Does your Quaker meeting or church need a loan to buy its meeting space or renovate it? The Friends Meeting House Fund (FMHF), in partnership with Everence, can help! Here are five benefits to getting your loan with FMHF.

Arranging a Mortgage Loan Through the Friends Meeting House Fund and Everence as Compared to a Commercial Loan from a Traditional Bank

  1. Part of FMHF’s mission is to help Meetings integrate their Quaker faith and finances. Commercial Banks are for-profit business organizations; they do not use Quaker values in their business operations.
  2. FMHF undertakes a stewardship process that encourages Meetings to consider their Quaker values when making financial decisions. Commercial banks review the creditworthiness of Quaker meetings against their own financial criteria, guided by those of the banking industry, for creditworthiness.
  3. FMHF Board Members are a group of professionals who can help Meetings understand and guide them through the process of preparing for, applying for and securing a loan to buy, renovate, or add on to meeting houses or other structures on meeting house property. Commercial banks place the burden solely on your meeting in preparing for, applying for and securing a mortgage loan.
  4. FMHF has entered into an agreement with Everence Association, Inc. (Everence), a member-owned, faith-based financial services organization founded by the Mennonites and other Anabaptist peace churches, to provide mortgage loans to Meetings. Thanks to its unique tax status as a fraternal benefit society, Everence can offer highly competitive rates for mortgages. For-profit corporations, like commercial banks, are taxed as such and have lesser flexibility in setting mortgage rates.
  5. As a faith-based organization, Everence has more flexibility in loan workouts than do commercial banks.  Everence also offers confidential budget and debt counseling services for mortgage holders.  In addition, FMHF Board Members can offer confidential budget and with debt counseling services to Meetings. As for-profit organizations answerable to shareholders, Commercial banks have less flexibility concerning loan workouts and generally to not offer confidential budget and loan counseling services to mortgage holders.
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