Increasing Home Ownership in the Black Community (List Below)
Realtors helps you find a home, but lenders💰 help you pay for it! The first step in the home buying process is to apply for a home loan. You may want to compare and contrast 2-3 mortgage lenders to see who is the best fit.
The loan officer, who works for the lender, should be able to let you know what type of loan would be best for you as well as let you know if you’re eligible for any downpayment assistance programs.
It’s no secret that homeownership is a key driver of wealth and economic security. At this point, it’s not really up for debate.
The combination of building equity through mortgage payments and home appreciation is a powerful combination. We’ve gone in detail throughout many articles throughout this site in particular about increasing the black homeownership rate.
As a citizen of this country, regardless of your race, ethnicity or sexual orientation, it’s in your best interest for the GDP of this nation to increase. By increasing the homeownership of African Americans, you increase the wealth of the entire nation. This McKinsey article goes into more detail.



We encourage you to support a black owned business, a black realtor, a black mortgage lender (below) or a black loan officer(also below) wherever you come across them. And not just during black history month 🙂
Comprehensive List of Black Owned Mortgage Lenders & Loan Officers
A note to Home Buyers & Sellers
Once you’ve been approved for a home loan, please visit us again and we’ll recommend a great realtor for you to interview. Supporting a black owned bank and a black realtor? You’re alright in our book!
Alabama
- Birmingham – Citizens Trust
- Eutaw – Citizens Trust
- Tuskegee – Liberty Bank
- Montgomery – Liberty Bank
Arizona
- Phoenix – Bernice Payne, Intercap Lending
- Scottsdale – Meloniece Gaskins, Guaranteed Rate
California
- Los Angeles – Keith Bailey, Consumer1 Financial
- Los Angeles – One United
- Los Angeles – Remington Home Loans
- Los Angeles – Conrad Van, Mutual Mortgage
- San Francisco & Oakland – Stephen Levias, Levias Loans
- Los Angeles – Legacy Home Loans
- Sacramento, Fresno, San Diego – Self Help Federal Credit Union
Colorado
- Denver plus surrounding – Chad Robinson, Lending Quarters
- Denver area – Prime Mortgage LLC
Florida
- Orlando – Shurrell Stevens, M&M Funding
- Tampa – Blue Dolphin Capital
- Ft. Lauderdale – Ose Omigie, Fairway Mortgage
- Miami – One United
Georgia
- Atlanta/Smyrna – Anthony Rice, Bay Equity Home Loans
- Atlanta – Tony Bryant, Legacy Home Loans
- Atlanta – ElCapMortgage
- Savannah – Carver State Bank
- Atlanta/Covington – Dianne Jennings, Global Mortgage Strategies
- Atlanta/Peachtree City – Pauline Harris, Movement Mortgage
Illinois
- Chicago – Catherine Okoroh, Guaranteed Rate
- Chicago – Self Help Federal Credit Union
Kansas
- Kansas City – Liberty Bank
Kentucky
- Louisville – Liberty Bank
Louisiana
- Statewide – Red River Bank, Tara Flugence
- New Orleans – Liberty Bank
Maryland/DC/N. Virginia
- MD – Churchill Mortgage, Taneka Williams
- DC & MD – Thomas Phillips, PRMG
- Baltimore – The Harbor Bank of Maryland
Massachusetts
- Boston – One United
Michigan
- Detroit – First Independence Bank
- Detroit – Liberty Bank
Mississippi
- Jackson – Liberty Bank
Missouri
- Kansas City – Liberty Bank
Nevada
- Las Vegas – Shamir Geisinger, Primary Residential Mortgage
New Jersey
New York
- NYC – June Richardson, Guardhill Financial
- NY – Al Diaz, Citizens Bank
- Upstate NY – Northwest, Johnathan Graves
North Carolina
- Charlotte – BlackHawk Mortgage
Pennsylvania
- Statewide – Kamille Lawson, Primary Residential Mortgage
- Statewide – Crystal Bell, Prosperity Home Loans
Rhode Island
- Rhode Island – Jeffrey Nelson, Movement Mortgage
South Carolina
- Greenville/Florence – Summit Funding
Tennessee
- Statewide – Darren Osborne, Mortgage Investors
- Memphis – Tri State Bank of Memphis
Texas
- Houston – AFN Corp, James Lee
- Houston – The Lending Village, Nyisha Walton
- Houston – BlackStar Mortgage
- Dallas – Best Suited Mortgage
- Austin – Click N Close – Noel Christian
- Texas – CMS Mortgage, Jennifer Amoakoh
Virginia & Washington D.C.
