Freddie Mac, AREAA Team Up to Help Asian Americans in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles Overcome Homeownership Obstacles

MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- To help remove some of the homeownership challenges faced by the Asian American communities in Chicago, Houston and Southern California, Freddie Mac is teaming up with the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA), prominent mortgage lenders, mortgage insurers and housing counseling organizations.

This initiative is designed to address language and cultural barriers, lack of knowledge about the homebuying process and other challenges identified in recent research. These barriers are keeping many Asian Americans from pursuing their dream of homeownership. To gain a better understanding of how the Asian American community perceives homeownership, and their homebuying behaviors and challenges, Freddie Mac and AREAA have both published separate reports on their websites: http://www.freddiemac.com/corporate/reports/ and http://www.areaa.org/.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Asians are the second fastest growing ethnic population in the U.S., and number 13.5 million, or approximately 5 percent of the total U.S. population. The U.S. homeownership rate for Asians is 60 percent, compared to 76 percent for non-minorities.

Freddie Mac, one of the nation's largest residential mortgage investors, and AREAA, the trade association for real estate professionals who serve the Asian American market, developed the new initiative. AREAA members will help prospective homebuyers locate properties, and will work with the local nonprofits and lenders to become more familiar with the products and services each offers to improve service in these communities.

Four large mortgage lenders -- Chase Home Finance, Charter One, Countrywide Home Loans and Washington Mutual -- will make available bilingual loan officers; flexible, affordable mortgage products, including those with low downpayment features; and marketing support. Freddie Mac will purchase eligible mortgages.

Flexible, low downpayment mortgages will also be possible due to the participation of three mortgage insurers -- Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC), PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. (PMI) and United Guaranty Insurance (UGI). Housing counseling and homebuyer education will be provided free to homebuyers by local nonprofit agencies.

"Homeownership is a family value, one that ensures social and economic benefits that enhance entire communities," said Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. "Asian American families want to increase their participation in this slice of the American Dream, and I salute Freddie Mac and AREAA for their work to try and make that Dream a reality."

Robert Tsien, senior vice president of Freddie Mac, added, "Freddie Mac is proud to lead this effort. The Asian American homeownership rate lags behind the national average. By working closely with trusted advisors in the community, like AREAA and Asian American community organizations, the mortgage industry can help put more families on the path to owning a home."

"AREAA is pleased to work with Freddie Mac, local nonprofits, leading lenders and mortgage insurers to expand homeownership opportunities for more Asian Pacific American families. Through this ground-breaking initiative, AREAA will help prepare more real estate and mortgage professionals to better serve this important and growing market," said Allen Okamoto, chairman of AREAA.

For this effort, the Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles areas were selected based on such factors as the growth in the Asian American community, lower homeownership rates and the growing presence of AREAA members in those markets.

Chicago

In the Chicago metro area, lenders Washington Mutual and Charter One, and mortgage insurer PMI will work with the Chinese community. The Chinese American Service League (CASL) and the Chicago Urban League are teaming up to provide financial literacy and homeownership education workshops as well as one-on-one counseling.

"Charter One Bank is pleased to continue our support to the Chinese American community of Chinatown by providing mortgage lending services and bilingual loan originators to increase homeownership opportunities through our two local branch offices located in Chinatown," said Allen Rodriguez, senior vice president of Charter One Bank.

"When we founded CASL 27 years ago, we were mostly trying to help our clients meet basic needs and to grow towards self-sufficiency. Now many of them have reached that level of self-sufficiency, and we are proud to introduce programs to meet their next level of need such as homeownership. The CASL Housing Center offers seminars, workshops, individual counseling on financial literacy and housing and bilingual information that will help hundreds of people realize this important dream," said Bernarda Wong, president of CASL.

Houston

In Houston, the initiative will initially focus on helping Asian American hurricane victims find housing, and later will focus on the larger Asian American community. More than 50 percent of all Asian Americans living in the devastated Gulf Region evacuated to Houston. Chase Home Finance will be the lead lender and UGI will offer mortgage insurance. The Chinese Community Center (CCC) will provide services in several Asian languages and currently is helping hurricane victims with many of their social service needs. CCC staff and AREAA members will assist individuals in finding temporary housing and homes to purchase.

"We welcome this opportunity to work with Freddie Mac and AREAA to serve the Asian American Community in the Houston area, especially those who have immediate housing needs," said Mike Dubois, senior vice president at Chase Home Finance.

Chi-Mei Lin, executive director of CCC, said, "Housing and employment have been identified by the United Way as the top two needs for evacuees. CCC is pleased to participate in this homeownership initiative, which will enable hurricane victims to get back on their feet with dignity."

Los Angeles

To serve the Korean community in the Greater Los Angeles area, including the Inland Empire, the participating organizations are Countrywide Home Loans, MGIC, Korean Churches for Community Development (KCCD) and the Koreatown Youth and Community Center.

"A limited understanding of the homebuying process can be an obstacle for many first-time homebuyers, and it can become more complicated with cultural and language differences," said Mary Salinas Duron, Countrywide's executive vice president and manager of National Multicultural initiatives. "This collaborative effort will go a long way toward providing the educational resources and assistance necessary to eliminate these barriers and make it easier for Los Angeles area Korean residents to own a piece of the American dream."

"KCCD is excited about this opportunity to work with Freddie Mac, AREAA, KYCC and other participants to expand our services to the Korean American community," said Hyepin Im, President and CEO of KCCD. "It is often an unknown fact that homeownership rates for Korean Americans are far below the national average. In addition, with the second highest language barrier of any group in the country, many Korean Americans critically need in-language services to help them navigate the complicated homebuying process. Over the last three years, KCCD is pleased to have provided education to over 2,000 homebuyers in the Korean community. We look forward to this initiative and helping more individuals become homeowners."

Koreatown Youth and Community Center Executive Director Johng Ho Song added, "Koreatown Youth and Community Center is committed to promoting socioeconomic empowerment, and is delighted to work with Freddie Mac to help Korean Americans pursue their dream of homeownership. Many recent immigrants face barriers due to language and cultural differences, but with the assistance of Freddie Mac, Korean American residents in Los Angeles will be able to successfully overcome these barriers and achieve their piece of the American Dream."

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/

Founded in 2002, the Asian Real Estate Association of America is the national trade association dedicated to promoting homeownership opportunities among the nation's many Asian American communities and enhancing the business opportunities and success of the real estate professionals who serve them.

First Call Analyst: FCMN Contact: