Home financing in Franklin County.
County-by-county financing guides. No paperwork. No social. No ID.
10 institutions are headquartered inside the Franklin County line, Columbus included, and 3 more keep a branch here. Below, we say which is which.
Not this lane? Business FinancingPersonal Financing
The doors in Franklin 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.
- 13
- DOORS HERE
- 10
- BASED HERE
- 64
- OH COUNTIES WITH DOORS
- Lane
- Home Financing
- People
- 1.3Mresidents of Franklin County
- Covers
- Columbus
- Elsewhere in OH
- Cuyahoga County →20 doors — the biggest list of any other county in Ohio
- State
- Ohio →64 of 88 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.
Telhio Credit Union · Economic and Community Development Institute, Inc. (ECDI)Owned 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.
Bridge Credit Union · Education First Credit Union- Education First Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Ohio Healthcare Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Pathways Financial Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Telhio Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Economic and Community Development Institute, Inc. (ECDI)Community lending · Business capital
- IN THIS LIST
6 of the 13 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.
- Finance Fund Capital CorporationCommunity lending · Business capital
- Freedom Equity Inc.Community lending · Business capital
- Ohio Capital Finance CorporationCommunity lending · Business capital
Show the other 2Show fewer
- The Affordable Housing Trust for Columbus and Franklin CountyCommunity lending · Business capital
- Economic and Community Development InstituteBusiness capital
Based elsewhere, with a member-facing office inside the Franklin County line. You can walk in.
- Bridge Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Everest Credit UnionMinority depositoryPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Wright-Patt Credit UnionPersonal · 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
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 (Jun 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.
Who actually approves home loans in Franklin County.
home-purchase applications that reached a decision were turned down: 1,065 of 13,143.
- Applications
- 16,730
- Loans made
- 11,821
- Median rate
- 6.5%
- Too much debt for the income37.5%
- Credit history21.9%
- The home's value or condition11.5%
- The Huntington National Bank2,0591,24922.5%6.8%
- Nfm1,5581,2010.8%6.6%
- United Shore Financial Services1,6071,18612.6%6.3%
- Rocket Mortgage1,5191,06921.2%6.4%
- Crosscountry Mortgage1,2778302.9%6.6%
- JPMorgan Chase Bank1,1167279.8%6.4%
- Fifth Third Bank1,04760023.4%6.7%
- Union Savings Bank6465035.9%6.5%
- Union Home Mortgage6804903.9%6.6%
- Lower7214666.9%6.6%
The 10 lenders that made the most home loans in Franklin County in 2025, buying and refinancing together. The mark on each bar is the whole county's denial rate (16.3%). Home loans only: first-lien, owner-occupied, one-to-four-unit homes, as reported under the federal HMDA law. Small lenders below its reporting threshold — many of the credit unions above — don't report, so their loans aren't counted here. Rates are for loans made. Source: HMDA 2025 public loan records (FFIEC).
Columbus has been one of the fastest-growing big cities in the Midwest, and Franklin County's housing has felt it: prices up, older neighborhoods like the Hilltop, Linden and the South Side changing quickly, and new subdivisions spreading toward the county line. This guide explains how home financing works here, who qualifies, what documents you need, which mission lenders and credit unions are based in Columbus, the Ohio rules that matter when you buy, and the deals that cost families their homes.
It's a process, not a rejection.
Home financing is not one product. The main shapes:
- A conventional mortgage — the standard loan, best for steady income and solid credit.
- An FHA loan — government-insured, with a smaller down payment and more forgiving credit rules. Common for first-time buyers.
- A renovation loan — one loan that covers the purchase and the repairs. Built for the older housing stock in Columbus's inner neighborhoods.
- A portfolio or ITIN mortgage — held by the lender instead of sold, which lets some credit unions and community lenders lend to borrowers who file taxes with an ITIN.
- A home equity loan or line — borrowing against a house you already own, usually for repairs.
- An investor loan — for a two-family or small rental, often underwritten on rent as well as your income.
Franklin County's housing comes in layers. The inner neighborhoods — the Hilltop, Franklinton, Linden, the South Side — are full of older frame houses and doubles, many built long before the federal lead-paint ban, with the lead-paint, wiring and foundation questions that come with age. Those neighborhoods are where many Latino and immigrant families have bought first homes, and where investors are buying too, which pushes prices.
The inner-ring suburbs — Whitehall, Reynoldsburg, Grove City, Hilliard — offer post-war ranches and split-levels.
And the outer edges are new subdivisions with homeowners associations.
Growth from logistics, data centers, the university and the semiconductor project next door has kept demand high. For a buyer, that means competition, appraisals that sometimes come in below the price, and a premium on being ready.
Forget what the banks say.
A mortgage lender looks at four things: income it can verify, debts compared to that income, credit history, and the money you bring to closing.
- 01**Salaried and shift workers
** University, hospital, state government, warehouse and distribution workers. Two years in the same line of work and recent pay stubs make the cleanest file. Steady overtime can count if it has a two-year history.
- 02**Self-employed tradespeople
** Drywall, roofing, cleaning, landscaping. Lenders use your tax returns after write-offs. If you wrote off most of your income, you also lowered what you qualify for. Talk to a lender a year before you plan to buy.
