Home financing in Philadelphia County.
County-by-county financing guides. No paperwork. No social. No ID.
29 institutions are headquartered inside the Philadelphia County line, Philadelphia included, and 10 more keep a branch here. Below, we say which is which.
Not this lane? Business FinancingPersonal Financing
The doors in Philadelphia 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.
- 39
- DOORS HERE
- 29
- BASED HERE
- 58
- PA COUNTIES WITH DOORS
- Lane
- Home Financing
- People
- 1.6Mresidents of Philadelphia County
- Covers
- Philadelphia
- Elsewhere in PA
- Allegheny County →32 doors — the biggest list of any other county in Pennsylvania
- State
- Pennsylvania →58 of 67 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.
Democracy Credit Union · Asian Finanical CorporationOwned 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.
Advantage Financial Credit Union · American Heritage Credit Union- American Heritage Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Northwood Credit UnionPersonal · Home
- Penn Credit UnionPersonal · Home
- Philadelphia Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Asian Finanical CorporationCommunity lending
- IN THIS LIST
13 of the 39 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.
- Beech Capital Venture CorporationCommunity lending · Business capital
- Economic Opportunities FundCommunity lending · Business capital
- Enterprise Center Capital Corporation, TheCommunity lending · Business capital
Show the other 21Show fewer
- Entrepreneur Works FundCommunity lending · Business capital
- Impact Loan Fund, Inc.Community lending · Business capital
- North Philadelphia Financial PartnershipCommunity lending · Business capital
- Philadelphia Accelerator FundCommunity lending · Business capital
- PIDC Community CapitalCommunity lending · Business capital
- Reinvestment Fund, Inc., TheCommunity lending · Business capital
- Women's Opportunities Resource CenterSBA microlenderCommunity lending · Business capital
- Asian BankPersonal · Business capital
- Holy Trinity Baptist Credit UnionMinority depositoryPersonal
- M.a.b.c. Credit UnionMinority depositoryPersonal
- Mount Carmel Baptist Credit UnionMinority depositoryPersonal
- New Life Credit UnionMinority depositoryPersonal
- Paper Converters Local 286/1034 Credit UnionPersonal
- Pinn Memorial Credit UnionMinority depositoryPersonal
- S I Philadelphia Credit UnionMinority depositoryPersonal
- Transit Workers Credit UnionMinority depositoryPersonal
- University of Pennsylvania Students Credit UnionPersonal
- Wayland Temple Baptist Credit UnionMinority depositoryPersonal
- Community First Fund – PhiladelphiaBusiness capital
- Enterprise Center Capital CorporationBusiness capital
- West Philadelphia Financial Services InstitutionBusiness capital
Based elsewhere, with a member-facing office inside the Philadelphia County line. You can walk in.
- Advantage Financial Credit UnionPersonal · Home
- Democracy Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedMinority depositoryPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Eagle One Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Everence Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Fedchoice Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- NO AGENDA
Nobody paid to be on this list.
The 39 doors inside the county line come off public data, and 24 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.
- Franklin Mint Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
Show the other 4Show fewer
- Freedom Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Sun Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Toledo Fire Fighters Credit UnionPersonal · Home
- Trumark Financial 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 (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.
Philadelphia is a city of rowhomes, and that single fact shapes every part of buying here: small loan amounts that national lenders find unprofitable, old systems that need repair money, and houses passed down through families without clean paperwork. This guide explains the loan types that actually close in this county, who qualifies when income is uneven or pooled, which documents to gather, which doors serve Philadelphia County — including ITIN-friendly national nonprofits — and the Pennsylvania and city rules, from tangled title to payment agreements, that decide whether a purchase works.
It's a process, not a rejection.
A mortgage is a long loan secured by the house. Miss enough payments and the lender can take the property. Everything else is detail — and here, the details are unusual.
The shapes that matter:
- Conventional loans — the standard product, sold on to investors, with the strictest documentation and usually the best pricing when you fit the box.
- FHA loans — government-insured, more forgiving on credit and down payment, and the workhorse product for rowhome purchases.
