Home financing in San Francisco County.
County-by-county financing guides. No paperwork. No social. No ID.
12 institutions are headquartered inside the San Francisco County line, and 4 more keep a branch here. Below, we say which is which.
Not this lane? Business FinancingPersonal Financing
The doors in San Francisco County.
The CDFIs, credit unions, and microlenders that actually say yes — county by county, in two languages. We are not a lender. Nobody paid to be listed. And where a county has no good doors, we say so.
- 16
- DOORS HERE
- 12
- BASED HERE
- 49
- CA COUNTIES WITH DOORS
- Lane
- Home Financing
- People
- 874Kresidents of San Francisco County
- Elsewhere in CA
- Los Angeles County →66 doors — the biggest list of any other county in California
- State
- California →49 of 58 counties hold a door in this lane
Certified by the U.S. Treasury to lend where a bank will not. Nonprofit, patient, and used to a file that is not clean.
Northeast Community Credit Union · Self-Help Credit UnionOwned by their members, not by shareholders. They look at your whole story rather than a score, and that is the difference when a bank says no.
I.l.w.u. Credit Union · Northeast Community Credit Union- Northeast Community Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedMinority depositoryPersonal · Home · Business capital
- San Francisco Credit UnionMinority depositoryPersonal · Home · Business capital
- San Francisco Lee Credit UnionMinority depositoryPersonal · Home
- Community Vision Capital and ConsultingCommunity lending · Business capital
- Feed the Hunger FundCommunity lending · Business capital
- IN THIS LIST
10 of the 16 doors inside the county line are CDFI-certified.
The U.S. Treasury certifies them to lend to the people banks pass over. It is a loan, not a favour.
- Low Income Investment FundCommunity lending · Business capital
- Mission Asset FundCommunity lending · Business capital
- Mission Community Loan Fund LLCCommunity lending · Business capital
Show the other 4Show fewer
- REDF Impact Investing FundCommunity lending · Business capital
- San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund, TheCommunity lending · Business capital
- Working Solutions CDFISBA microlenderCommunity lending · Business capital
- Southeast Asian Community CenterBusiness capital
Based elsewhere, with a member-facing office inside the San Francisco County line. You can walk in.
- I.l.w.u. Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Redwood Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Self-Help Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedMinority depositoryPersonal · Home · Business capital
- The Golden 1 Credit UnionMinority depositoryPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Mission Asset FundAccepts ITIN
Zero-interest lending circles and credit building. SSN or ITIN accepted. Works through nonprofit partners across the country.
Personal - Accion Opportunity FundAccepts ITIN
Nonprofit small-business lender. Accepts ITIN in place of SSN. Serves most states, in English and Spanish.
Business capital - Grameen AmericaAccepts ITIN
Microloans for women entrepreneurs. Requires photo ID and proof of address — no SSN requirement. Branches in major metro areas.
Business capital
Nobody paid to be on this list.
The 16 doors inside the county line come off public data, and 7 of them are owned by their own members. We do not ask for your name, and we earn nothing if you knock on one door rather than another.
How to read this list.
We do not ask for your name, your email, or your number. Nothing on this page changes based on who you are.
A door is headquartered here when its head office sits inside the county line. The rest are based elsewhere and keep a branch you can walk into. We list both, and we label which is which.
Every institution on this page comes from public federal data — the CDFI Fund certified list (Aug 2026), NCUA credit union data (Mar 2026), and the SBA microloan intermediary list (Sep 2026) — plus a short national tier we verified by hand. We refresh each list as its agency publishes. No listing is paid.
San Francisco is one of the hardest places in the country to buy a home, and also one of the few with a real below-market ownership track, a dense bench of mission lenders, and credit unions that keep loans on their own books. This guide explains the kinds of home financing that exist here, including the ownership forms that need a specialized lender, who qualifies when income arrives from tips, 1099 work, or several earners at once, what documents to gather, which institutions are actually based inside the county, and what to avoid.
It's a process, not a rejection.
San Francisco is a consolidated city and county, so one set of offices handles property records, permits, and local housing programs for the whole county. People here borrow for five distinct reasons:
- A purchase mortgage — the loan that buys the home. Government-backed options exist for buyers with smaller down payments and imperfect credit.
