If you sell within five years of purchase, you must repay only the full amount of the subsidy actually applied to the interest payments on the second mortgage. If you remain in your home for five years or longer, the repayment is limited to the lesser of the amount of the subsidy used or 20 percent of the net appreciation gained at the time of sale. However, in no event shall this amount, when combined with your other secured debt, exceed 95 percent of the property's value. If you choose to refinance the second mortgage, subsidy money can no longer applied to your monthly payment. The amount you repay will be calculated in the above manner.
Banks participate by originating the first and the second mortgages under the program.
Some banks sell the first mortgages to Fannie Mae on the secondary market. The MHP has worked with Fannie Mae to obtain approval for the program guidelines and for the loan closing documents. The banks' ability to sell the first mortgages in the secondary market reduces bank risk over time and greatly leverages the use of bank commitments to the program. The second mortgages are held by the banks in their own loan portfolios. In order to make this mortgage product even more affordable to first-time buyers, participating banks in Boston and many other communities offer first and second mortgages through the Soft Second program at one half of a percent below conventional interest rates.