- VA loans — for veterans and service members, with no down payment requirement in most cases.
- Portfolio and ITIN mortgages — loans a credit union or small institution keeps on its own books rather than selling. Because nobody else must approve them, this is usually where a self-employed borrower or a borrower with an ITIN finds a yes. Expect a larger down payment and a rate above the advertised market.
- Rehab and renovation loans — one loan covering purchase plus repairs. In a city of century-old houses with old wiring, old plumbing, and old roofs, this is often the only honest way to buy the cheap house.
- Down-payment and closing-cost assistance — grants or second loans layered behind the first mortgage, administered through participating lenders and the city.
- Home equity loans and lines — borrowing against equity to fix a roof, replace a heater, or pay off something worse.
- Small-balance mortgages — the quiet problem of this county. Many rowhomes sell for amounts so low that big lenders will not write the loan at all, because the fee does not justify the work. Community lenders and credit unions are frequently the only institutions willing.
That last point is why the door list matters more here than almost anywhere. The house you can afford may be the exact house a national mortgage brand refuses to finance.
Forget what the banks say.
Underwriting asks four things: what you earn and whether you can prove it, what you already owe monthly, what you can put down, and whether the property supports the loan. That fourth one carries extra weight in Philadelphia, because the house itself is often the obstacle.
People who get approved here look like:
- A household pooling two or three incomes under one roof. On some programs a non-borrowing household member's income can be counted — ask a credit union that keeps loans on its own books.
- A trades worker — roofer, mason, electrician, HVAC tech — paid as a 1099 subcontractor, approved on two years of returns plus bank statements.
- A restaurant, hotel, or home-care worker with a base wage plus tips or two part-time employers. Tip income counts when it appears on filings and in deposits.
- A driver whose freight or platform settlements are the income record.
- A first-time buyer using city or state assistance for the down payment and closing costs.
- A family with an ITIN buying through a portfolio lender with a larger down payment saved over years.
- An owner-occupant buying a two-to-four-unit rowhome and living in one unit, where the rent from the others can help you qualify.
What sinks applications here is rarely income.
It is the condition of the property, unresolved title, existing debt, and undocumented deposits.
Also this: deductions that lower taxable income also lower the income a lender may use, so talk to a housing counselor before you file next year's return.
An ITIN does not make ownership impossible; it changes which door opens. Portfolio lenders and some credit unions do this work without advertising it. Ask each institution directly rather than guessing from a website.
Get your papers in order.
Mortgage files are the thickest in consumer finance. Build one folder now:
- 01Government-issued photo ID
Plus your ITIN or Social Security number.
- 02Two years of tax returns with all schedules, personal and business.
- 03W-2s or 1099s for the same two years.
- 04Thirty days of pay stubs if you are on a payroll.
- 05Two to three months of statements for every bank account, including the one holding your down payment.
- 06A written explanation for any large deposit that is not payroll, and a signed gift letter for gift money.
- 07For self-employment
Profit-and-loss statement, business bank statements, state registration, city Commercial Activity License, and contractor registration if applicable.
- 08Proof of rent paid
Canceled checks or transfers — which helps when your credit file is thin.
- 09Utility or phone payment records if you are using alternative credit.
- 10Two years of address and employment history.
- 11Homebuyer education certificate
Nearly every assistance program requires one.
- 12For the property itself
The seller's disclosure, and for older housing, the lead paint disclosure. Ask early whether there is clear title.
The doors worth knowing.
Start with a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, then a county-based credit union, then assistance.
ALL 39 DOORS, BY NAME AND BY TOWN- 39
- DOORS HERE
- 135
- ACROSS PA
Based in Alexandria, Virginia. 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 Washington, District Of Columbia. 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 a personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing.Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 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 Lanham, Maryland. 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.
Philadelphia's cheap housing stock attracts speculators, and the ones who target older homeowners and immigrant families are practiced.
You pay, you repair the house, and the seller keeps the title. In many such arrangements one missed payment forfeits everything you have paid. In this county these deals are common on low-priced rowhomes. If there is no real closing with a title transfer, walk away.
