GOVERNOR OWEN, MAYOR HICKENLOOPER JOINS FREDDIE MAC, DENVER ALLIANCE TO HELP FAMILIES AVOID PREDATORY LENDING SCAMS

New Don’t Borrow Trouble Denver Hotline Offers Legal, Lending Advice

Denver, CO – Colorado Governor Bill Owens, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Freddie Mac and a coalition of 31 public and private organizations today launched an aggressive new consumer outreach campaign to eradicate predatory lending in Denver. Don't Borrow Trouble Denver is a comprehensive program that includes a public education campaign and free counseling services to help families avoid scams and resolve financial difficulties in an informed manner. The Don't Borrow Trouble Denver number for consumers to call is 2-1-1 at Mile High United Way.

"The campaign theme Don't Borrow Trouble provides a succinct and important caution for consumers," said Colorado Governor Bill Owens. "This is an important effort to provide consumer information and protection."

"Buying a home can be a complex experience, made even more challenging by the threat of predatory lenders taking monetary advantage of would-be homeowners," Mayor Hickenlooper said. "With the Don't Borrow Trouble initiative, Freddie Mac's commitment to making homeownership possible for so many Denver families extends to making it successful and financially secure as well."

Don't Borrow Trouble Denver uses a wide range of proven advertising to better inform the public about predatory lending scams, such as excessive fees, inflated interest rates, or punishing clauses, that lock borrowers into loans they cannot truly afford. The new campaign will also direct the public to 2-1-1, where trained Information and Referral (I&R) specialists will direct callers to information that can help answer consumers' questions and refer them to appropriate legal or financial experts. United Way's 2-1-1 is an easy-to-remember and universally recognizable dialing code for metro Denver that people can call to find or give help in the community.

"By attacking our homes, predatory lending practices grind away the financial foundations of our communities. Predatory loans can strip away home equity and trap unwary borrowers in a dismal cycle that ultimately replaces homeownership with foreclosure," said Craig Nickerson, Freddie Mac's Vice President of Expanding Markets. "Don't Borrow Trouble is a tested campaign that gets results and we are delighted to join with Governor Owens, Mayor Hickenlooper and the Denver Don't Borrow Trouble Coalition to make it work in the metro Denver area."

Mile High United Way is leading a coalition of 31 different organizations and coordinating Don't Borrow Trouble Denver. Mile High United Way plans to use a grassroots consumer education program to warn residents about predatory lending practices in the Denver metro area. The public will be encouraged to call 2-1-1 to receive I&R for legal or financial advice.

"Denver's increasing home prices plus the powerful desire for homeownership in our community creates a fertile environment for unscrupulous lenders who know how to prey on people's ambitions to own a home. By bringing Don't Borrow Trouble to Denver, Freddie Mac is giving our community a valuable new tool for eliminating the dangers of high-cost loans and an important resource to help our neighbors protect themselves from predatory lenders," said Michael Durkin, president of Mile High United Way.

Don't Borrow Trouble Denver is the latest Freddie Mac effort to expand responsible homeownership in the Denver area. Over the past five years, Freddie Mac has invested nearly $33 billion in the Denver area helping some 207,000 families own homes.

The goals of Don't Borrow Trouble are to:

• Reduce and ultimately eradicate predatory lending practices in Metro Denver.
• Educate borrowers about the dangers of predatory lending and provide them with helpful resources.
• Coordinate access to homebuyer assistance programs offered by initiative participants.
• Promote the importance of good financial management and avoiding credit/debt problems.
• Promote the importance of buying homes that the consumer can afford, ultimately reducing high foreclosure loans.

First piloted in Boston by Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Massachusetts Community & Banking Council, Freddie Mac has now expanded Don't Borrow Trouble throughout the nation.

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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