Freddie Mac and Chase Launch Campaign in Los Angeles19 April 2005
The Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Service ( LANHS ), ACORN Housing, Hyde Park Organizational Partnership for Empowerment ( HOPE ) and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals ( NAHREP ) are collaborating with Freddie Mac in this campaign and joining in the announcement.
Research conducted by Freddie Mac suggests that reliable, accurate information about home buying may not be reaching minority communities. The research uncovered several common misconceptions about home buying among African Americans and Latinos. For example, about half of African Americans and Latinos believe that they need a 20 percent down payment to buy a home, and that they need almost perfect credit to get a loan. In addition, more than half of African Americans and Latinos believe that they must have the same job for at least three years to get a loan.
In addition, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, homeownership rates for African American and Latino households are 25 percent lower than the rates for non-minority households. In Los Angeles the homeownership rate is 42.7 percent for Latinos, 39 percent for African Americans and 64.8 percent for non-minorities.
"We believe that lack of access to accurate information is a barrier to homeownership," said Craig Nickerson, vice president of Expanding Markets for Freddie Mac. "We can't allow misinformation to be a barrier to the families who may want to buy a home. We and our partners are determined to improve our delivery of homeownership information to individuals who want and need accurate information about homebuying."
The campaign, designed to address the misconceptions identified through Freddie Mac research, will provide straightforward and up-to-date information about all aspects of homeownership, including costs associated with home buying and credit history requirements through a series of one-hour educational sessions in English and Spanish. People are encouraged to call a toll-free number ( 1-866-7TRUTHS, and 1-877-ATREVE1 in Spanish ) to register for free one-hour educational sessions in English and Spanish.
ACORN Housing and Los Angeles NHS will be hosting the educational sessions at their offices and will also be providing homeownership counseling and advice. Classes at ACORN Housing at 3655 S. Grand Ave., Suite 250 in Los Angeles are May 14 and June 11 at 9 a.m. in English, and at 10 a.m. in Spanish. Los Angeles NHS will hold classes at its offices at 3926 Wilshire Blvd., Suite. 200 in Los Angeles on April 16 and May 14 at 10 a.m. in English, and at noon in Spanish.
"The strength of this campaign," said Nickerson "is that it is a continuation of efforts by many organizations working together in the community to address the barriers faced by minority homebuyers. Freddie Mac is honored to be working with grassroots organizations that really understand how to reach people who may be facing obstacles to buying a home. Like us, our co-participants in this campaign are committed to accelerating the growth of minority homeownership."
"Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services recently conducted a foreclosure study throughout Los Angeles County which showed that one quarter of all foreclosures occur in a select few 'hotspots' disproportionately clustered in minority neighborhoods with the lowest median income level," according to Lori Gay, President of LA NHS. "It's critically important for us to get the right information about home buying and homeownership preservation into our communities. Buying a home can be intimidating and knowing the right information to trust can be challenging. Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services is glad to be a source of reliable, accurate facts about homeownership."
"Chase's goal is to strengthen communities by increasing homeownership," said Carmen Luna, Vice President of Chase Home Finance. "Chase offers a broad range of home financing solutions to individuals nationwide, and we are pleased to be working with Freddie Mac to provide the African American and Latino communities with useful information about the mortgage process and how to qualify to buy a home."
"Our organization is doing their work by informing the communities block by block," said Helen Coleman, President of the Hyde Park Organizational Partnership For Empowerment. "When the residents have the status of homeowner, then that is when communities can change for the better. Homeownership transforms communities."
"There is a lot of misinformation about home buying in the community and many people feel vulnerable to being taken advantage of," said Felix Harris, Programs Director, ACORN Housing, "Today there are many more homeownership opportunities and flexibility in home buying than ever before. It is our job to better inform people, for example, to let them know that a 20 percent down payment is no longer an industry standard."
Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned company established by Congress in 1970 to support homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac fulfills its mission by purchasing residential mortgages and mortgage-related securities, which it finances primarily by issuing mortgage-related securities and debt instruments in the capital markets. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and two million renters in America.
With the 2004 merger of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank One Corp., Chase Home Finance's parent company now includes more than 2,500 Bank One and Chase bank branches in 17 states. Chase Home Finance, an Equal Housing Lender, is headquartered in Iselin, New Jersey and is one of the nation's largest residential mortgage lenders, serving more than four million customers.
Source: I-Newswire.com
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