Techo Propio: what happens if you sign for a home and then don't qualify for the grant?

You sign before you have the grant

This is the key to everything. For buying a new home, the Operating Regulation splits the process into three stages (article 15):

“El procedimiento para el otorgamiento del BFH para la modalidad de AVN tiene las siguientes etapas: - Postulación del GF - Asignación del BFH - Desembolso”

(The procedure for granting the Bono Familiar Habitacional, or BFH, for new-home purchases has three stages: the family group’s application, assignment of the grant, and payout.)

In practice, the order is:

1. Registration and qualifying. You register and the Fondo MIVIVIENDA checks the requirements. If you meet them, it records you as an eligible family group (GFE).
2. Signing the purchase contract with the developer (the regulation calls it the “Promotor”).
3. Assignment of the grant. The assignment application is filed. One of its requirements is the signed contract (article 18.1, letter c):

“Contrato de Compraventa suscrito entre el Promotor y el GFE, y de corresponder, con el fiduciario respecto de una VIS terminada o bien futuro que forma parte de un Proyecto AVN inscrito en el Registro de Proyectos. El FMV publica el modelo del citado contrato, de acuerdo con lo establecido en el Reglamento Operativo.”

(A purchase contract signed by the developer and the eligible family group for a finished or future home in a registered project. The Fondo publishes the model contract.)

With assignment you become a beneficiary family group (GFB). 4. Payout. The Fondo transfers the grant and, where applicable, your savings.

So when you sign, you do not yet have the grant. That is why you can sign and then fail to qualify.

Why you can sign and still not qualify

You are checked again before the grant is assigned

To be eligible, article 17 sets four requirements:

“El GF para ser considerado GFE debe cumplir con lo siguiente: - Constituir GF. - Tener un Ingreso Familiar Mensual máximo. - No haber recibido apoyo habitacional previo del Estado. - No ser propietario de vivienda, terreno, o aires independizados para vivienda.”

(Be a family group; stay under a maximum monthly family income; have received no earlier state housing support; own no home, land or air rights for housing.)

You declare two of these yourself, and the Fondo verifies them later, right before assigning the grant:

“La fiscalización posterior de la Declaración Jurada de cumplimiento del requisito del IFM, es efectuada por el FMV antes de la asignación del BFH al GFE […]” (article 17.2.4: the income declaration is checked before the grant is assigned)

“La fiscalización posterior de la declaración jurada de cumplimiento de no ser propietario de una vivienda, terreno, o aires independizados para vivienda es efectuada por el FMV, antes de la asignación del BFH al GFE […]” (article 17.4: the no-property declaration is checked before the grant is assigned)

If that check turns up income above the cap, or property in the name of someone in the group, you can end up with a signed contract and no grant. Who counts as a family group and who can apply is covered in Techo Propio or Mivivienda.

Eligibility expires

“La condición de GFE tiene una vigencia de doce (12) meses, contados a partir de la inscripción en el Registro.” (article 17.6: eligible status lasts twelve months from registration)

If you sign late, eligibility can expire before the assignment application is filed.

Once the application is filed, the Fondo has ten business days to review it, and if it raises objections you have ten business days to fix them (article 18.2).

In buildings and quintas, a link to the landowner rules you out

“En los casos de Proyectos de edificio multifamiliar o quinta, se pierde la condición de GFE en cualquier etapa, antes del desembolso del BFH y de la liberación de garantías, cuando uno de los miembros del GF figure en Registros Públicos como anterior propietario del predio elegible o tiene vínculo de primer grado de consanguinidad con el propietario.” (article 18.5)

(In apartment-building or quinta projects, eligibility is lost at any stage before payout if a group member appears in the registry as a former owner of the land, or is a parent or child of the owner.)

Even as a beneficiary, you can lose the grant

Article 30.1 lists the cases. The ones that matter most once you have signed:

“El derecho al BFH se pierde en los siguientes casos: a) Si el FMV detecta que el GFB no cumplía con los requisitos y obligaciones del Programa. […] d) Cuando la JF pierde su capacidad crediticia y los demás miembros del GFB no puedan obtener un crédito complementario, cuando este estuviera consignado como parte del monto a financiar la VIS. e) Cuando se haya desintegrado el GFB.”

