LOCAL LENDER AND FREDDIE MAC BRING GET THE FACTS! HOMEOWNERSHIP CAMPAIGN TO BATON ROUGE AREA

Baton Rouge, LA – Standard Mortgage and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) announce a new first-time homebuyer campaign in conjunction with the Greater Baton Rouge Community & Economic Development Coalition (Coalition), an alliance of Baton Rouge nonprofit community development corporations. The new initiative provides a grassroots campaign to demystify the homeownership process for families in the Baton Rouge area of Louisiana. The Get The Facts! educational initiative involves community outreach, homebuying tips, and free workshops designed to break down barriers of misinformation that keep many individuals from considering homeownership.

The Get The Facts! workshops will be conducted by the Coalition at locations across the city, including the Capitol Park Community Development Center, New Hope Community Development Center, Scotlandville Community Development Center, and Urban Restoration Enhancement Corporation (UREC). The first workshops will commence every second Tuesday of the month beginning February 12, at Scotlandville Community Development Center. Subsequent sessions will then take place at Capitol Park Community Development Center in March, UREC in April, and New Hope Community Development Center in May. For more information, contact the Coalition at 225-295-3583 or by e-mail at gbrcedc@yahoo.com.

Through the Get The Facts! campaign participants are provided with straightforward information and advice about all aspects of homeownership, including costs associated with homebuying and credit history requirements. Research sponsored by Freddie Mac in the past has disclosed that many misconceptions about the homebuying process prevent people from seeking to own a home.

"We can strengthen neighborhoods by increasing home ownership," said Mayor-President Melvin L. "Kip" Holden. "One of the fundamental components of building a great American city is to provide access to information to every person or family who wants to own their own home. This is a great program for our community."

"Coalition members believe that adequate information gives families better housing options as well as expanded opportunities for families who may not have access to homeownership education," said Lisa Williams, president of the Coalition. "The members further believe that working together in the community enhances their overall capacity to reach, educate and empower a greater number of families on homeownership."

"We are delighted to form this relationship with the Coalition and Freddie Mac to bring accurate and timely information to prospective homebuyers," said Edgar Bright III, CEO, Standard Mortgage. "Homeownership is most people's dream; however, there are so many misconceptions that cause people to not even investigate purchasing a home. We are glad that we are able to be part of this worthy endeavor to demystify the homeownership process."

"The strength of this educational campaign is the many public and private organizations working together in the community to address the barriers faced by homebuyers," said Craig Nickerson, vice president of Freddie Mac. "Freddie Mac is pleased to be working with Standard Mortgage and the Coalition to reach people who may be facing obstacles to buying a home."

Freddie Mac, one of the nation's largest residential mortgage investors, created the Get the Facts! campaign. Research conducted by Freddie Mac in 2003 suggested that reliable, accurate information about homebuying might not be reaching minority communities. The research uncovered several common misconceptions about homebuying among African American and Latino consumers. For example, about half of African American and Latino consumers believe that they need a 20 percent down payment to buy a home, and that they need almost perfect credit to get a loan. In addition, more than half of that same demographic believe that they must have the same job for at least three years to get a loan.

Standard Mortgage will provide flexible mortgage financing for eligible borrowers who have completed the required workshop, and Freddie Mac will then buy those loans from Standard Mortgage.

Coalition Homebuyer Resource Center works with first-time homebuyers to guide them through the homebuying process. Coalition members have served the Baton Rouge community for over 17 years providing home buying education, home counseling, fair housing, and credit education.

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-related securities and debt instruments in the capital markets. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible more than 50 million times, ensuring financing for one in six homebuyers and more than four million renters.

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