Freddie Mac, National Bank of South Carolina, S.C. Association of Community Development Corporations Launch First-Time Homebuyer
08 September 2005 - 7:09PM
PR Newswire (US)
CHARLESTON, S.C., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- A new first-time
homeowner initiative for families is underway in parts of South
Carolina, thanks to several public and private organizations
working together to offer homeownership counseling, workshops and a
variety of mortgage products. The announcement will be made during
the 2005 Housing & Community Economic Development Summit in
Charleston. Under this initiative, Freddie Mac, the South Carolina
Association of Community Development Corporations (SCACDC) and the
National Bank of South Carolina will help families become
homeowners in Columbia, Sumter and Florence, S.C. "The South
Carolina Association of Community Development Corporations (SCACDC)
is delighted to welcome Freddie Mac and the National Bank of South
Carolina to the community economic development movement," said
Bernie Mazyck, President & CEO of the South Carolina
Association of CDCs. "Our efforts to build wealth among working
families in underserved communities is strengthened with the
addition of these two strong corporate participants."
"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. We look forward to
working with the South Carolina Association of Community
Development Corporations and the National Bank of South Carolina to
help more people become homeowners." SCACDC will work with its
local members -- Benedict Allen Community Development Corporation
(CDC), Sumter County CDC and Eastern Carolina CDC -- to identify
individuals who are interested in pursuing homeownership, as well
as offer Freddie Mac's CreditSmart financial education curriculum.
Participants will learn about budgeting, credit, the home buying
process, and maintaining and keeping a home. The CDCs also offer
Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) -- a special savings account
in which the CDC will match 3:1 an individual's deposit, up to
$3,000, to help low-income residents save money for a home. A major
tool within the housing initiative is Freddie Mac's new Home
Possible suite of mortgage products, offered through the National
Bank of South Carolina. The Home Possible mortgage features low
down payments and flexible credit requirements. Freddie Mac will
buy eligible mortgage from the banks. "At the heart of our customer
covenant is a deep sense of personal integrity, good financial
stewardship and extraordinary dedication to our customers. By
working with Freddie Mac and the CDC's in Columbia, Sumter and
Florence through the Home Possible mortgage programs, we will help
more families become homeowners," said National Bank of South
Carolina's Alan Whitecross, Senior Vice President. "For 100 years
we have been making financial dreams come true, and we are excited
about the opportunity to make the dream of home ownership become a
reality for many more families in S.C." Today's launch builds on
Freddie Mac's efforts to expand affordable homeownership in the
metropolitan South Carolina area. Over the past five years, Freddie
Mac -- one of the nation's largest residential mortgage investors
-- has purchased $26 billion worth of mortgages in the South
Carolina area, financing 223,000 homes. 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.
http://www.freddiemac.com/ DATASOURCE: Freddie Mac CONTACT: Patti
Boerger of Freddie Mac, +1-703-903-2445 Web site:
http://www.freddiemac.com/
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