Announcements​
New Housing Down Payment Assistance Program Open to Montgomery County Employees and Members of the Montgomery County Public School Unions
Announcement Date: Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Montgomery County has funded $1 million over the course of the next two years to provide housing down payment and closing cost assistance loans to most Montgomery County employees (MCGEO and unrepresented employees) and members of a Montgomery County Public School Union (Service Employees International Union, Montgomery County Education Association or the Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals, or Montgomery County Business and Operations Administrators). The Montgomery Employee Down Payment Assistance Loan Program (MEDPAL) will be operated by Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) in partnership with the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).
The MEDPAL is provided to help first-time homebuyers purchase a home in Montgomery County by offering a Maryland Mortgage Program (MMP) first loan and MEDPAL down payment assistance as a second lien in the form of a zero percent loan. Households may qualify by:
1) having a total household income less than 120% of Area Median income (AMI) (currently $182,500 for a family of 4),
2) having at least one household member who is an employee of Montgomery County government or a member of a Montgomery County Public School Union (SEIU, MCEA, or the MCAPP/MCBOA),
3) not having owned a home in the past 3 years, unless they are a veteran or plan to purchase a home in a targeted area within Montgomery County (MMP Targeted Areas), and
4) contribute at least 1% of the sales price.
Each MEDPAL is for $25,000. If that full amount is not needed to cover down payment and closing costs, the remainder of the loan will be applied to the principal of the mortgage.
The homes purchased with a MEDPAL must remain owner-occupied. No payments are required to repay MEDPAL during the life of the loan; however, if a homebuyer were to sell or refinance with a cash out, the MEDPAL must be paid in full at that time. If a homeowner remains in the home for a full 30 years, the MEDPAL loan will be forgiven. This does not apply to the mortgage MMP first loan.
More information on the program, including a full list of qualifying County government departments and links to apply, can be found on DHCD’s website at: https://mmp.maryland.gov/Montgomery/Pages/default.aspx