Who writes this, and what we leave out on purpose

Program and regulatory figures verified October 5, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.

By Mike Certo, Cornerstone First Mortgage · NMLS #260555 · Updated October 5, 2026

A short page about method, because on a subject this full of stale numbers the method is the only thing that makes the figures worth anything.

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Where do the numbers come from?

IHCDA's own documents, read directly and dated.

Document	Date	What it governs
IHCDA Homeownership Program Guide	02/2026	Program terms, eligibility, property rules, recapture
Income and Acquisition Limits, FS/SD/NH	eff. 5/25/2026	FHA table, income and acquisition
Income Limits, NH Conv / NS Conv / NS FHA	eff. 5/25/2026	Conventional table, income only
STEPS Lender Matrix	6/3/2025	Credit, DTI, servicer overlays, fees
Fort Wayne Housing Authority	read 2026-10-05	Hoosier Homes

FHFA supplies conforming loan limits and Zillow's public research data supplies market values. Where two IHCDA documents disagree we take the more recent and say which.

Why every figure carries a date

Because agency figures move and stale ones outlive them online, and this subject is unusually bad for it. IHCDA's limits page alone lists archived sheets going back to 2020, several with filenames that look current. Taking the top result rather than the one above IHCDA's own "Archive" heading would have published a two-year-old table.

The same habit is what turned up First Place. Rather than describe its terms from a secondary summary, we checked IHCDA's current guide — which states in its own words that it ended on 12/31/2023. We have shipped a stale figure before by weighing a source's authority over its date. Checking the date first is the single most useful habit on a site like this.

Corrections we publish on purpose

Three things on this site contradict what most Indiana pages say. Each is sourced rather than asserted:

Assistance is non-forgivable. IHCDA's own "no proration" language.
First Place ended. The date, in IHCDA's current guide.
The minimum score is 660, not 640. From the published matrix — 640 belongs to a different programme.

What do you deliberately leave off?

Rates, APRs and payment amounts. None appear anywhere on this site.
Funding levels and urgency. We describe programme structure and never attach a countdown or a scarcity hook.
Programs we are not approved to originate.
Legal and tax advice. We are lenders. Recapture, title and tax questions go to your CPA or attorney, and IHCDA's own guide says the same about recapture.
Figures IHCDA has not published. Where the program guide defers to the Master Servicer, we say so rather than invent a number.

Frequently asked questions

Who runs this Indiana down payment assistance site?

Mike Certo, Branch Manager at Cornerstone First Mortgage, NMLS #260555, company NMLS #173855. The site covers Indiana statewide across all 92 counties.

Where do the IHCDA figures on this site come from?

Directly from IHCDA's published documents, each carrying its date: the Homeownership Program Guide dated 02/2026, the two income and acquisition limit sheets effective 5/25/2026, and the STEPS Lender Matrix dated 6/3/2025. Hoosier Homes terms come from the Fort Wayne Housing Authority, read 2026-10-05.

Why are there no interest rates on this site?

Because we publish no rates, APRs or payment figures anywhere. A payment estimate without a locked rate and a real file behind it is a number people plan around to their cost. IHCDA also does not allow rate buy-downs, and all loans must close at the rate reserved.

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. IHCDA program terms, income limits and acquisition limits are set by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority and change; figures here carry the date we verified them against IHCDA's published documents. IHCDA down payment assistance is a non-forgivable second mortgage repayable in full, not a grant. Federal recapture tax may apply on bond-funded loans; consult a tax advisor. Loans are subject to borrower and property qualification.