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Reminder: Single Family Homeownership Program Changes and Income Limit Updates for 2026
Minnesota Housing is making changes to our programs in order to:
- Expand program reach,
- Enhance affordability and support financial stability for borrowers, and
- Improve ease of program use.
The changes outlined below are effective for loans locked in the Minnesota Housing commitment system on or after July 1, 2026.
Changes to the Monthly Payment Loan (MPL) Program:
- Expand loan term from 10 years to 15 years.
- When the Monthly Payment Loan is used with Step Up, there is no longer a separate income limit. Users will now defer to the Step Up income limit. Please review the updated income limits listed below.
Changes to Deferred Payment Loan (DPL) and Deferred Payment Loan Plus (DPL+) Programs:
- Reduced the minimum housing ratio from 28% to 25%.
- Revised asset limit guidance:
- Eliminated the spend down cap of $2,500. Borrowers are still permitted to spend down liquid assets to meet the post-closing liquid asset limit, provided the following requirements are met:
- Funds must be used to pay down a borrower’s own existing debt(s).
- Payment transaction(s) must be completed prior to or at loan closing.
- Documentation of the debt(s) and the payment transaction(s) must be in the loan file.
- Added clarification that the asset limit must be met unless the underlying loan program guidelines require greater reserves.
Step Up Loan Term Options
We have expanded Step Up purchase and refinance loan term options to include 15-, 20-, and 25-year terms for conventional, FHA and VA loans. A 30-year term remains the only option available for Rural Development loans.
Start Up and Step Up Acquisition Cost/Purchase Price Limits
There will be no increase to the acquisition cost/purchase price limits for Start Up and Step Up for 2026.
New Income Limits Effective July 1, 2026
The following 2026 income limits will be effective for loans locked on or after July 1, 2026:
Start Up Income Limits (with or without MPL)
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Household Size
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11-County Twin Cities Metro Area*
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Dodge and Olmsted Counties
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All Other Counties
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1-2 Person
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$131,500
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$135,800
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$118,900
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3+ Person
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$151,200
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$156,100
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$136,700
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Step Up Income Limits (with or without MPL)
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Household Size
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11-County Twin Cities Metro Area*
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Dodge and Olmsted Counties
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All Other Counties
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All sizes
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$196,600
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$196,600
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$177,800
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Deferred Payment Loan & Deferred Payment Loan Plus Income Limits
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Household Size
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11-County Twin Cities Metro Area*
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Dodge and Olmsted Counties
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All Other Counties
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1-2 Person
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$94,600
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$94,600
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$85,600
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3 Person
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$106,500
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$106,500
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$96,300
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4 Person
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$118,300
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$118,300
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$107,000
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5 Person
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$127,800
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$127,800
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$115,500
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6 Person
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$137,200
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$137,200
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$124,100
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7 Person
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$146,700
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$146,700
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$132,600
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8+ Person
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$151,200
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$156,100
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$136,700
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*The 11-county Twin Cities Area is defined as: Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Washington and Wright Counties.
Where and when will the changes be posted?
- Our website, program materials and commitment system will be updated to reflect the changes on July 1, 2026.
- The Start Up and Step Up procedural manuals have been updated to reflect the program changes and will be posted on our website on July 1, 2026.
- The manuals were also revised to re-organize content, complete minor edits to provide clearer guidance and incorporate plain language improvements. The revisions will provide for ease of use of our programs.
Document Updates
Subsidy Recapture Statement and Tennessen Warning
The Subsidy Recapture Statement and Tennessen Warning will be updated on July 1 to reflect the 2026 income limits.
- Start Up loans locked before July 1, 2026 must continue to use the Subsidy Recapture Statement and Tennessen Warning (version date 6/2/2025).
- Start Up Loans locked on or after July 1, 2026 must use the Subsidy Recapture Statement and Tennessen Warning (version date 7/1/2026).
Monthly Payment Loan Note
The Monthly Payment Loan note will be updated on July 1 with formatting changes to align all text in section 3 with the margins.
Accessing the documents:
- If you use Minnesota Housing's commitment system to generate forms, the system will automatically pull the correct Minnesota Housing forms for your loans.
- For lenders who use their own systems to generate forms, we have notified your document managers of the changes.
- On July 1, 2026, the Forms Guide and Glossary will be updated to include the new Subsidy Recapture Statement & Tennessen Warning and the Monthly Payment Loan Note. The Forms Guide and Glossary will indicate which version of the form to use, based on the lock date.
Minnesota Housing Commitment System Changes
Minnesota Housing commitment system changes, including accessibility updates to better support the needs of individuals with disabilities and new functionality for Safe at Home borrowers, are now live. Please view the recorded Critical Lender Update from June 25, 2026 for more information and to see a demo of the changes. The updated commitment system guides will be posted on Monday, June 29.
Test your Minnesota Housing Knowledge!
Think you’re the Ken Jennings of Minnesota Housing Trivia?! Test your Minnesota Housing knowledge by taking the Minnesota Housing Quiz Bowl! Will you make the final leaderboard?
The Minnesota Housing Quiz Bowl is now available on our eLearning training site! The quiz is open now through July 3, 2026. Leaderboard results will be posted in the following week's eNews.
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2026 Monthly Training Webinars
Navigating Conventional Loans with Minnesota Housing
Thursday, July 16
9-10:30 a.m.
This training will help you to understand key features of Minnesota Housing’s exclusive conventional loan products, recognize the differences in conventional products based on the 80% AMI threshold and demonstrate how to use the Program Eligibility Income Worksheet to calculate eligibility income for the Start Up program.
Safe at Home Training
Monday, July 20
1-2 p.m.
Safe at Home Address Confidentiality Services are administered by the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. Join us and a representative from the Secretary of State Office to learn more about this service and tips for working with borrowers who are Safe at Home participants.
Monthly Update & Hot Topics Call
The Monthly Update & Hot Topics Call is for our lending and other community partners. During these calls we review recent Minnesota Housing updates and important information to help you originate and process our loans. Lenders are welcome to submit questions or topics to discuss on the call. This is a great venue to have more in-depth discussion on advanced topics. If you are a consumer, please visit www.mnhousing.gov to learn more about the programs we offer, the resources available to you and to find a participating lender.
Register for the 2026 calls.
When you register, you will be signed up for all sessions in the series but can attend the sessions that work for you. Most calls occur on the second Thursday of the month from 9-10 a.m. Central time.
2026 Schedule:
- July 9
- August 13
- September 10
- October 8
- November 12
- December 10
Questions?
You can reach the Partner Solutions Team at 651.296.8215 or 800.710.8871 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on business days.
About Minnesota Housing
Minnesota Housing, the state’s housing finance agency, works to provide access to safe, stable and accessible housing Minnesotans can afford in a community of their choice. In 2025, we distributed $1.8 billion in resources and served 73,000 households. Visit our website to learn more.
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