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Private savings club: what it means

A private savings club is, under FHA rules, a nontraditional way of saving in which members deposit money into a pool they manage themselves. On an FHA loan, the lender may accept money the club paid out to you as a source of funds if it verifies when the club was set up and how long it has run, that you received the money and that it was reasonably accumulated and not borrowed.

In Spanish it is

Club de ahorro privado

Also written as: savings club · rotating savings club

A pregnant woman takes groceries out of the car in front of her garage.

Verified on October 17, 2026

2 official sources

See the whole dictionary

The full explanation

To do that, it asks for the club's ledgers and receipts and a statement from the club treasurer that the club is still active. If you still have to keep contributing to the club, that payment counts as a debt.

An example

Gloria saved her down payment in a tanda with coworkers. For her FHA loan, the woman who runs the group gives her a letter saying the tanda is still active, along with the payment ledger and the receipts.

You will see it in…

The lender's document list: ledgers, receipts and the treasurer's statement
HUD Handbook 4000.1, in the acceptable sources of funds (Private Savings Clubs)
Your bank statements, when you deposit the money the group paid you

Words that go with it

You will rarely see this word alone. These are the ones that show up with it on the same papers.

Still confused by a paper?

A HUD-approved housing counselor can walk you through it. Agencies usually charge little or nothing, many work in Spanish, and they do not sell you anything.

What a housing counselor does See free help

Official sources

We sum up what these official sources say, in plain words. We add no rules they do not state; when a rule changes, the definition and its date change.

1. HUD · HUD Handbook 4000.1, II.A.4: Private Savings Clubs (TOTAL) — liabilities and sources of funds (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026
2. HUD · HUD Handbook 4000.1 glossary: Private Savings Club (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026