The MPF® Program: A Partner That Puts Our Members First

In 1937, Fox Communities Credit Union began as a group of employees at Combined Locks Mill whose first loan helped a fellow worker buy Christmas presents for his family. Today Fox has more than 130,000 members, $3 billion in assets, and 22 locations throughout Northeast Wisconsin, but our goal is still the same: “helping members make life happen.” One of the ways we live up to this motto is by providing the quality loans our members need to achieve their dreams of homeownership. We’ve worked with the Federal Home Loan Banks’ Mortgage Partnership Finance® (MPF) Program to offer affordable home financing for over 20 years—because their pricing, features, and service all place our members’ needs at the forefront.

We want to provide the very best products and services for our members, including fixed-rate mortgages. The MPF Traditional products allow us to offer 30-year, 20-year, and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages at the lowest rates in the market, and they don’t charge loan-level price adjustments.

The MPF Program gives Fox the option to continue servicing our loans throughout their lifespan. This is an attractive feature that we can promote in our communities, and it’s important to our members: they want to know that when they have questions, they won’t be calling an 800 number out of state—in fact, they can reach out to me directly, 24/7. On top of that, Fox earns a premium when we retain servicing for MPF loans.

In the current economy, many members dream of buying a home but struggle to save money for a down payment. Fortunately, we’re able to combine affordable MPF loans through the FHLBank Chicago’s Downpayment Plus® program to help qualifying members make those dreams happen. Since 2017, we’ve paired 235 loans with $1.6 million in forgivable grants to cover members’ down payment and closing costs.

Fox was just voted as the Best Mortgage Lender in the Best of the Bay (Green Bay) and the Best of Winnebago County (Oshkosh) in the 2024 Official Community’s Choice Awards. In mortgage lending, having a responsive secondary mortgage market partner is crucial to being the best in our members’ eyes. The MPF Service Center goes out of their way to help our members—for example, when we recently learned just three days before closing that a borrower had changed jobs. MPF staff responded quickly, and together we were able not only to resolve the problem and close the loan, but also to provide the borrower down payment assistance. 

It’s often said that to be successful, you have to work with the best. Here in Wisconsin the credit union market is particularly competitive, so for Fox to excel, grow, and continue to be the kind of credit union we want to be, it’s essential that we partner with the best organizations that care the most about our members. The MPF Program allows us to do just that.