FREDDIE MAC MULTIFAMILY DIVISION LAUNCHES NEW ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR TARGETED AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Council Will Assist Industry in Its Efforts to Serve the Special Needs of Highly Affordable Markets

McLean, VA – As part of its ongoing effort to best serve the special needs of affordable housing markets, Freddie Mac today announced the formation of a new Advisory Council Committee on Targeted Affordable Housing. Financing rental properties that are affordable to low and very low-income families is an important function of Freddie Mac's Multifamily business.

"We are expanding our outreach on affordable housing issues as part of the renewed emphasis that our new senior management team has placed on our affordable housing mission," said Adrian Corbiere, Freddie Mac's Multifamily senior vice president.

The Advisory Council Committee for Targeted Affordable joins Freddie Mac's existing advisory councils for Loan Production and Asset Management, helping to expand its channels for business partner feedback on key topics. In this way, Freddie Mac continues its leadership role and expands its service to affordable housing markets.

"We are committed to the targeted affordable lending arena where rental units maintain their affordability for the long term, and financing is more complex because of regulatory requirements and coordination between federal, state and local entities. We are seeking the support of our partners with expertise in this highly specialized area to help us address the unique needs of this market," said W. Kimball Griffith, director of Multifamily Affordable Housing. "The committee will continue to meet several times a year in an effort to stay abreast of any changes or shifts in the affordable housing environment and to achieve the stated goals of the committee." The Targeted Affordable Housing Committee represents a cross-section of the national targeted affordable market, with eight seller/servicer members, three representatives of the tax credit equity market, and Freddie Mac staff that will include W. Kimball Griffith, director of Affordable Housing, and Christine Hobbs, director of Affordable Equity Investments. Other members represent the following companies:

American Property Financing, Inc.
Berkshire Mortgage Finance
CharterMac
GMAC Commercial Mortgage
MMA Financial
National Equity Fund, Inc.
NorthMarq
PNC Multifamily Capital
Primary Capital

Goals for the committee include

Helping Freddie Mac stay current on affordable housing trends to meet market demands and challenges efficiently and quickly
Gathering feedback on existing Freddie Mac products, pilots and execution
Identifying and implementing changes consistent with Freddie Mac's affordable housing mission

"We believe input from the broad representation on this committee will help Freddie Mac's Multifamily Division better meet the needs of all of our correspondents and equity partners who are interested in conducting targeted affordable business," said Hobbs.

Since the introduction of the Freddie Mac Program Plus network of multifamily loan originators and servicers in 1993, Freddie Mac has provided financing for over 30,000 multifamily properties totaling more than $75 billion. That volume represents more than two million rental units across the country, a large portion of which are affordable to people whose income levels are at or below area median income – including newly established households, single-parent households, large family households at lower salaries as well as other renters.

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 the doors for one in six homebuyers.

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