(The right is lost if the Fondo finds the group did not meet the requirements; if the head of the family loses creditworthiness and no other member can get the supplementary loan the purchase relied on; or if the family group breaks up.)

Letter d) matters a lot: if your purchase depended on a bank loan and you don’t get it, you lose the grant.

If the Fondo proves you gave false information, the loss is permanent and you cannot apply again (article 30.1, letter b).

Beneficiary status does not last forever either: it runs for twenty-four months, and if the developer or bank does not request payout in that time, the right to it is lost. The Fondo can approve an exception when nobody is at fault (article 20.2 and 20.3).

What happens to money you have already paid

Keep two things apart: the program savings, which the regulation does govern, and any other payment to the developer, which depends on your contract.

First: where your savings are

Savings are your own contribution to the purchase. The regulation allows two ways to show them (article 19.2):

“El Ahorro puede ser acreditado mediante el depósito en la cuenta recaudadora a nombre del FMV o mediante declaración jurada emitida por el Promotor […]”

(Savings can be deposited in a collection account in the Fondo’s name, or backed by a sworn statement from the developer.)

If you paid into the Fondo’s account, the developer does not hold that money. If you paid the developer directly, the developer is the one who has to give it back.

If you lose the grant before payout

“En los casos que corresponda, el Promotor debe remitir al FMV la respectiva resolución de Contrato de Compraventa y según sea el caso, devolver al GFB, el Ahorro según corresponda y de acuerdo con las condiciones pactadas entre las partes.” (article 30.2)

(The developer must send the Fondo the contract termination and, where applicable, return the savings “as agreed between the parties”.)

The rule orders the contract terminated and the savings returned, but on the terms agreed. If your contract sets a penalty or treats that payment as arras, it may apply. How arras work is explained in buying a home and arras. If a clause looks unfair, see adhesion contracts and unfair terms.

If the grant was paid out and the home was not handed over

Here the rule is stronger. If the contract is terminated after payout and before physical handover, the Fondo requires the developer to return the grant, and the developer has to return your savings:

“La devolución del importe del BFH es exigida por el FMV al Promotor, al Fideicomiso, a la ESFS, o a la IFI, después de su desembolso y antes de la entrega física de la VIS, en cualquiera de los siguientes supuestos: a) Cuando se resuelva el Contrato de Compraventa. […] 31.2 En caso de configurarse alguno de los supuestos señalados en el numeral anterior, el Promotor, la ESFS o la IFI debe devolver al beneficiario los recursos del Ahorro que éste hubiera aportado para la adquisición de la VIS, lo que debe acreditarse ante el FMV.” (article 31)

(After payout and before handover, if the contract is terminated, the Fondo demands the grant back from the developer; the developer must return to the beneficiary the savings contributed, and prove it to the Fondo.)

This provision does not refer to what was agreed: it says the developer “debe devolver” (must return) the savings and must prove it to the Fondo.

If you back out yourself

As a beneficiary, you can give up the grant until handover. You must file the contract termination with the Fondo, and savings are returned “de acuerdo con las condiciones pactadas entre las partes” (as agreed between the parties; article 29).

If the grant was never assigned

If the Fondo objects or disqualifies you before assignment, you are not yet a beneficiary, and articles 29 to 31 speak of the beneficiary. The regulation has no specific rule for this case. What happens to your payments depends on your purchase contract: look for the clause on what happens if the grant is not assigned. If there is none, ask in writing before you sign.

If the developer is at fault

For some projects the developer gives the Fondo a bid bond, and the regulation says “la ejecución de la Carta Fianza de Seriedad de Oferta genera la devolución del Ahorro mínimo al GFE” (calling the bid bond triggers return of the minimum savings to the eligible family; article 22.1). If the project stalls through the developer’s fault, your rights as a buyer are in what happens to your money if a real estate project falls through.

The rules may change soon

This page is based on the regulation approved by Resolución Ministerial 0104-2025-VIVIENDA, which is still in force. There are two drafts to change it; see «Possible changes ahead» below.

What this page does not cover

We do not cover the build-on-your-own-land or home-improvement tracks, the grant amount, or the Fondo MIVIVIENDA’s internal refund procedure. We also do not analyse specific contracts or Indecopi decisions on Techo Propio.