Washington
- Work in Progress…
Wisconsin
- Milwaukee – Columbia Savings & Loans
Other – Bank of America, Legacy Home Loans, NACA
The program details and eligibility requirements vary, but generally speaking the programs these lenders offer all have extremely low down payment requirements and no closing costs. Expect to have to go through counseling and jump through a few hoops but it can be worth it for many people.
There are no stated maximum income requirements, but if you know you make much more money than the average family in your area and can afford a 3.5% down payment with an FHA loan for example, these programs probably aren’t for you.
- Bank of America‘s program is only available to borrowers in the following cities: Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, LA, Miami.
- Legacy Home Loans Closing the gap program is only available to black borrowers in the following cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis and Philadelphia. Must have a 620 credit score.
- NACA has a program that offers 0 downpayment as well and it takes between 3-6 months to get through the program. Click the link (where it says NACA) to see what states qualify.
Down Payment Assistance Programs
These programs help to cover all or part of your down payment and closing costs. That way, you won’t have to come up with a big sum of cash upfront just to buy a home.
You can search Google for “down payment assistance programs in my state.” There’s a comprehensive list organized by state that TheMortgageReports.com put together in this link HERE and there is another website, downpaymentresource.com that you should check out as well.
Generally speaking, usually only first time homebuyers with low-to-moderate income are eligible. You also need to have decent credit and steady income.
If you don’t have steady employment, have a ton of debt or bad credit (below 600), please wait. Work on improving your financial position before trying to buy a home. There’s no rush.



The Importance of Home Loans
There are many lists of black owned banks and credit unions, which is wonderful. These lists are great for:
- The underbanked in need of a welcoming financial institution.
- People looking to bank black and move some of their money to a black owned bank.
- People seeking commercial loans.
Unfortunately, many of these banks and credit unions only provide access to a checking account or make commercial loans. There is an enormous gap between those two ends of the spectrum, i.e. those who may already have a checking account and those who are not small business owners.
What about people looking for a home loan, particularly black borrowers?
This is the core population of those who are potentially eligible to buy a home, but need the right type of mortgage product (VA, FHA, conventional loan, USDA) and the right loan officer to ensure that they have a fair chance of being approved for a home loan and not being unjustly denied.
Secondly, making loans is how banks generate the majority of their revenue. Minority owned institutions in turn reinvest this money into underserved communities, creating a prosperous cycle.
A Note About This List of Black Owned Lenders
You’ll notice that there are a lot of cities missing from this list but all lenders can originate loans in any city in throughout the entire state. If there isn’t anyone in your state, then (sigh) contact any of the big banks or online lenders.
The truth is that, unfortunately, every state does NOT have a black owned mortgage lender. There are, however, black loan officers in many states.
If you’re a good black doctor, lawyer, or software engineer, you may not work for a black owned hospital, law firm, or tech company…but you still deserve to be recognized. That is how we feel as well so we have included good black loan officers in this list as well.
We can connect you to a good black realtor in 500+ cities, but unfortunately, it will take more time for us to do the same for black lenders and loan officers.
If you have any recommendations, please contact us.
For a more comprehensive understanding about the history and importance of black owned banks, we recommend checking out the book The Color Of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap by Mehrsa Baradan.