Since the enactment of the Vermont Down Payment Assistance (DPA) program in 2015, VHFA has helped over 1,500 Vermonters and their families buy their first homes.  Also known as the ASSIST program, it provides down payment assistance to each qualifying homebuyer household in the form of a non-amortizing, 0% second mortgage. Only available in conjunction with a VHFA first mortgage, the DPA loan is repaid when the first mortgage is refinanced or the home is sold.