Lenders: Teamsters’ new HomeAhead is a referral pipeline

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is introducing a union-backed homeownership program to provide educational resources and lender discounts to help its members qualify for a mortgage loan. 

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Called HomeAhead, the initiative will be administered by Union One, the organization responsible for introducing and expanding benefits for workers of different labor groups. The financial literacy platform aims to provide the resources and preparation to help members develop the creditworthiness that can not only lead to an affordable home purchase, but also to future refinances or equity draws. 

Teamster members in the program can also see opportunities to lower monthly mortgage payments through negotiated discounts or other incentives offered by participating lending partners. In some cases, the savings will equal or exceed the cost of monthly union dues, the organization’s leadership said.

“For too long, working families have been told that homeownership is out of reach or that they’re on their own to figure it out,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a press release. “Rather than waiting for politicians or the market to do the right thing, we put our strength to work to help build a program that will deliver stability for working families.”

HomeAhead benefits include payment assistance

Mortgage lenders participating in the program also agree to cap any fees imposed on borrowers coming through HomeAhead, although platform users are welcome to use any company of their choosing. Teamster members will have the option of sharing their HomeAhead profile with participating companies. 

Alongside the educational and pricing components, the platform’s administrators also said it would introduce a payment protection safety net with the rollout of the HomeAhead initiative. For loans originated by an affiliated lender, the mortgage relief program will issue payments directly to the servicer for up to six months in the event of labor strikes, lockouts or disability hardship.

In addition to providing potential cost benefits, Union One expects the HomeAhead platform will help Teamsters navigate and understand the financing process, giving them tools to respond based on timing, readiness and affordability trends. 

The Teamsters initiative represents the first labor-organization lending program of its kind to operate at such a large scale, according to Union One. The administrator will assume responsibility for making updates to the program when necessary to maintain proper infrastructure and guidance in response to housing and lending market changes. It also pledged to ensure consistency of the program for participating union members.