Don't Borrow Trouble(SM): Public Education Campaign to Prevent Predatory Lending Launched in New Mexico Multi-Media Campaign and Help Line Directed at Consumers ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- At a press conference here today, a coalition of private and public partners launched a major public education campaign aimed at preventing predatory lending throughout New Mexico. New Mexico's Don't Borrow Trouble(SM) Campaign is a multimedia strategy of brochures, Web site, radio and TV commercials all aimed at low- and moderate- income families around the state who are vulnerable to predatory lending. By combining advertising and face-to-face consumer education and housing counseling, the Campaign helps consumers avoid abusive lending practices, such as exorbitant interest rates, excessive fees and pressuring tactics. An Anti- Predatory Lending Roundtable comprised of leading non-profits and state-housing agencies will coordinate the Don't Borrow Trouble Campaign. The United South Broadway Corporation and Project Change Fair Lending Center are the lead non-profits managing the Campaign. The radio and television advertising campaign, which launched today, encourages consumers statewide to call New Mexico's Don't Borrow Trouble help line at the Project Change Fair Lending Center 866-227-5114, or in Albuquerque, 505-247-0384. Callers will be able to obtain housing counseling services throughout New Mexico. It is hoped that people will use these resources for advice before they get into financial difficulty when purchasing a home, refinancing, consolidating debt, or taking out a home equity loan. The help line is also a resource for those who find themselves currently in trouble with foreclosure. "I am excited to be a part of this national awareness effort. The Don't Borrow Trouble Campaign will continue to move New Mexico forward in the fight against predatory lending," Lt. Governor Diane Denish said. "The help line will provide an invaluable service to New Mexico residents as they strive towards homeownership." According to Mayor Martin Chavez, "Our city has one of the highest rates of racial steering to expensive loans in the nation. Studies show that alarming numbers of Hispanics in Albuquerque who qualify for conventional lower-interest mortgages are steered to high-cost loans. Armed with information from the Don't Borrow Trouble Campaign, our citizens will be able to protect themselves from these unscrupulous practices." The Campaign will begin airing commercials and other advertising on December 8, 2004. Counseling and other anti-predatory lending outreach efforts will continue at least through 2005. "Freddie Mac is excited about the launch of New Mexico's Don't Borrow Trouble Campaign, and what it will mean for families throughout the state who want to own a home and to keep owning a home," said Freddie Mac's Director of Housing and Community Investment, Vaughn Irons. "Too often predatory lending practices turn the American Dream of home ownership into a nightmare by stripping equity away from a family, creating a high-cost situation that eventually leads to delinquency, foreclosure and weakened neighborhoods. Don't Borrow Trouble is a proven method to help stop predatory lending and to keep families in their homes, building wealth and strengthening communities." "New Mexican culture has always placed an importance on owning our own land. New Mexico's Don't Borrow Trouble Campaign is essential to help families that are land rich and cash poor protect their homes," explained Margy Hernandez, executive director of United South Broadway Corporation. "When New Mexican homeowners become targets of predatory lenders they risk losing their most valued asset, their home." Some Signs of Predatory Lending Predatory lending practices strip equity away from homeowners. A few examples are repeatedly refinancing a loan within a short period of time and charging high points and fees with each refinance; packing a loan with single premium credit insurance products like credit life insurance, and not adequately disclosing the inclusion, cost or any additional fees associated with the insurance; or charging excessive rates and fees to a borrower who qualifies for lower rates and fees. Pioneered in Boston by Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Massachusetts Community Banking Council, Freddie Mac is the principal sponsor of the program's expansion throughout the United States. Including New Mexico's Don't Borrow Trouble Campaign, Freddie Mac has brought the campaign to more than 35 locations, and received more than 30,000 inquiries to the Campaigns' help-line. 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 opened doors for one in six homebuyers and more than two million renters in America. DATASOURCE: Freddie Mac CONTACT: Margy Hernandez of United South Broadway Corp., +1-505-764-8867; Project Change Fair Lending Advisory Board, +1-505-764-8867; or Douglas Robinson of Freddie Mac, +1-703-903-2423 Web site: http://www.freddiemac.com/

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