- 03**ITIN borrowers
** Conventional and FHA loans generally require a Social Security number. ITIN mortgages exist, usually from community lenders and credit unions that hold loans in their own portfolio, often with a larger down payment. Ask directly.
- 04**Mixed-status households
** A family member with a Social Security number may qualify on their own income while others contribute. Understand whose name is on the loan and the deed before you sign.
- 05**Small investors
** A double in an older neighborhood can carry part of its own cost. Investor loans weigh the rent, but expect larger down payments and a close look at the property's condition.
- MISSING ONE?Ask Iris which one you're missing.ASK A QUESTION ↓
Get your papers in order.
Start a folder months before you shop.
- 01Photo ID
An Ohio driver license or state ID, passport, or consular ID
- 02Social Security number or ITIN, plus the IRS letter assigning your ITIN
- 03Two years of tax returns with all schedules, and W-2s or 1099s
- 04Recent pay stubs
Or a year-to-date profit-and-loss statement if self-employed
- 05Two to three months of statements for every bank account, every page
- 06A written explanation and paper trail for any large deposit.
Down payment money should sit in your account for months before you apply; cash saved at home or from a tanda needs documentation
- 07A signed gift letter if family is helping
- 08Rent history
Canceled checks, transfers, or a landlord letter
- 09For investors
Leases and rent deposits on properties you already own
- MISSING ONE?Ask Iris which one you're missing.ASK A QUESTION ↓
The doors worth knowing.
Columbus is home to an unusual concentration of community development lenders, several of them focused on housing.
ALL 13 DOORS, BY NAME AND BY TOWN- 13
- DOORS HERE
- 85
- ACROSS OH
Based in Columbus, Ohio. 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.
BEST FORA personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing, and buying, repairing or refinancing a home.Based in Powell, Ohio. A member-owned credit union, which means the people deciding on your file answer to depositors in the same towns you work in.
BEST FORBuying, repairing or refinancing a home, and working capital, equipment and payroll for a small business.Based in Columbus, Ohio. 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 Dublin, Ohio. A credit union — owned by its members rather than by shareholders, which is exactly what changes the conversation after a bank has said no.
BEST FORA personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing, and buying, repairing or refinancing a home.
Don't fall into these traps.
A seller who will not record the contract, will not let a title company search the property, or keeps the deed in a drawer is a red flag. Families have paid for years and lost everything.
In neighborhoods where prices are rising, investors knock on doors with fast cash offers well below value. Get an independent opinion before selling.
Anyone who charges upfront to save your house is a red flag. Free help exists through HUD-approved counselors.
A notary public is not a lawyer. Do not let anyone handle documents about your house or your status who is not a licensed attorney or accredited representative.
Turning your equity into cash to pay off cards can mean paying for it for thirty years. Compare the total cost.
Older Columbus doubles hide expensive problems. Hard-money loans with short balloons are dangerous when the rehab runs long.
Everything below is set by Ohio, and it reads the same in every county in it. The 13 marks above are this county's own doors — who opens one is decided by them, not by the state.
The rules where you are.
Owner-financed land contracts are common in Ohio's older neighborhoods. Ohio law requires the seller to record the contract with the county, and once a buyer has paid in long enough, the seller must go through foreclosure rather than simply taking the house back. Even so, have a lawyer review any land contract and confirm the seller actually owns the house free of other liens.
The Franklin County auditor reappraises property on a regular state-set cycle, and tax bills can jump after a reappraisal. If you live in the house, make sure you receive the owner-occupancy credit; older and disabled homeowners should ask about the homestead exemption.
Federal rules require sellers and landlords to disclose known lead-paint hazards in older homes built before the ban. Ask for the disclosure and test if you have young children.
If you are buying to rent, Columbus requires landlords to register rental property with the city. Check current rules before closing.
Ohio foreclosures are judicial, meaning they move through the county court, and you have the right to respond. Call a HUD-approved counselor at the first missed payment; the earlier, the more options.
The short version.
- 01
Franklin County's market is competitive, and its older neighborhoods are full of good houses that need work. Get ready before you shop. Start with a free HUD-approved housing counselor, ask about the state's down payment programs, and talk to the community development credit union based in Columbus about what you qualify for. If you file with an ITIN, ask every lender plainly whether they make ITIN mortgages, and use the time before you buy to build credit and season your savings in an account.
- 02
If someone offers you a land contract, make sure it is recorded and reviewed by a lawyer. Claim your owner-occupancy credit with the auditor.
- 03
Origen Capital is a directory, not a lender. We do not collect your information, we do not sell it, and we do not take applications. Use this page as a map, then work directly with a licensed lender, a credit union, or a HUD-approved housing counselor when you are ready.
Same county, another question.
Business FinancingLoans, lines of credit, and capital for small businesses and contractorsSEE IT IN FRANKLIN COUNTY →
Personal FinancingPersonal loans, credit building, and ITIN-friendly financing optionsSEE IT IN FRANKLIN COUNTY →64OH COUNTIES WITH DOORSThe whole stateEvery county in Ohio, in this same lane.85 institutions fund homes and repairs inside Ohio 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.