Stewardship Standards for Homeownership Programs

Affordable homeownership programs integrate stewardship practices to help households maximize wealth through homeownership while protecting the program and its public investment. Through pre-purchase stewardship, homeownership program staff work with buyers to ensure they are well-prepared for homeownership, financially responsible, and able to maintain the property. Post-purchase stewardship practices protect the public investment through monitoring the property and enforcing program requirements over the long term.

Key take-aways

• The Stewardship Standards help programs that provide long-term affordable homeownership opportunities adopt best practices that will result in better outcomes and reduced risk for homebuyers, programs, and communities.
• The Stewardship Standards are useful to practitioners operating traditional down payment assistance programs.

The Stewardship Standards for Homeownership were developed collaboratively by a number of national organizations, practitioners, and experts. The document serves as an educational resource and measurable framework to help affordable homeownership programs achieve excellence and maximize impact.

The 69-page Stewardship Standards document covers the following topics:

1. Program and Business Planning
2. Affordable Pricing
3. Mortgage Financing
4. Fair Housing and Homebuyer Selection
5. Resales
6. Support, Monitoring, and Enforcement

After reviewing the Stewardship Standards, contact Grounded Solutions Help Desk if you are interested in accessing the Stewardship Standards Self-Assessment.