Guide · Ohio

Will I have to repay the down payment help I get in Ohio?

OHFA's assistance is forgiven after seven years, but sell in year six and you owe all of it. The payback rules for OHFA, Grants for Grads and Ohio's city programs, side by side.

Short answer

Only if you leave early. OHFA's 3% or 3.5% is forgiven after seven years, and you repay the full amount if you sell before then. City programs mostly run five years, and some shrink 20% a year. A few, like Communities First, are true grants with no payback.

The short version

"Free money" is how down payment help gets sold. Most of it in Ohio is really a loan that goes away if you stay put. That's a good deal for people who plan to stay. It's an expensive surprise for people who take a job in another state in year four. Read the payback rule before you take the money, not when you list the house.

OHFA's rule: seven years, all or nothing

OHFA Down Payment Assistance is 3% of the price on a conventional loan and 3.5% on FHA, VA or USDA. Per OHFA, it is forgiven after seven years. If you sell the home within seven years, you repay all of the assistance.

Notice what's missing: there's no sliding scale in OHFA's description. Selling in month 83 can cost the same as selling in month 13. On a $200,000 FHA purchase, that's $7,000 due at your sale closing, out of your proceeds.

OHFA's consumer pages describe the sale trigger. They don't spell out what happens if you refinance or rent the home out. Ask your lender to show you the note and the rules before closing. Don't plan a refinance in the first seven years without asking first.

Grants for Grads: five years, stay in Ohio

OHFA's Grants for Grads, for people who finished a degree in the last 18 months, uses the same 3% or 3.5%. Its assistance is forgiven after five years, as long as the buyer stays in Ohio. That's a shorter clock than the seven-year Ohio Heroes path. See our Grants for Grads vs. Ohio Heroes guide.

City and county programs, side by side

Here's the payback structure for the local programs in our directory, taken from each program's own materials:

Program	Amount	Payback rule
Columbus ADDI	Up to 6%, max $14,999	Deferred loan forgiven after 5 years of owner-occupancy
Cincinnati ADDI	Up to $14,999	5-year, no-interest deferred loan; recaptured if you sell or move
Akron Dreams 2026	$7,500	Forgiven over 5 years, 20% a year (per Signal Akron)
City of Lorain HOME loan	Max $14,900	0% deferred loan forgiven 20% a year over 5 years
Toledo Home at Last	Up to $12,500, or $20,000 in revitalization areas	Grant
Northwest/West Dayton	Up to $7,000	0% deferred loan due in full on sale, refinance or move-out
Parma	Up to $21,900	Deferred loan repaid on sale, title transfer or refinance
Cuyahoga County	Up to 17% or $21,900	Sources conflict: deferred until sale, or forgiven after 5 or 10 years. Confirm.
Communities First (statewide)	3%, 4% or 5% of the loan	Grant; no resale or refinance restriction and no minimum stay, per the Port
FHLB Cincinnati Welcome Home	Up to $20,000	5-year retention agreement

Three kinds of "deferred"

The table hides an important difference. Read the words closely:

Forgiven at the end (OHFA, Columbus). Stay the full term and it's gone. Leave early and you owe it.
Forgiven a slice at a time (Lorain, Akron). Each year you stay, 20% disappears. Leave in year three and you owe less than half.
Never forgiven (Northwest Dayton, Parma). It's a 0% loan that sits there until you sell, refinance or move. Your heirs or your buyer's closing pays it off. That's not a bad deal at 0%, but it's not a grant.

Stacking two programs doubles the fine print

Columbus says its ADDI money can be combined with other assistance. That might mean a forgivable OHFA second plus a city second on the same house, with different terms. Two liens, two clocks. Keep both documents in the same folder, and write the forgiveness dates on your calendar.

A different thing: the federal recapture tax

Don't confuse the payback above with the IRS recapture tax. That tax can apply if your first mortgage was financed with mortgage revenue bonds or you used a Mortgage Credit Certificate, and you sell within nine years at a gain with a higher income. It's rare and capped. Our tax credit and recapture guide explains who might owe it.

What happens when you sell

If you owe assistance, it gets paid at the sale closing, like your first mortgage. The title company orders a payoff from each lienholder and subtracts it from your proceeds. You don't write a separate check, but your net is smaller.

The risk is selling in a soft market. If prices dip and you owe a full OHFA payback plus agent commissions, you could need cash to close your own sale. Plan to stay at least as long as your longest clock.

Before you sign: five questions

Is this a grant, a forgivable loan, or a deferred loan that is never forgiven?
How many years until it's forgiven, and is that all at once or a slice each year?
What triggers repayment: selling, refinancing, renting it out, or moving?
Does the program record a lien on the house?
If I stack two programs, which one gets paid first?

Bottom line

Most Ohio assistance rewards staying. If you expect to be in the home at least seven years, OHFA's terms are generous. If you might move sooner, compare a true grant like Communities First, or a program that forgives 20% a year. Then check your eligibility to see which ones fit.

Reader questions

Is OHFA down payment assistance a grant?

Not exactly. It is forgiven after seven years, but if you sell the home within seven years you repay all of it, per OHFA.

What if I sell my house after five years with OHFA assistance?

Under OHFA's rule you would repay the full assistance at the sale closing, because seven years haven't passed. It comes out of your sale proceeds.

Which Ohio down payment programs never have to be repaid?

Toledo's Home at Last and the Port of Greater Cincinnati's Communities First are grants. Communities First has no resale restriction or minimum occupancy, per the Port.

Can I refinance while I still have down payment assistance?

It depends on the program. Northwest Dayton's and Parma's loans come due on refinance. OHFA's consumer pages don't spell out a refinance rule, so ask your lender before you plan one.

Free printable: the Ohio homebuyer paperwork checklist. Papers, steps, programs and lender questions in two printed pages. Get the sheet