Consumer Outreach and Education Initiatives
Studies show that consumers often lack accurate and reliable information about the homebuying process. In fact, in addition to misconceptions about how the homebuying process works, some communities also face trust, language and cultural barriers that can actually prevent them from pursuing homeownership.
To help remove these barriers and expand homeownership opportunities nationwide, Freddie Mac, in collaboration with other organizations, has developed a variety of initiatives and tools to help lenders and community-based organizations reach consumers where they live, work, play and pray.
CreditSmart is an award-winning credit and financial education curriculum. Offered in English and Spanish, CreditSmart provides insight into how lenders assess credit histories, educates consumers about long-term credit and money management, and explains the role of credit in purchasing and maintaining a home. CreditSmart is typically taught by community-based organizations as part of a credit or homeownership workshop. There are also self-study options.
Get the Facts
Get the Facts! is a dynamic outreach and education initiative developed to help dispel common myths about buying and owning a home in America. At the core of Get the Facts! is an open, friendly and interactive workshop (available in English or Spanish) designed to break down the barriers that often keep people from exploring the possibility of homeownership. Get the Facts! is typically delivered by community-based organizations as a one-hour workshop and preamble to homebuyer education.
Loan Prospector® Outreach is an online client assessment tool for housing counselors. It enables housing counselors to use the power of Freddie Mac's automated underwriting technology to objectively assess whether their clients are ready to apply for a mortgage. Loan Prospector Outreach helps housing counselors simplify their counseling processes by giving them a convenient way to conduct a reliable client assessment, offer information to shape pre-purchase counseling, and facilitate a client's transition to a lender.
Mi Casa Propia
Mi Casa Propia is a bilingual mortgage guide for first-time homebuyers whose primary language is Spanish. Freddie Mac created this educational tool to assist lenders in their efforts to guide Hispanic borrowers through the mortgage experience, including explanations about the process and paperwork and the many professionals involved in every phase of the homebuying process. The Bilingual Mortgage Guide includes seven sections that will take the consumer from application to closing, and the guide even addresses the first months of homeownership.
Nuestro Barrio
Engaging storylines meet meaningful messages in Nuestro Barrio, a Spanish-language education drama about life in the United States. The 13-episode Nuestro Barrio (Our Neighborhood) follows the very popular telenovela, or soap opera format, using storylines of romance, jealousy and conflict to engage viewers while subtly introducing them to valuable lessons on banking, credit, homeownership and more. Freddie Mac supported the production of Nuestro Barrio and provides select lenders with the opportunity to be a part of the series and to distribute Nuestro Barrio DVDs, which include a photonovela recap of the characters, themes and lessons learned.
Workforce Home BenefitSM
Workforce Home BenefitSM can be a vital instrument to increase employee retention and enhance recruiting and hiring capabilities. This initiative provides companies with a powerful tool to help their employees become homeowners. It also provides employers and participating lenders with the information required to efficiently implement an employer-assisted homeownership plan within their organizations. Specifically, this tool offers suggestions on the types of benefits they can offer their employees from homebuyer education to down payment assistance and matched savings accounts.
In a joint initiative targeted at better serving the needs of the rapidly-growing Hispanic community, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae jointly offer 83 non-executable Spanish translations of Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae Uniform Instruments. Translations are provided for 54 security instruments, 20 promissory notes, and nine related documents, and are available for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These free and downloadable translations are designed to help lenders and others in the residential mortgage industry help more Spanish-language dominant consumers purse the dream of homeownership.
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