Who Writes This, and What We Left Out
Program and regulatory figures verified September 26, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
A site about a government program is only as good as its sourcing. Here is ours, including the parts we chose not to publish and the one place MHDC contradicts itself.
Who we are
Mike Certo, NMLS #260555, Branch Manager at Cornerstone First Mortgage, NMLS #173855. We originate MHDC loans, which is why this site is shaped around the forgiveness schedule rather than around the headline 4%.
That emphasis is deliberate. The thing that costs Missouri borrowers money is not failing to find the assistance; it is taking it without understanding that nothing is forgiven for five years.
Where the figures come from
| Figure | Source | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Program terms and forgiveness schedule | MHDC First Place and Next Step Operations Manuals | Revised 3/11/2026, read 2026-09-26 |
| Income limits | MHDC 2026 Income and Purchase Price Limits (HUD FY 2026) | Effective 5/1/2026, read 2026-09-26 |
| Purchase price limits | Same sheet, Rev. Proc. 2026-23 | Effective 5/6/2026, read 2026-09-26 |
| Targeted areas | MHDC lender resources, targeted areas | Effective 1/8/2024, read 2026-09-26 |
| MCC pause, flood zones | Cornerstone approved lender guidance for MHDC | Read 2026-09-26 |
| Conforming loan limits | FHFA 2026 county loan limit file | Parsed 2026-09-26 |
| Typical home values | Zillow Research public ZHVI | Data month August 2026 |
MHDC's own pages: First Place, Next Step, and lender resources, where the current limits sheet lives.
A conflict we found, and how we resolved it
The Next Step Operations Manual describes the assistance in a paragraph copied from First Place, which says "qualified first-time homebuyers and qualified Veterans are eligible to receive" the forgivable second. Its own eligibility section says the borrower "may be a first-time homebuyer or a repeat buyer", and MHDC's public Next Step page says the program gives first-time and repeat homebuyers the option of cash assistance.
We read the copied paragraph as boilerplate that was not updated, and we treat repeat buyers as eligible for the assistance on Next Step, because two independent sources say so and the third is a duplicate. Where a file turns on it, we confirm with MHDC at reservation rather than rely on our reading.
We publish this because a site that never records a discrepancy is a site that is not checking.
What we deliberately left off
Rates, APRs and payment figures. Nowhere. That includes the Non-DPA rate spread MHDC's own manuals publish. A payment number without a locked rate and a real file is a guess people plan around.
MCC terms. The program has been paused indefinitely since January 1, 2026 and MHDC's MCC manual is still dated 1-16-24. We publish the status, not figures from a stale document. The correction.
The targeted census-tract list. It is dated January 8, 2024, it changes, and tract boundaries are invisible from the street. We point you at the FFIEC map MHDC itself directs lenders to, and we check addresses ourselves.
A cause for Branson's decline. It was the only Missouri metro to fall year over year. Short-term-rental exposure is a plausible reading; we have not verified it, so we report the fact and not the story.
Funding or urgency claims. No countdowns, no funds running out. If we ever say a program is closing it will be because we read the notice, and we will cite it.
A note on sourcing quality
Some state housing agencies block automated access to their own documents, which makes it impossible for a search engine or an AI system to verify a claim against the primary source. Missouri does not: mhdc.com serves its manuals and limits sheets openly.
That is good for you. Every figure on this site can be checked against the document it came from, and we would rather you did.
Our lane
We are lenders. We can tell you what the loan requires, what the program says, what the timeline looks like and what your options are. We do not advise on purchase contracts, and we do not give legal or tax advice. The federal recapture tax question in particular belongs with your tax preparer, and we will say so rather than guess.
Frequently asked questions
Who runs this Missouri down payment assistance site?
Mike Certo, NMLS #260555, Branch Manager at Cornerstone First Mortgage, NMLS #173855. We originate MHDC loans, so the terms described here are ones we work with directly rather than summarised from other websites. Every figure traces to a primary source and carries the date it was read.
Where do the figures on this site come from?
MHDC's First Place and Next Step Operations Manuals, both revised 3/11/2026; MHDC's 2026 income and purchase price limits sheet, effective May 1 and May 6, 2026; MHDC's targeted areas page, effective January 8, 2024; Cornerstone's approved lender guidance for MHDC; FHFA's 2026 conforming loan limit file; and Zillow Research's ZHVI for August 2026. All read on 2026-09-26.
Did you find any errors in MHDC's own documents?
One conflict. The Next Step manual's description of the assistance is copied from First Place and names only first-time homebuyers and qualified Veterans, while its own eligibility section and MHDC's public Next Step page both say the program serves first-time and repeat buyers. We treat the copied paragraph as boilerplate and repeat buyers as eligible, and we confirm with MHDC at reservation where a file turns on it.
Why are there no interest rates on this site?
Because a rate or payment figure without a locked rate and a real file behind it is a guess presented as a fact, and it is the kind of number people plan around. That includes the Non-DPA rate spread MHDC publishes in its own manuals. Ask us for a quote on your actual scenario and the assumptions will be written down alongside it.
Why does this site not list Missouri's targeted census tracts?
Because the list is dated January 8, 2024, it changes, and tract boundaries are not visible from the street, so a stale list on a lender's page could talk someone out of a house that qualifies. We point you at the FFIEC geocoding map that MHDC itself directs lenders to use, and we check specific addresses when you send them.
Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about financing, not a loan commitment and not legal or tax advice. MHDC program terms, income limits and purchase price limits are set by the Missouri Housing Development Commission and change; figures here carry the date we verified them against MHDC's published documents. MHDC down payment assistance is a forgivable second loan, not a grant, and selling or refinancing inside ten years can require repaying all or part of it. Loans are subject to borrower and property qualification.