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

Baltimore, MD – In an effort to enable more African Americans and Latinos to become homeowners, Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) joins with Freddie Mac 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.

ACORN Housing-Baltimore and the Maryland Association of Realtors 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 held among African Americans and Latinos. For example, almost half of African-Americans and Latinos believe that they need a 20 percent downpayment 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, homeownership rates for Hispanic and African American households are 25 percent lower than the rates for non-minority households. In the Baltimore-Washington DC area, the minority homeownership rate is 49 percent, compared with the non-minority homeownership rate of almost 74 percent.

"A recent report released by the Pew Hispanic Center reported that the net worth of African-American and Hispanic households is less than 10 percent of white households. The report cited lack of home ownership as a major cause of this disparity," Congressman Elijah Cummings said. "However, the Freddie Mac "Homeownership. Let the TRUTH Move You," public awareness campaign will help close this gap by giving families the information they need to overcome obstacles to purchasing their own homes."

"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 for the families who may 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 (1-866-7TRUTHS, and 1-877-ATREVE1 in Spanish) to register for free one-hour educational sessions in English and Spanish. ACORN Housing-Baltimore will be hosting the educational sessions at its offices in Baltimore City and can also provide homeownership counseling. The Maryland Association of Realtors will serve as a referral network of REALTORS^® to assist individuals in the homebuying process.

"The strength of this campaign," says Nickerson, "is that it is a continuation of efforts by many organizations working in concert 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 Freddie Mac, our co-participants in this campaign are committed to accelerating the growth of minority homeownership."

Claudia Ray, regional coordinator ACORN Housing 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. ACORN Housing is glad it can be a source of reliable, accurate facts about homeownership."

"Our goal at Chase is to strengthen communities by increasing homeownership" said Rod Gaines, 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 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," Nickerson added. "Freddie Mac and our co-participants are determined to improve our delivery of important homeownership information to individuals who want and need accurate information."

"There is a lot of misinformation about home buying out there and that leaves people vulnerable to being taken advantage of," says JoAnne Poole, President of the Maryland Association of Realtors. "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 corporation 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.

Homeownership. Let the TRUTH Move You

MYTH	FACTS
Need almost perfect credit rating to qualify for a mortgage.	You don’t need a perfect credit record. Even with past credit problems, you may still be able to buy a home. And, you can fix and improve your credit record.
A down payment of as much as 20% is required to buy a home.	You may be able to buy a home with a downpayment of 3 percent or less. Today, the downpayment needed to buy a home is much lower that it once was. However, closing costs, property taxes and moving expenses are part of the cost of buying a home.
Lenders share personal financial information with each other and the government.	Banks and other financial institutions protect your personal financial information – it’s the law.
People who do not have a checking or savings account cannot buy a home.	Having a savings and checking account is a good idea. But you can buy a home without having a bank account.
You must have the same job for at least three years to qualify for a mortgage.	Steady income is more important than how long you’ve been on the job. Income from second and third jobs can also be used when trying to get a mortgage loan.

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