FirstHome™ Lender Training Fall Schedule

North Dakota Housing Finance Agency will host two FirstHome™ lender training sessions this fall.

“FirstHome lender training is geared to the new staff of our participating lenders, new or pending participating lenders, and current lender staff that want a refresher course,” said Dave Flohr, NDHFA homeownership division director.

The training is intended to introduce participating lenders to the Agency’s homeownership programs – FirstHome, HomeAccess and North Dakota Roots, provide a review of different loan types, borrower and property eligibility, and guide lenders through the process of locking a loan with NDHFA.

The training sessions will be held on Oct. 5 at the Expressway Suites, 4303 17^th Ave S, Fargo, and Oct. 12 at the Comfort Inn, 1030 E Interstate Ave, Bismarck. Both sessions are scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. and to be completed no later than 1:00 p.m.

There are no registration fees for the lender training, however pre-registration is required. A block of sleeping rooms are reserved at both hotels. If you have questions, contact Dave Flohr or Kim Becker at (800) 292-8621 or hfainfo@nd.gov.

Mortgage Relief Scam

North Dakota Housing Finance Agency has alerted its borrowers about a mortgage relief scam.

An NDHFA customer recently received a letter that used the logos of the state agency and Making Home Affordable, a federal government program. While the letter includes some legitimate contact information for both agencies, the toll-free phone numbers provided were not NDHFA’s and the staff person listed on the letter does not work for NDHFA.

The letter said that the recipient has been approved to enter a trial period plan under the Home Affordable Modification Program, and it instructs the recipient to make their first monthly “trial period payment” to qualify for a permanent modification.

“NDHFA will never contact you directly to refinance your loan, and no legitimate mortgage lender will ask you to make an advance payment to qualify for a loan modification,” said Jolene Kline, NDHFA executive director. “It appears that the primary goal of the letter is to obtain the borrower’s social security number.”

Borrowers that receive a suspicious call or correspondence regarding an NDHFA mortgage, should report it to the agency’s Loan Servicing Department, (701) 328-8080, (800) 292-8621 or hfaservicing@nd.gov.

NDHFA is a self-supporting state agency dedicated to making housing affordable for all North Dakotans. The Industrial Commission of North Dakota, consisting of Governor Jack Dalrymple as chairman, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, oversees the agency.