’s searchable 2026 target map, which took effect May 18, 2026 ⁠⁵⁠⁶.
• No mark means a non-target county, such as Lee, Pontotoc, Tate or Union. The three-year rule applies everywhere in it ⁠⁵.

Bond-financed loans can also trigger the federal recapture tax if you sell within the first years at a gain. MHC includes a Potential Recapture Form with its MRB loan documents. Keep your copy ⁠⁶.

2026 county income and price limits for MRB loans and Home4All

The MRB income limits took effect May 18, 2026. They have two columns, for households of 1-2 people and of 3 or more ⁠⁵⁠⁶. In non-target areas they run from $81,100 / $93,265 in most counties up to $98,100 / $112,815 in Lafayette County. In target areas they run from $97,320 / $113,540 up to $117,720 / $137,340 in Lafayette. The purchase price cap is the same statewide: $316,373 in non-target areas and $382,590 in target areas ⁠⁵. Smart7 ignores both the county and household size. Its limits are $137,870 in household income and a $413,610 price ⁠¹⁠⁵.

Home4All uses HUD’s 80% of area median income limits by household size and its own county price caps, with separate caps for existing and new homes ⁠¹¹.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

MRB figures are effective May 18, 2026 ⁠⁵⁠⁶. MHC’s Home4All income page shows 1-4 person figures only, and was last revised before HUD’s 2026 limits. Have your lender confirm the current figure for your household size ⁠¹¹.

Home4All: the HOME grant with a recapture period

Home4All is the closest Mississippi comes to a statewide homebuyer grant. MHC describes it as a forgivable grant, not a loan, of up to $25,000. MHC sets the amount by underwriting your need, and total assistance cannot exceed 50% of the purchase price ⁠¹¹. To qualify, you must:

• have household income at or below 80% of area median income, counted under HUD’s Part 5 annual income rules;
• be a first-time buyer, meaning you have not owned a principal residence in the past three years;
• be a U.S. citizen or qualified alien;
• finance with a fixed-rate FHA, VA, USDA or conventional mortgage through an MHC-approved lender. ARMs and balloon loans are not allowed ⁠¹¹.

The home must pass a licensed inspection to HUD Housing Quality Standards, and MHC must clear an environmental review before any money is paid out. Homes built before 1978 also need a lead-based paint inspection ⁠¹¹. Home4All funds are reserved for households that include a person with a disability ⁠¹¹.

The grant is tied to an affordability period: 5 years for assistance under $15,000 and 10 years for $15,000 to $40,000. You certify each year that you still live in the home. If you sell or transfer it during that period, MHC recaptures the grant, but never more than the net proceeds of the sale ⁠¹¹. Home4All’s first mortgage carried JustRate’s rate on Oct. 13, 2026: 5.89% government and 6.09% conventional ⁠⁷.

Credit scores, debt ratios and the lender’s role

MHC does not post a minimum credit score or a debt-to-income cap on its consumer pages. Smart7 says the score is “based on servicer guidelines.” Easy8, Trusty10 and JustRate say only that you must credit-qualify with a participating lender ⁠¹⁠². The binding limits are in the credit overlay sheets of the two servicers that buy MHC loans, Standard Mortgage Corporation and Renasant. MHC links both sheets from its lender pages ⁠⁶. In practice, ask the loan officer two questions at pre-qualification: which servicer the loan will go to, and what minimum score and maximum DTI that servicer allows for your loan type.

MHC lists about 80 participating lenders, including banks, credit unions and mortgage companies. It warns that not every lender offers every program ⁠¹⁰. If your credit is not ready, MHC’s process sends you from the lender to an approved credit counselor and then to homebuyer education before the lender reserves funds ⁠¹⁰.

Teachers, Hattiesburg and Jackson: help beyond the main programs

Housing Assistance for Teachers (HAT). Under the Mississippi Critical Teacher Shortage Act of 1998, the Department of Education pays up to $6,000 of a licensed teacher’s down payment, closing costs, prepaids and mortgage insurance. The home must be in the county of a critical-shortage district. The list covers about 70 counties, from Adams to Yazoo, including Hinds, DeSoto and Harrison. The teacher must put in 1% of the price from their own funds and keep one month of reserves. The help is forgiven after three years of teaching in that district. There is no income limit unless you pair HAT with another MHC loan ⁠¹². MHC’s rate page showed $130,000 in HAT funds left on Oct. 13, 2026 ⁠⁷.

City of Hattiesburg. The city takes Down Payment Assistance applications from first-time buyers on a rolling basis ⁠¹⁴. Its 2026 Action Plan sets aside only $50,000 in HOME funds for about four households. It caps the purchase price at $226,000, effective Dec. 1, 2025, and recaptures the assistance on early sale. The city’s 2021 brochure described a forgivable loan of up to $20,000, an 8-hour HUD-approved class and single-family homes only. Confirm the current maximum with the city at 601-554-1006 ⁠¹⁴.

City of Jackson. The Office of Housing and Community Development lists homebuyer down payment and closing cost help among its HOME uses. As of October 2026 it publishes no amount, income table or application, so email [email protected] before you plan around it ⁠¹⁵.

Programs that have ended. MHC suspended its Mortgage Credit Certificate on Oct. 16, 2025 because it needed all of its bond cap for mortgage loans. Reservations closed Nov. 15, 2025, and loans had to close by Dec. 31, 2025. Existing certificates still count for the life of the loan ⁠¹³. The Trusty10 Plus 2 add-on was a $2,000 grant from Mississippi REALTORS for buyers using an agent. It showed $0 in available funds on Oct. 13, 2026 ⁠³⁠⁷.

Getting an MHC loan reserved, step by step

1. Pick a lender from MHC’s list

   Ask which MHC programs they close and which servicer they use, then get pre-qualified ⁠¹⁰.

2. Check your county’s limit and target status

   Use the 2026 income chart. In an NT/T county, have the lender run your address through the target map. Smart7 buyers need only the $137,870 income and $413,610 price limits ⁠⁵⁠⁶.

3. Take homebuyer education

   MHC requires it for every program. It accepts in-person classes at HUD-approved counseling agencies and online courses such as Freddie Mac CreditSmart Homebuyer U and the free Fannie Mae HomeView ⁠⁹. For Home4All, every adult on the deed needs an 8-hour HUD-compliant course ⁠¹¹.

4. Gather documents

   You need pay stubs, up to three years of federal tax returns, bank account details, court orders for child support or alimony, and proof of where your own funds come from ⁠¹⁰. Home4All also asks for two months of pay stubs and bank statements, tax transcripts and benefit letters ⁠¹¹. The lender also needs income for every adult in the household ⁠⁸.

5. Sign a sales contract, then let the lender reserve

   MHC does not reserve money without a contract ⁠¹⁰. Home4All adds an inspection and an environmental review once you have an address ⁠¹¹.

6. Close and file the second-mortgage papers

   The MHC second-mortgage note and deed of trust need wet signatures ⁠⁸. Keep them, along with any recapture notice, for a future sale or refinance.

If one lender declines you, another participating lender with a different servicer may approve the same file ⁠⁶⁠¹⁰. Other states’ programs are compared on the first-time homebuyer grants page.