Mortgage 850 program pitches state support to boost homebuyer purchasing power

Representative Ariel Defay introduced Mortgage 850 as a tool to improve homebuyer readiness. Preston Cochran, who said he chairs the Family Financial Education Foundation, described Mortgage 850 as an online platform providing targeted credit guidance before a mortgage application is submitted. He said a 2025 review of more than 1,000 mortgages found nearly 70% of buyers qualified for worse rates than they should have because of timing, documentation or lack of targeted help.

Cochran said Mortgage 850 provides real-time guidance that can increase a household's purchasing power by roughly 10–20% without increasing monthly payments. He said the requested appropriation would allow up to 5,000 Utah households, including people transitioning from subsidized housing, to access the platform and receive credit-report pulls and coaching. A presenter noted that rising costs for official credit reports are a barrier; committee members discussed the public-policy implications of high credit-report fees and online availability.

Committee members, including lenders on the committee, praised the concept while asking for more detail on program costs, scaling and whether the appropriation would cover just report fees or also coaching and administrative costs. Presenters said Mortgage 850 is available online and the appropriation is primarily to cover credit-report costs for buyers who lack funds to access accurate credit documentation.