ORLANDO, Fla. - May 12, 2021 - The National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers of America (NAMMBA) announced today a partnership with Trio, a provider of innovative home financing programs, in NAMMBA's effort to affect positive change with the housing needs of underserved communities and with the development of a more diverse mortgage work force.
Imagine being able to originate mortgages today for customers that will be qualified in the next two to three years. Imagine having access to a home financing product with guaranteed approval not subject to late stage underwriting surprises. Finally, imagine being able to offer 100% financing to small business owners, gig workers, those with student loans, ITIN borrowers, and multi-generational households, down to a 580- credit score. All of this is possible with Trio's innovative financing options.
The flagship program, Trio (www.thinktrio.com), is a lease-to-own housing program with no limitations on household income, a minimum credit score of only 550, and requires no down payment from customers. Working with government housing agency partners, Trio locks in today's housing prices for qualified customers, provides them with financial education and tools, and gives them equity in the home as down payment assistance when they are ready to fully transition into homeownership. Participating lenders originate FHA mortgages at inception to Trio through its public-private partnerships. Trio is currently available in 10 states, and will expand to 19 states by mid 2021.
"We're extremely excited to partner with Trio," said NAMMBA Founder/CEO Tony Thompson, CMB. "These products are game changers for lenders, agents, and of course potential homeowners. Like us, Trio has a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, and a leadership team that is committed to representing all the communities in which it does business."
Trio's newest program, Link Home Loan (www.mylinkloan.com), allows participating lenders to originate a new home loan providing 100% financing to consumers having a difficult time qualifying for a traditional home mortgage. With no limitations on household income, a minimum credit score of only 580, and no down payment required, a Link Home Loan fills the gap between renting and today's existing down payment assistance mortgages that rarely reach below a 640 score. Link uses uniform national underwriting guidelines and similar to Trio, provides affordable home financing to households outside traditional standards. Link Loans will be available nationwide starting later in 2021.
According to NAMMBA, over the next five years, 75 percent of all first-time home buyers will be women, millennials, or people of color. Although there is concern across the industry about a stagnant or shrinking housing market, purchase mortgage opportunity is not only growing, it's changing. NAMMBA's most recent mortgage market forecast, the three largest diverse borrower groups (Asians, African-Americans, and Hispanics) generated more than $292 billion of purchase opportunity in 2020, which amounts to 24.2 percent of all purchase dollar opportunities.
"Over 80% of Trio's customers represent minority and underrepresented populations," Trio Founder and Managing Director Darryl Lewis said. "We are excited to partner with NAMMBA to help even more underrepresented communities become homeowners with Trio."
Through this partnership with Trio, NAMMBA will roll out a comprehensive strategy to engage lenders and real estate agents via focused training to create economic opportunity that focuses on business development for minority brokers while meeting the housing needs of underserved areas. Please join our training webinar next month on June 10th to learn more about Trio's innovative homeownership programs.
About NAMMBA
The National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers of America is a purpose-driven organization that is dedicated to the inclusion of minorities and women in the mortgage industry who are advocates for sustainable homeownership in local communities. To fulfill its mission, NAMMBA provides programs and initiatives to introduce minorities and women into the mortgage industry, including recruiting, advisory, networking, and training for enterprises and individual professionals.
For more information, visit: http://www.nammba.org.
About Trio
Founded in 2001, Trio's mission is to promote household stability and community vitality through innovative homeownership solutions. Trio is an independent finance company that specializes in affordable lending to offer more paths to home ownership for American households. Trio works with individuals, private industry, state, local and federal government, and non-profit organizations to offer innovative financing. Trio's leadership has experience in all things housing from affordable lending programs to mortgage lending to housing development to shaping housing policy.
For more information, please visit http://www.thinktrio.com and mylinkloan.com.
Media Contact
Trio/Link Loan
Aaron Tuttle
