FREDDIE MAC, CENTRAL PACIFIC HOMELOANS, HAWAII ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS WORK TOGETHER TO INCREASE FINANCIAL LITERACY, HOMEOWNERSHIP IN HAWAII

CreditSmart® Financial Literacy Workshops Offered

McLean, VA – To help prepare more Hawaii residents for the financial responsibilities of homeownership, Central Pacific HomeLoans, the Hawaii Association of REALTORS® and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) are working together to help families overcome the barriers to homeownership, which include lack of credit and information about the homebuying process.

As part of the initiative, Central Pacific HomeLoans will bring homeownership information directly to the community, by offering Freddie Mac's CreditSmart® financial literacy workshops to consumers. The CreditSmart curriculum is offered through free workshops, and is designed to help increase consumers' financial literacy by providing life-long money management skills. CreditSmart provides important information about credit and credit management, insight into how lenders assess credit histories, and how credit plays a profound role in achieving one's financial goals, like renting an apartment, buying a car or home, or getting a job.

The Hawaii Association of REALTORS will work with Central Pacific HomeLoans to create marketing materials, inform its members about CreditSmart, and identify individuals who may benefit from the workshop.

"Collaborations such as this, to help our Hawaii's citizens build and maintain good credit, are essential to fostering financial stability for individuals, families and communities," said Congressman Ed Case (D-HI). "For creditworthiness, through financial literacy and sound budget decisions, is an indispensable element in realizing and expanding personal wealth, including in particular the American dream of home ownership."

"Homeownership is the largest source of long-term wealth for many families, and the path to owning a home begins with understanding the mortgage process," said Craig Nickerson, vice president of Expanding Markets for Freddie Mac. "The goal is to help more families overcome the key barriers to homeownership such as impaired credit, inadequate resources for down payment and lack of information about the home buying process."

To ensure borrowers have access to affordable mortgage financing, Central Pacific Home Loans will offer a wide range of low-downpayment, flexible credit mortgage products, including Freddie Mac's Home Possible^SM mortgages, as part of the initiative. The Home Possible mortgage suite enables borrowers earning up to the local median income to finance a home with as little as $500 cash from their own savings and includes special features especially designed to help firefighters, law enforcement officers, educators, and health care professionals become homeowners.

"Through this initiative we are offering homeownership education and flexible credit mortgage products for families who think that homeownership is out of their reach," said Leonard Loventhal, executive vice president at Central Pacific HomeLoans.

Central Pacific HomeLoans will offer CreditSmart twice a month at its main office at 201 Merchant St. in downtown Honolulu. For more information about attending a workshop, call (808) 356-4000.

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned company established by Congress in 1970 to support homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac fulfills its mission by purchasing residential mortgages and mortgage-related securities, which it finances primarily by issuing mortgage-related securities and debt instruments in the capital markets. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and nearly four million renters in America.

###