When someone offers to help you make a down payment on a house, your lender will require a gift letter for a mortgage. Here's what it includes.A down payment can be hard to come by. One option is to be gifted the money, but this has certain requirements, such as a gift letter. You can often use money you are given to help fund the down payment or closing costs of buying a home. You will need a gift letter when you do. A gift letter is proof to the lender that the funds were gifted to a homebuyer for their home purchase, and not a loan or borrowed money. A gift letter for a mortgage shows your lender that you don't need to repay gift money toward your down payment. Your bank needs a written letter to prove that any money gifted to you to help buy a house is in fact a gift, not a loan. Use this application if you are applying for CalFresh benefits only.