- A below-market-rate purchase — the city and county runs an ownership track where qualifying buyers purchase price-restricted units. The mortgage is ordinary; the eligibility process and the resale rules are not, so get the program's own briefing before you shop.
- A refinance — replacing your loan to lower the payment or to pull equity out for repairs.
- A home improvement or rehab loan — roof, foundation, seismic, electrical, or the work required to legalize a unit.
- A small multi-unit purchase — buying a two-to-four-unit building and living in one unit is a long-standing path here. It is also more complicated: the existing tenants' rights, the rent rules, and the income the lender will count all come into it.
One local fact matters enormously and is almost never explained. Not every home in this county is a plain single-family house or a standard condominium. Some are tenancy-in-common shares, some are co-op shares, and those ownership forms require a lender that specifically finances them — many large lenders do not.
Before you fall in love with a listing, ask what form of ownership it is, and ask a lender directly whether it finances that form.
Buyers lose months to this question, and nobody warns them.
The other local fact: price. Household incomes that buy comfortably in most of the country are stretched here, which is exactly why the assistance programs and the below-market track exist rather than being a footnote.
Forget what the banks say.
A home lender measures four things: documentable stable income, a debt load that leaves room for the new payment, credit history or an accepted substitute, and enough cash for the down payment and closing.
Income in San Francisco often does not look like one salary:
- Restaurant and hotel workers earn a base plus tips. Reported tips count as income; cash that never reached a tax return generally does not. Filing honestly in earlier years turns into borrowing power later.
- 1099 contractors and subcontractors — painters, cleaners, movers, drivers, home care workers — are read on net income after deductions, not gross receipts. Aggressive write-offs lower this year's taxes and next year's loan amount at the same time.
- Households with several earners, including adult children and extended family, are the normal buying unit here. Ask each institution how it treats co-borrowers, and whether a non-occupant co-signer is allowed.
- Salaried workers with equity or bonus income should ask how the underwriter averages variable pay and what history it needs.
- ITIN filers: some institutions offer mortgages to ITIN holders, usually with a larger down payment and a higher rate, and some do not offer them at all. This is rarely posted. Make it your first question, not your last.
A thin credit file is workable: documented rent payments, utility history, and a car loan paid on time can be assembled into something a lender can read. What cannot be repaired quickly is a recent collection or a run of late payments, so pull your own credit reports early.
For the below-market-rate track, the qualification logic is different — it centers on household size and income limits rather than only on how much you can borrow. A HUD-approved counselor can tell you where you stand before you spend money on anything.
Get your papers in order.
Put this in one folder before the first call. Prepared buyers move faster and are much harder to pressure.
- 01Government photo ID for every borrower
California issues driver's licenses regardless of immigration status; confirm what each institution accepts.
- 02ITIN or Social Security number for each person on the loan
- 03Two years of tax returns, every page and schedule
- 04W-2s and 1099s for the same two years
- 05Recent pay stubs
Including ones that show tip income if you earn tips
- 06Two to three months of statements for every bank account
- 07A signed gift letter if family is helping with the down payment.
Untraceable cash deposits are the most common reason a file stalls.
- 08Rent payment history
Especially if you rent from a private owner
- 09For a condominium
TIC, or co-op: the association or group documents, the budget, and any assessment history
- 10For a two-to-four-unit building
Current leases, rent roll, and the tenancy details
- 11For a refinance
Your mortgage statement and current insurance declaration page
- 12For repairs or legalization work
Contractor bids and the permit status from the city and county building office
- 13For the below-market-rate track
Household income documents for everyone who will live there, plus whatever the program's own checklist requires
- MISSING ONE?Ask Iris which one you're missing.ASK A QUESTION ↓
The doors worth knowing.
Shop more than one door, and be honest with each about how your income arrives and what ownership form you are buying.
ALL 16 DOORS, BY NAME AND BY TOWN- 16
- DOORS HERE
- 123
- ACROSS CA
Based in San Francisco, California. A credit union — owned by its members rather than by shareholders, which is exactly what changes the conversation after a bank has said no. It is CDFI-certified, and it is a minority depository.
BEST FORA personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing, and buying, repairing or refinancing a home.Based in Durham, North Carolina. A member-owned credit union, which means the people deciding on your file answer to depositors in the same towns you work in. It is CDFI-certified, and it is a minority depository.
