HispanicBusiness

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The Watts Century Latino Organization, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Bank of America, U.S. Bank and Freddie Mac today announced the local launch of En Su Casa -- an innovative program created to expand homeownership among Latino and other underserved communities throughout the country.

En Su Casa addresses key homeownership challenges facing Latino families including the lack of bi-lingual information about buying a home, language and cultural barriers, lack of a credit history and impaired credit history. En Su Casa combines CounselorMAX -- a powerful web-based technology for nonprofit counseling agencies and flexible mortgage products geared to meet the needs of Latino borrowers. Homeownership within the Latino community in Los Angeles and nationwide is much lower than the overall homeownership rate. Only 43 percent of Latino families in Los Angeles own a home compared to a citywide average of 65 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

"En Su Casa is an exceptional example of the impact private and public partnerships can have on the lives of our city's most valuable resources -- families," said Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn. "This initiative provides the information, guidance and financial resources needed to make owning a home a reality for all of Los Angeles's families and help to improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods."

En Su Casa is part of "Catch the Dream", Freddie Mac's nationwide response to President Bush's call for 5.5 million additional minority homeowners over the next decade. "Last year President Bush called on organizations to join forces in the effort to add 5.5 million new homeowners by 5.5 million households by the year 2010, and to place a special emphasis on Hispanic and other minority first-time homebuyers. This new program adds significantly to the resources and collaborative efforts that will help more families own a home of their own in this community," said Richard K. Rainey, HUD Regional Director for Region IX.

"Freddie Mac is pleased to join forces with the Watts Century Latino Organization, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Bank of America, and US Bank to make the homebuying process easier and more accessible for Latino families in the Watts area," said Craig Nickerson, Vice President of Community Development Lending at Freddie Mac. "En Su Casa breaks down key barriers, putting more Latino families on the path to homeownership -- one family at a time."

One of the nation's largest investors in residential mortgages, Freddie Mac invested more than $48.4 billion in mortgages for Los Angeles area residents last year alone, helping some 305,822 area borrowers own homes. Freddie Mac plans to purchase eligible mortgages made through En Su Casa and has provided financial assistance to NCLR to ensure the long-term success of the En Su Casa initiative.

How En Su Casa Works

The En Su Casa Initiative opens up the homebuying process to more Latino families by providing home buyer education, along with new technology tools and flexible mortgage products. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and U.S. Bank will provide affordable mortgage financing with flexible underwriting for qualified borrowers that includes acceptance of non-traditional credit references and other credit flexibilities for credit challenged borrowers. Freddie Mac will purchase the mortgages, ensuring a continuous supply of mortgage funds for additional homebuyers.

"Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is proud to be a part of an initiative that parallels our ongoing efforts to provide homeownership opportunities to the Latino community," said Desolina Avila, Regional Emerging Markets Manager for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in Southern California. "Through the support of our bi-lingual sales force, this program will allow even more Latino families to take advantage of our products and services."

"Shaking hands and looking into the eyes of an excited new homeowner is one of the most gratifying moments that we as lenders experience in our professional lives," said Danny Valentini, branch manager, U.S. Bank Home Mortgage. "That's why we at U.S. Bank are so honored to partner with this distinguished group of lenders and agencies to make those moments possible for families here in Los Angeles and across the country."

"Our strongest cities are those that promote homeownership and find the means to ensure that families, regardless of ethnicity or income levels, have access to mortgage financing," said Bank of America Senior Vice President and Southern California Community Development Market Manager Al Arguello. "Bank of America is committed to this goal. Our low down payment and first-time homebuyer mortgage programs will go a long way toward helping more LA families qualify for the American dream."

Housing Counseling is Key

The new web-based client management tool, CounselorMax, will enable WCLO to streamline the education and counseling process, increasing the number of consumers put on the path to homeownership. CounselorMAX provides housing counselors a variety of client data management functions, including the ability to generate reports and better manage the client education process. "With this consolidated alliance with Wells Fargo, US Bank, Bank of America, Freddie Mac, HUD, and National Council of La Raza, we anticipate that we are going to change many lives by helping Latino and African American families to catch the American Dream by putting them En Su Propia Casa, otherwise in their own house," says Arturo Ybarra, President of the Watts Century Latino Organization.

Watts Century Latino is a community-based organization involved in constant efforts to help families and communities to become self-sufficient. Along with education, public safety, Community economic and human capital development, homeownership access to low and moderate-income families is one of its main objectives. Prospective homebuyers who want to take advantage of En Su Casa should contact Ana Lopez at the Watts Century Latino Organization by calling (323) 564-0524.

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation chartered by Congress in 1970 to create a continuous flow of funds to mortgage lenders. By supplying lenders with the money to make mortgages and packaging the mortgages into marketable securities, Freddie Mac sustains a stable mortgage credit system and reduces the mortgage rates paid by homebuyers. Over the years, Freddie Mac has opened the doors for one in six homebuyers in America and two million renters. Freddie Mac

CONTACT: Brad German of Freddie Mac, +1-703-903-2437

Web site: http://www.freddiemac.com/