FREDDIE MAC LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN IN CHICAGO TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT HOME BUYING MISCONCEPTIONS

Chicago, IL – In an effort to enable more African Americans and Latinos to become homeowners, U.S. Representatives Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill) and City of Chicago Department of Housing Deputy Commissioner William J. Eager join with Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) and Chase Home Finance to announce today a new awareness and outreach campaign called "Homeownership. Let the TRUTH Move You." The campaign debunks common misconceptions about homeownership that are stopping financially able families from even considering buying a home.

Bethel New Life, Inc., the National Association of Real Estate Brokers and the Dearborn Realtist Board, Inc. are collaborating with Freddie Mac in this campaign and are joining in the announcement.

According to research conducted by Freddie Mac, reliable, accurate information about home buying is not reaching all communities. The research uncovered common misconceptions about home buying among African Americans and Latinos. For example, almost 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. More than half of African Americans and Latinos also 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, national homeownership rates for Hispanic and African American households are 25 percent lower than the rates for non-minority households. In the metro Chicago area, the minority homeownership rate is 46 percent, compared with the non-minority homeownership rate of almost 75 percent.

"Freddie Mac is to be applauded for its efforts to expand homeownership opportunities for more low- and moderate-income homebuyers," said Congressman Davis. "Through this creative homeownership initiative, African American and Hispanic consumers will receive valuable factual information that will help eliminate misconceptions about the homebuying process."

"This campaign is about breaking down barriers to homeownership by educating and empowering minorities about the process and ensuring that anyone interested in purchasing a home understands their options and the available opportunities," said Representative Gutierrez, who also is a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee. "I look forward to working with Freddie Mac and its partners to make the dream of homeownership a reality for the people of our community. Because if you have ever seen the joy, the pride and the pleasure in the eyes of a new homeowner, you know the power of ownership, and you know its potential to strengthen our neighborhoods."

"Homeownership is key to stabilizing our communities and a source for building economic wealth," said Representative Rush. "Freddie Mac's pilot program is a welcomed addition to Chicago in further breaking down misconceptions of buying a home to increase African-American and Hispanic homeownership."

Dave Stevens, senior vice president of Single Family Sourcing for Freddie Mac, said, "We believe that lack of access to accurate information is a barrier to homeownership. We can't allow misinformation to be a barrier for the families who want to buy a home."

The campaign, designed to address the misconceptions found in the survey, will provide straightforward and up-to-date information about all aspects of homeownership, including costs associated with home buying and credit history requirements. A radio advertising campaign and grassroots outreach efforts seek to motivate individuals to learn more about the home buying process and call a toll-free number (1-866-7-TRUTHS or 1-877-ATREVE1 for information in Spanish) to register for free one-hour educational sessions in English and Spanish. Bethel New Life, Inc. and NID-Housing Counseling Agency will be hosting the educational sessions at their offices in Chicago and can also provide homeownership counseling.

"The strength of this campaign," says Stevens, "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."

Mary Nelson, president and CEO, Bethel New Life, adds, "It's critically important for us to get the right information about home buying into our communities. Buying a home can be intimidating and knowing what information to trust can be challenging. Bethel New Life is glad it can be a source of reliable, accurate facts about homeownership."

"We are dedicated to getting information to people in the community so that they can realize that they may qualify to buy a home," says Ron Branch, president, National Association of Real Estate Brokers. "NAREB joins Freddie Mac in its commitment to increase minority homeownership, and we are proud to be working with trusted organizations with strong ties to African American and Latino communities."

"Our goal at Chase is to strengthen communities by increasing homeownership" said Wes Ley, vice president, 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 on navigating the mortgage process and on how to qualify to buy a home."

"Anyone's knowledge is only as good as the information available to them," Stevens added. "We and our co-participants are determined to improve our delivery of important homeownership information to individuals who want and need accurate information."

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned company established by Congress in 1970 to support homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac purchases single-family and multifamily residential mortgages and mortgage-related securities, which it finances primarily by issuing mortgage passthrough securities and debt instruments in the capital markets. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than two million renters across America.

With the recent merger of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank One Corp., Chase Home Finance's parent company now includes more than 2,400 Bank One and Chase bank branches in 17 states. Chase Home Finance, an Equal Housing Lender, is headquartered in Edison, New Jersey and is one of the nation's largest residential mortgage lenders, servicing more than four million customers through 600 branch-based offices.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $1.1 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and businesses, financial transaction processing, asset and wealth management, and private equity.

Bethel New Life is a community development corporation working to revitalize Chicago's primarily African American West Garfield Park community through the creation of livable-wage jobs, the rehabilitation of low-income multi-family housing using energy-efficient designs, the development of community education and health care programs, and the cultivation of neighborhood improvement projects. By taking advantage of underutilized community resources and emphasizing the utilization of environmentally kind technologies, Bethel has helped convert a community suffering from an unemployment rate of 27% and a housing crisis in which 40% of its housing stock has disappeared since 1970 into a healthy, sustainable place to live.

Dearborn Realtist Board, Inc.'s mission is to ensure that there is "Democracy In Housing" for ALL through its work to guarantee economic parity, ethical and professional service and equity in the real estate industry on behalf of the African-American Professional and the broader community.

NAREB is a national trade association dedicated to bringing together the nation's minority professionals in the real estate industry to promote the meaningful exchange of ideas about its business and how best to serve its clientele. NAREB strives to create and environment where creativity flourishes in both the workplace and the marketplace. NAREB teaches, lives by, and searches for the highest professional and ethical principles. In this way NAREB can offer economic improvement for both its members and the minority community it serves.

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