Page A8
APRIL 8, 1998
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Countrywide Launches Campaign to Fund
Loans for Low-Income and Minority Families
In a continuing effort to aggres­
sively expand its hailed affordable
lending program. C ountrywide Home
Loans, the nation’s largest indepen­
dent mortgage lender and leading
lender to African-American and His­
panic families, today announced its
“We House America” campaign to
fund $50 billion in new loans for
lower-income and minority borrow­
ers. This program will assist more
than 570,000 first-time home buy­
ers.
C o u n try w id e’s Chairm an and
CEO, Angelo R. Mozilo, unveiled
the com pany’s new five-year plan
today in Washington, DC. "Five
years ago. Countrywide set out to
expand the dream o f home-owner­
ship to families who were unable or
d id n ’t know they could become
homeowners,” said Mozilo. “Our
goal was to increase awareness o f the
many products and services that make
mortgage financing more available
and affordable than ever before, and
then deliver it quickly and affordably.
There is a great deal more work to be
done and our new “ We H ouse
America” campaign will ensure that
the next five years provide even
greater homeownership opportuni­
ties for lower-income and minority
families.”
“ I am very excited about the op­
portunity to expand our affordable
housing and fair lending com m it­
ments,” added D. Steve Boland, first
vice president and director o f Fair
Lending and House A merica for
Countrywide. “We carefully ana­
lyzed Countryw ide’s growth oppor­
tunities over the next five years and
came to the conclusion that the great­
est need and growth
would be with lower-
income and minor­
ity families.”
H o u s
A m e ric a ,
C ountryw ide’s af­
fordable lending department, man­
ages the com pany’s full range o f
programs and services to underserved
markets. As part o f the plan, the
company will open 15 new inner-city
b ra n c h e s to c o m p le m e n t the
com pany’s 14 existing inner-city
b ra n c h e s. T o u n d e rsc o re the
com pany’s commitment to commu­
nity outreach. Country wide wi II also
expand its “ House America Commu­
nity Fairs” program, in w hich home-
owner education fairs are held in
conjunction with local elementary
schools in com m unities o f these
branches. The company will alsocon-
tinue its highly successful consumer
education and counseling efforts,
offering free English and Spanish
home buying information and coun­
seling services. To date, the House
A m erica C ounseling C enter has
served more than 80,000 borrowers
with services ranging from free credit
repair manuals to information on ap­
plying and prequalifying for any of
C o u n tr y w id e ’s
vast range o f af­
fo rd a b le low
dow n-paym ent,
; government and
c o n v e n tio n a l
home loan programs.
In addition. Country wide will aug­
ment its employee fair lending train­
ing program and make it available to
its wholesale brokers across the na­
tion. Thecom pany will also develop
a comprehensive minority training
and recruitment program for local
branch and corporate positions, along
with job training and placement for
senior management positions.
In 1992, Country wide established
its fair lending program. Two years
later, in 1994, the company became
the first mortgage lender to voluntar­
ily sign a Declaration o f Fair Lend­
ing Principles and Practices with the
U.S. Department o f Housing and
Urban Development (HUD). Since
then. Countryw ide’s home purchase
loans to lower-income families have
increased by more than 166 percent.
In 1996, the most recent year statis­
tics available, the com pany’s loans
to minorities represented more than
15 percent o f all Countrywide bor­
rowers. Altogether, Countrywide
funded over $27.5 billion to lower
income and minority families over
the past five years.
Denial rates to minority borrow­
ers in 1996 were less than half the
industry average at 14.31 percent.
Moreover, the denial disparity be­
tween white and minority borrowers
was also among the lowest in the
industry at 1.34:1, w hilethe industry
average remains at 2:1. Between
1993 and 1996, Countrywide also
saw a 441 percent growth in pur­
chase loans to lower-income Afri­
can-American families.
Founded in 1969, Countrywide
Home L.oans originates, purchases,
sells and services loans for single­
family homes. Thecompany is head­
quartered in Calabasas, California,
and has 8,000 employees and over
4.30 offices nationwide.
Home Builders Support Legislation to Remove
Regulatory Barriers To Affordable Housing
Characterizing it as “an important
step forward in the effort to stream­
line the regulatory process, expand
housing opportunities and elevate
housing as a top national priority,”
the nation’s home builders today
praised legislation being introduced
by Rep. Tom Campbell (R-C'alif.) in
the House and Senator Ron Wyden
(D-Oregon) in the Senate. The House
bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Jack
M etcalf (R-W ash.), Rep. Esteban
Torres (D-Calif.), Rep. James Talent
(R-Mo.), Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-
III ), Rep Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.)
and Rep. Jon Fox (R-Pa.).
“The Affordable Housing Barrier
Removal Act will bring some order
and common sense to the regulatory
process,” said Donald D. Martin, an
Albuquerque, New Mexico home
builder and president o f the 195,000-
m ember National A ssociation o f
Home Builders (NAHB).
“ Housing is one o f the most im­
portant and largest industries in the
nation, accounting for about 12 per­
cent o f the economy,” Martin added.
“However, it isalsooneofthe nation's
most heavily regulated businesses,
and in some areas meeting regula­
tory requirements can add tens of
First Asian-
American Norwest
Alliance Announced
Norwest Mortgage, the nations’s
leading retail mortgage lender an­
nounced the creation o f an Asian
American-Norwest Alliance. The
collaboration o f Norwest Mortgage
Affordable Housing and African-
American is designed to address
multiple languages and cultural bar­
riers.
Michelle Thornhill, m anager o f
Affordable Housing Education and
Counseling said, “ It is our goal to
offer understanding and clear com­
munications to every client who wants
to purchase a home. The alliance is
determined to address A m erica’s
changing society, thereby, providing
materials that reflect their efforts.”
The alliance will provide translation,
sensitive marketing design and ad­
vertising placement for the Asian
community.
Asian A m ericans for Equality
(“AAFE")has been active in theelTort
to meet the needs o f immigrants and
other low-income families to secure
housing and housing related services.
As the Asian American population
continues to grow. A AFE is commit­
ted to increasing their capacity to meet
the needs o f the community.
thousands o f dollars to the cost o f
constructing a modest single-family
home. This legislation will help make
housing and homeownership more
affordable."
Martin pointed out that builders
are often subject to a “layering ef­
fect” where numerous regulations are
stacked on top o f one another. Each
regulation is adopted independently
and, by itself, might seem insignifi­
cant. But when 10 or 20 seemingly
insignificant regulations are layered
on top o f one another, the cost impli­
cations and delays inherent in meet­
ing those regulatory requirements can
be considerable.
One o f the key elements o f Rep.
Cam pbell’s legislation is a require­
ment that federal agencies conduct a
housing impact analysis whenever
they promulgate new regulations re­
lated to housing. The bill would also
reauthorize incentive grants to en­
courage localities to remove regula­
tory barriers, ask the Secretary o f
HUD to conduct a conference on
removing regulatory barriers and ask
local communities that receive Com ­
munity Development Block Grants
to make a good faith effort to remove
regulatory barriers.
“ I want to commend Representa­
tive Campbell and Senator Wyden
for drafting and introducing this im­
portant legislation," Martin added.
“ Even modest decreases in the cost
o f a new home will open the door to
homeownership for families who are
now priced out o f the market. Ulti­
mately, this will raise the nation’s
homeownership rate and strengthen
both families and communities. 1 urge
Congress to enact this legislation and
take the first step toward re- establish­
ing housing as a national priority.”
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