Bank of America announces new zero-down mortgage program targeted at nonwhite borrowers

Bank of America announced this week a new loan program that will target key nonwhite demographics with generous mortgage terms, including zero-down mortgages. 

The bank said in an announcement that its new Community Affordable Loan Solution will "advanc[e] efforts to broaden access to homeownership" among black and Latino borrowers by way of "a new zero down payment, zero closing cost mortgage solution for first-time homebuyers."

The program "will be available in designated markets, including certain Black/African American and/or Hispanic-Latino neighborhoods" in several cities around the country, the bank said.

The program is not strictly limited to nonwhite borrowers, though Bank of America in its advertising of the new policy makes clear that its intended recipients are borrowers of color. 

“Our Community Affordable Loan Solution will help make the dream of sustained homeownership attainable for more Black and Hispanic families, and it is part of our broader commitment to the communities that we serve," AJ Barkley, head of Bank of America's neighborhood and community lending, said in the release. 

The bank said it will use "credit guidelines based on factors such as timely rent, utility bill, phone and auto insurance payments" in order to determine lending eligibility for qualified borrows.