A Broad Coalition Write to Highlight the Urgent Need to Include Targeted First Generation Down Payment Assistance (DPA) in the Build Back Better Act

Congress cannot miss this once-in-a-generation opportunity to expand homeownership and create racial justice and equity. Targeted DPA is one of the most cost-effective strategies to shrink disparities in wealth and narrow the homeownership gap.1 More than half a million Black and Latino families could become first-generation homeowners thanks to this program even if funded at $30 billion over ten years. In this case, DPA would help 288,208 Black families; 223,649 Latino; 88,000 Native American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander families; and 249,398 white families achieve homeownership.