Hometown Heroes 2026 Guide

Reviewed November 11, 2026. General information only — not legal, tax, insurance, or financial advice, and not a commitment to lend.

Florida’s Hometown Heroes program is one of the most useful official tools for eligible workforce and military buyers, and one of the most misunderstood. It can reduce what you bring to closing. It is not a grant, it is not forgiven over time, and it is reserved through a participating lender—not through a random website that wants a processing fee.

This guide summarizes the 2026 program as published by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation and the eHousingPlus Hometown Heroes TBA lender guide dated September 17, 2026. It is general information, not a commitment to lend. Reviewed November 11, 2026.

Dion Link, NMLS 898761, with Link Lending, NMLS 2723931, is a Florida Housing Hometown Heroes participating lender. If you may be eligible, start a Hometown Heroes application. Starting an application is not an approval or a commitment to lend. Program rules, income and loan limits, and underwriting still apply.

What the assistance actually is

Florida Housing’s official program page states that eligible borrowers can receive up to 5% of the total first mortgage loan amount, with a maximum of $35,000 and a minimum of $10,000, toward down payment and closing costs.

That money is delivered as a 0%, non-amortizing, 30-year deferred second mortgage. You do not make a monthly principal-and-interest payment on the second mortgage while you remain in the home and keep the first mortgage in place. The second mortgage becomes due and payable in full upon sale, refinancing of the first mortgage, transfer of the deed, or if you no longer occupy the property as your primary residence. Florida Housing is explicit: the loan is not forgivable.

The TBA lender guide adds a useful sizing example: borrowers with a first mortgage of $200,000 or less receive the automatic $10,000 minimum. The reservation system calculates 5% of the total loan amount and caps it at $35,000. To reach the $35,000 maximum at 5%, the first mortgage would need to be $700,000, and the first mortgage must still fit the county loan limit and the first-mortgage program’s own cap.

The second mortgage is not a stand-alone product. You use it with a Hometown Heroes first mortgage, which Florida Housing offers as a 30-year fixed-rate FHA, VA, USDA-RD, or (in the TBA channel) Freddie Mac HFA Advantage loan. Florida Housing also advertises reduced upfront fees and no origination or discount points on this first mortgage. Daily lock rates change and are published for lenders on the eHousingPlus program highlights page. This guide does not quote a rate as if it were a current offer.

Who the 2026 program is for

The official Florida Housing page states that the HTH 2026 Program is limited to:

• A person employed full-time by a Florida-based employer as a health care worker, school staff member, first responder, public safety or court employee, or child care worker
• A servicemember of the United States military or military reserves, the United States Coast Guard or its reserves, or the Florida National Guard
• A veteran employed full-time by a Florida-based employer

Florida Housing publishes a longer example list of eligible occupations (nurses and other clinicians, K-12 school staff, firefighters and EMTs, sworn officers, court employees, licensed child-care workers, and others) in the lender guide. Only one occupying borrower must satisfy the eligible-employer or service test. Offer letters are not enough; employment must be current at closing.

Employment rules are strict:

• The employer must be a Florida-based business with a brick-and-mortar location that the borrower reports to or works from.
• Remote employees are not eligible. Hybrid employees may be eligible if they report to the physical office at least three days per week (TBA guide revision dated August 14, 2026).
• Active-duty servicemembers are exempt from the Florida-based employer requirement when they provide a current Leave and Earnings Statement.
• Veterans must still be employed full-time. They do not have to work in an eligible occupation, but they do have to work full-time for a Florida-based employer, with a valid DD-214 (a VA Certificate of Eligibility is not a substitute for the DD-214, except in the narrower surviving-spouse rule in the TBA guide).

Occupation limits are set in program documents and, at the statutory level, have been tied to appropriations language that can change by fiscal year. Always re-check the current Florida Housing Hometown Heroes page before you plan around a job title.

First-time buyer status, and the exceptions

In general, occupying borrowers may not have had an ownership interest in a primary residence during the three years before the mortgage is executed. Official exceptions include:

• Purchasing in a federally designated targeted area (the TBA guide lists eligible census tracts, including several in Polk County)
• Qualifying veterans and, under the TBA rules, active-duty servicemembers, with the documentation the guide requires
• Under the September 17, 2026 TBA guide, members of the Reserves or National Guard using a current LES, and certain surviving spouses on a VA Hometown Heroes TBA loan

The property must be a Florida primary residence. You must occupy it within 60 days of closing under the TBA term sheet. Refinances are not eligible.

Income, loan limits, credit, and DTI

For Polk County, the official 2026 Hometown Heroes TBA income and loan limit chart, effective with reservations as of May 6, 2026, lists:

Those figures come from Florida Housing’s 2026 limits PDF (revised July 13, 2026) and the same table reprinted in the TBA guide. Other counties differ. The TBA channel uses credit-qualifying (AUS) income of the borrowers, including a non-occupying co-signor if there is one, not full household income. The Bond channel is stricter on household income and first-time-buyer status. Ask which channel your lender is using.

The TBA term sheet also states:

• Minimum FICO 640 for all standard loan types; blended FICOs are not permitted
• Manual underwrites require a minimum 660 FICO and a maximum 43% DTI
• Maximum 50% DTI with an eligible automated underwriting approval
• Manufactured housing has additional overlays (including a 45% DTI cap and, in the September 17, 2026 update, a restriction on homes moved from another site)

One occupying borrower must complete an approved pre-purchase homebuyer education course, with a military exception unless the loan is an HFA Advantage conventional loan. Certificates are good for two years from completion.

What it can and cannot be combined with

The TBA guide says Hometown Heroes down payment assistance cannot be combined with any of Florida Housing’s other down payment programs. Borrowers who use a Hometown Heroes first mortgage must also close with the Hometown Heroes second mortgage.

The same guide says subsidies from other agencies may be permitted if they are stand-alone assistance and take third lien position behind Florida Housing’s second mortgage. That is the opening, in principle, for a city program such as Lakeland Home Purchase Assistance. Both programs still have to accept the structure, the ratios, and the property. See the Lakeland guide and confirm with both the participating lender and the City Housing Division.

Florida Housing also limits borrowers, including non-occupying co-signors, to one-time participation in its homebuyer loan programs.

How to start, and how to avoid scams

1. Confirm that at least one occupying borrower appears to fit a 2026 eligible category and the first-time-buyer rule (or an official exception).
2. Work with a participating lender. Dion Link, NMLS 898761, with Link Lending, NMLS 2723931, is a Hometown Heroes participating lender. Start an application with him. Florida Housing also publishes a lender and real estate agent locator on the program page.
3. Compare the assistance against the repayment trigger. Because the second mortgage is due in full on sale or refinance, it can be a poor fit if you expect to move or refinance soon. The TBA guide even notes that it may not be the best option for some active-military borrowers.
4. Do not pay a third party to “apply” for you. Florida Housing’s official warning: there is no cost to apply, and you should report anyone who charges an upfront fee to the Inspector General’s Office at the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, 850-488-4197.

To apply for Hometown Heroes with Dion, start a mortgage application, or use the optional pre-qualification form if you want to ask a question first. Starting an application is not an approval or a commitment to lend. The on-site form is a secondary option that works by email.

Sources (reviewed November 11, 2026)

• Florida Housing Finance Corporation — Hometown Heroes Program
• Florida Statutes § 420.5096 (2026)
• 2026 Hometown Heroes TBA income and loan limits PDF (reservations as of May 6, 2026)
• eHousingPlus 2026 Hometown Heroes TBA Lender Guidelines (updated September 17, 2026)
• eHousingPlus — Florida Housing program highlights and rates