Signing anything that transfers your deed in exchange for help with taxes or repairs can cost you the house. Never sign a deed at a kitchen table. Talk to free legal aid first.
The letters and door knocks target blocks where equity has risen. An honest buyer will wait while you consult someone. Nobody else will.
A roofer who also provides the loan and takes a lien on your house is two transactions pretending to be one. Get the loan separately from the work.
Refinancing repeatedly and rolling fees into the balance hands your equity to whoever arranged it. Ask one question every time: does my total interest cost go down, and by how much?
Criminals send email that looks exactly like your title company's, with new wire instructions. Never accept wire instructions by email. Call the office at the number you already had and confirm every digit by voice.
Both survive the sale and become yours.
You have the right to interpretation and to time. Anyone discouraging either is telling you about themselves.
If you are behind, the free HUD-approved counselor and the city's payment agreement are the correct calls.
Everything below is set by Pennsylvania, and it reads the same in every county in it. The 39 marks above are this county's own doors — who opens one is decided by them, not by the state.
The rules where you are.
Philadelphia has legal features that exist almost nowhere else at this scale. Know them before you fall in love with a house.
Thousands of rowhomes in this county are lived in by families who never received a clean deed after a parent or grandparent died. If your name is not on the deed, you cannot get a mortgage, cannot get most repair assistance, and can lose the house over unpaid taxes. This is fixable, and there is free legal help in this city for exactly this problem. If there is any doubt about who holds the deed, resolve that before you spend a dollar on anything else.
Pennsylvania foreclosures go through court, and Philadelphia runs a mortgage foreclosure diversion process that brings homeowner and lender to conciliation with counseling attached. It is one of the more homeowner-protective setups in the country — but it only helps people who respond to the paperwork. Call a HUD-approved counselor at the first missed payment, not the fourth.
Owner-occupants may qualify for a homestead reduction that lowers the taxable value. Owners behind on property taxes can enter an owner-occupied payment agreement based on income rather than losing the house to a sheriff sale. Both are underused and both are free to apply for. New construction and some rehabs have historically carried a tax abatement; terms have changed over time, so confirm current rules with the city rather than trusting a seller's math.
Given the age of the housing stock, lead disclosure requirements apply on sale, and the city imposes additional lead-safe certification requirements for rental properties. If you plan to rent a unit, you also need a rental license and must follow city landlord requirements. Factor that in before you count the rent as income.
The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency and its counseling network administer homebuyer programs through lenders. Specifics change annually; treat them as an office to call, not a product to assume.
Unpaid municipal charges can attach to a property. Ask the title company to confirm what is outstanding before closing, not after.
The short version.
- 01
Philadelphia County is one of the few big-city markets in America where a working household can still buy a house — and one of the few where the paperwork on the house is as likely to stop you as your own finances.
- 02
The sequence that works: call a HUD-approved housing counselor first and take the homebuyer class. Confirm the seller holds clear title, and if the house is in your own family, fix the deed before anything else. Then sit with a county credit union and ask whether they keep mortgages on their own books, whether they write small-balance loans on rowhomes, and whether they lend to ITIN borrowers. Then ask what down-payment help you qualify for through the state housing agency and the city. Only then start touring houses.
- 03
Budget for repairs from the beginning. An old rowhome with a new mortgage and no repair money is how good purchases turn bad. A renovation loan or a repair program is part of the plan, not an afterthought.
- 04
Never accept wire instructions by email. Never buy without a real closing and a title search. Never sign a deed outside a settlement table. And compare at least two written loan estimates on total cost, not monthly payment.
Same county, another question.
Business FinancingLoans, lines of credit, and capital for small businesses and contractorsSEE IT IN PHILADELPHIA COUNTY →
Personal FinancingPersonal loans, credit building, and ITIN-friendly financing optionsSEE IT IN PHILADELPHIA COUNTY →58PA COUNTIES WITH DOORSThe whole stateEvery county in Pennsylvania, in this same lane.135 institutions fund homes and repairs inside Pennsylvania 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.