• Company Profile
• News and Information Center
• Corporate Citizenship
  • Affordable Housing
  • Community Programs
  • Corporate Giving
  • Diversity
  • Educating and Protecting Consumers
    • Combating Predatory Lending
    • Automated Underwriting
    • Credit Education
  • Employee Volunteerism
  • Freddie Mac Foundation
• Investor Relations
• Careers

Credit Education

The Importance of Good Credit

Thousands of American families who are financially qualified to obtain a mortgage have not done so. Why?

The lack of a down payment is one reason, but another big obstacle is having blemished or no credit history. And, unlike the down payment problem, the remedy for the credit problem isn't money. It's education.

Educating Consumers About Credit

Freddie Mac works with community groups across the country to offer credit counseling to aspiring homeowners. In partnership with organizations like the National Urban League, the Rainbow/PUSH "1000 Churches Connected" Initiative, and a group of historically Black colleges and universities, we developed CreditSmart®, a credit education curriculum, specifically to help consumers understand, build and maintain better credit.

CreditSmart helps potential homeowners learn more about their credit and why it is important. It helps people learn to manage their money, establish and maintain credit, plan for the future, and, ultimately, become homeowners. To reach the Latino community, a bilingual version of this curriculum, CreditSmart Español, has also been developed by Freddie Mac in partnership with seven leading Hispanic organizations. Freddie Mac is also pleased to offer CreditSmart Asian through community-based organizations in the Asian-American communities.

The program's flexible curriculum adapts to the priorities of local communities. It's offered in cities across America, with the help of business, educational, and civic leaders - including mayors and housing advocates. Learn more about CreditSmart. If you'd like to bring the program to your community, contact one of our partners.

We're also showing consumers how to protect themselves from predatory lending practices through an award-winning campaign called Don't Borrow Trouble.