BEST FORBuying, repairing or refinancing a home, and working capital, equipment and payroll for a small business.Based in Long Beach, California. A credit union: no shareholders to satisfy, and a habit of reading a whole story rather than a single score.
BEST FORWorking capital, equipment and payroll for a small business, and a personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing.Based in San Francisco, California. A credit union — owned by its members rather than by shareholders, which is exactly what changes the conversation after a bank has said no. It is a minority depository.
BEST FORBuying, repairing or refinancing a home, and a personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing.
Don't fall into these traps.
ITIN mortgages are ordinary licensed products at the institutions that offer them. A person who offers to fix your status, your ITIN, or your paperwork for a cash fee is running a scam aimed at this city's immigrant neighborhoods.
A TIC or co-op share is not the same as owning a condominium. Read the group agreement, know how a co-owner's default affects you, and have a lawyer review it.
Payments for years, the title stays with the seller, and one missed payment can erase everything. If no deed will be recorded in your name, take it to a HUD-approved counselor first.
If you asked for Spanish and receive only English, stop, request translation, bring someone you trust, and take the papers home overnight. Nobody legitimate refuses that.
A landlord's promise of rental income from a space that is not legal can vanish at the first complaint, and your lender may refuse to count it at all.
A refinance that raises the payment, adds years, and hands you a check is usually a loss dressed as help. Compare total cost, not the monthly number.
Real assistance comes from public agencies and approved lenders. Nobody needs a fee to introduce you to it.
In a competitive market, pressure is the normal temperature — which is exactly why you should never sign what you have not read.
Everything below is set by California, and it reads the same in every county in it. The 16 marks above are this county's own doors — who opens one is decided by them, not by the state.
The rules where you are.
California re-assesses value when a property changes hands, so what the seller pays now is not what you will pay. Ask the assessor how to estimate the new bill, and make sure your lender used a realistic figure in your monthly payment.
If you buy an occupied two-to-four-unit property, existing tenancies and the city's rent rules travel with it. Do not plan around vacating anyone. Get legal advice before you make an offer, not after.
TIC and co-op shares are financed by a narrower set of institutions than condominiums, often with different terms. Confirm financing availability for the specific building before you commit.
The city and county keeps building records, and unpermitted work affects your loan, your insurance, and your resale. Look before you buy.
Anyone originating a mortgage must be licensed, and the license number belongs on your documents. Verify it — that single check removes most of the fraud in this lane.
California gives homeowners real protections in the foreclosure process, the state agency that licenses lenders and servicers takes complaints, and HUD-approved counseling is free before and during trouble.
The short version.
- 01
San Francisco holds roughly 874,000 people in one consolidated city and county. Buying here is hard, and there are three real tools: the city and county's below-market-rate ownership track, the state housing finance agency's assistance programs, and credit unions based right here that keep loans on their own books.
- 02
Three credit unions are headquartered in the county — Northeast Community, San Francisco, and San Francisco Lee — plus a community development credit union and three more credit unions keeping branches here. Several mission lenders are based in the county too; they mostly do business and community lending, not mortgages, but they are real doors for credit building.
- 03
Do this: pull your credit reports, put two years of income documents in one folder, confirm what form of ownership you are buying and that your lender finances it, and sit down with a free HUD-approved counselor before you sign anything. Ask every institution two questions — do you lend to ITIN borrowers, and do you keep this loan in-house? Then compare at least two written offers side by side.
- 04
Origen Capital is a directory, not a lender. We do not collect your information, we do not sell it, and nothing here costs you anything. When you are ready, work directly with a licensed lender, a credit union, or a HUD-approved counseling agency.
Same county, another question.
Business FinancingLoans, lines of credit, and capital for small businesses and contractorsSEE IT IN SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY →
Personal FinancingPersonal loans, credit building, and ITIN-friendly financing optionsSEE IT IN SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY →49CA COUNTIES WITH DOORSThe whole stateEvery county in California, in this same lane.123 institutions fund homes and repairs inside California county lines.OPEN THE STATE →Still don't see your situation?
Ask Iris. She'll explain it the way it should have been explained the first time.