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Local teacher describes path to homeownership through NACA character‑based mortgage program
Summary
A Tulsa teacher described using the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) program — a counseling-based, character-underwriting mortgage path the presenter said requires no down payment or mortgage insurance — and urged other women to consider it as a wealth-building option.
Charissa Jacobs, an art teacher at McLean, told the Tulsa Women's Commission on Feb. 7 about her experience with the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), describing it as a counseling‑based path to affordable homeownership that she and others in her family have used.
Jacobs said NACA’s model combines counseling and alternative underwriting that “does not consider one’s credit score” in the traditional way; instead the program conducts full‑document underwriting and works with members through steps (including budgeting and financial reviews) until they are preapproved. Jacobs said members receive a preapproval amount and are assigned an agent unless they choose a different agent.
She told commissioners that NACA mortgages, as described in her presentation, include no down payment, no closing costs, no fees and no private mortgage insurance (PMI). Jacobs said the program emphasizes financial counseling and long‑term readiness and that her experience — and the experience of people she knows who used NACA — suggests a low foreclosure rate for NACA‑backed mortgages (she cited a very low foreclosure rate figure in general terms). She said the approach is especially useful for single women rebuilding finances after divorce or other life changes, and for people who have limited savings but want to build intergenerational wealth through homeownership.
Commissioners asked about program scale in Tulsa; Jacobs said she did not have local enrollment numbers on hand but said NACA has been active since the 1980s and is partnered with banks such as Bank of America in some markets. She encouraged commissioners and residents to research NACA and to share the resource with students and community members.
Jacobs also described a separate program, Safe and Secure, that provides rent assistance to 18-to-24-year-olds — paying for first month’s rent in some cases — and urged educators to share those resources with students who are aging out of systems.
Jacobs concluded by saying NACA’s counseling and character‑based underwriting helped her feel prepared to sustain homeownership and that the program's combination of mortgage terms and counseling makes it uniquely useful for people whom traditional, score‑based underwriting would disadvantage.
