6.18.2001 ET

(CSRwire) U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, Freddie Mac, and several local organizations today announced that they are bringing the award-winning “Don’t Borrow Trouble” anti-predatory lending campaign to Oakland to help more families learn about and protect themselves from predatory lending practices.

“Safe and prudent homeownership is critical to building personal wealth and community prosperity," said Congresswoman Lee. "Families use the equity from increased home value to send children to college, renovate homes, and as seed money to start a small business. We must put a stop to predatory lending because it steals this equity from people and our communities.”

“Predatory lending is a reprehensible practice,” said Mayor Jerry Brown. “This educational campaign will equip Oaklanders to make better financial decisions.”

“Few things are more important to people and the health of our neighborhoods than homeownership,” said Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente. “Through this campaign and other proactive measures, the City of Oakland will fight predatory lenders to protect the financial health of our citizens.”

“Don’t Borrow Trouble” combines advertising, consumer education, and an area-wide referral network to help families avoid unscrupulous lenders who charge exorbitant loan rates, hidden fees, onerous prepayment penalties and unnecessarily complicated contracts.

Organizations supporting the campaign include the City of Oakland, Community and Economic Development Agency in association with Freddie Mac; Oakland City Attorney's Office; Association of Community Organizations for Reform (ACORN); ACORN Housing Corporation; Consumer Credit Counseling Services of the East Bay; Home Buyer Assistance Center; National Association of Real Estate Brokers - Investment Division/Housing Counseling Agency; National Assistance Corporation of America (NACA); and the Unity Council.

“Today’s announcement marks a significant new level of self-protection for Oakland families who own homes or aspire to homeownership,” said Craig Nickerson, Freddie Mac’s vice president of community development lending. This campaign gets results. It is working in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Boston and other cities across the nation. And thanks to Congresswoman Lee and Mayor Brown, we now have the opportunity to make it work for Oakland and the East Bay.”

The Oakland program is designed to reduce and ultimately eradicate predatory lending practices by educating borrowers about predatory lending and providing people with resources and coordinated access to consumer information and homebuyer assistance programs. The campaign will also promote the importance of good personal financial management and provide practical advice for avoiding credit and debt problems.

“Predatory lending has and continues to be a major problem in Oakland," says Fannie Brown, ACORN National board member. "This initiative is a good start to help address the problem. I am glad to see these organizations working together on this issue.”

The campaign uses advertising, websites, and public service announcements to alert borrowers to predatory lending practices and encourage them to call a toll free telephone number for referrals to local government and non-profit agencies. Pioneered in Boston and expanded nationally by Freddie Mac, the campaign was honored with an award for excellence by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The campaign is the latest Freddie Mac effort to expand homeownership in Oakland. During the past five years, Freddie Mac has invested more than $12 billion in residential mortgages, making affordable homeownership and rental opportunities possible for more than 82,300 families.

Making “Don’t Borrow Trouble” available to cities across the country is the latest in a series of actions by Freddie Mac to help protect borrowers from predatory-lending practices. These include a ban on the purchase of mortgages with single-premium credit insurance policies; requiring subprime lenders to accurately and fully report borrower credit files to credit repositories so borrowers can benefit from improvements in their payment history; and the introduction of innovative loan products for borrowers with credit issues.

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation established by Congress in 1970 to create a continuous flow of funds to mortgage lenders in support of homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac purchases mortgages from lenders and packages them into securities that are sold to investors. Over the years, Freddie Mac has opened doors for one in six homebuyers in America.

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