Freddie Mac deploys $10.5 million to non-profit groups helping borrowers through foreclosuresMortgagePress.comFreddie Mac, HOPE NOW Alliance, housing counseling organizations, foreclosure
Freddie Mac has announced $10.5 million in grants to housing
counseling organizations to use for their outreach, education and
foreclosure prevention efforts to help borrowers. The grants will
enable the non-profit organizations to add and train staff, pay
operational expenses and support outreach campaigns to borrowers
having difficulty making their mortgage payments, especially
sub-prime borrowers. The organizations were selected for their
abilities to educate and advise borrowers about their foreclosure
options and/or help them obtain workouts from their mortgage
servicers.
The largest share of the funds will be administered through the
HOPE NOW Alliance in grants totaling more than $6 million. Of that
amount, approximately two-thirds is allocated for HOPE NOW's
counseling, operations and outreach, with the remaining funds
earmarked for organizations including Enterprise Community
Partners, NeighborWorks America, the Metropolitan Washington
Council of Governments and HomeFree USA.
"Although the challenges facing today's housing market go beyond
any one company's ability to resolve, Freddie Mac is working with
the non-profit organizations who are in the trenches to make a real
difference for many of America's borrowers," said Richard F. Syron,
CEO and chairman of Freddie Mac. "By putting another piece of that
plan into place, today's announcement underscores how Freddie Mac's
mission to expand homeownership includes helping delinquent
borrowers avoid foreclosure whenever possible."
The $10.5 million in funding disbursements is the result of the
November settlement between OFHEO and former Freddie Mac CEO Leland
Brendsel.
Recipients and the amount of their grants are:
&%8226;HOPE NOW Alliance, $6.385 million
&%8226;Center for Responsible Lending, $1 million
&%8226;Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America,
$500,000
&%8226;Don't Borrow Trouble, $500,000
&%8226;National Council of La Raza, $300,000
&%8226;National Fair Housing Alliance, $300,000
&%8226;National Urban League, $300,000
&%8226;Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Atlanta,
$200,000
&%8226;Consumer Credit Counseling Services of San Francisco,
$200,000
&%8226;ACORN, $200,000
&%8226;National Association of Hispanic Real Estate
Professionals, $150,000
&%8226;One Economy, $125,000
&%8226;League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC),
$100,000
&%8226;National Community Reinvestment Coalition,
$100,000
&%8226;Centro de Gestion Unica para Vivienda Propia,
$100,000
&%8226;Mortgage Credit Center, $40,000
Today's announcement builds on Freddie Mac's efforts to help
distressed borrowers by fostering mortgage workouts that enable
them to avoid foreclosure. Last year, because of Freddie Mac and
the mortgage servicers it works with, almost 50,000 families that
had run into financial trouble were able to keep their homes.
Freddie Mac currently is working out roughly 1,000 loans per week
where 90 percent of the affected families keep their homes.
For more information, visit www.freddiemac.com.
