Don't Borrow Trouble(SM): Public Education Campaign to Prevent Predatory Lending Launched in New Mexico
07 Dezember 2004 - 7:52PM
PR Newswire (US)
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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