REP. NORTHUP, FREDDIE MAC, LOUISVILLE METRO COALITION LAUNCH DON'T BORROW TROUBLE ANTI-PREDATORY LENDING CAMPAIGN

Hotline at 502-736-9999 to Help Homeowners Get Counseling to Avoid Lending Scams

Louisville, KY – U.S. Representative Anne M. Northup, Freddie Mac and a Metro Louisville coalition today launched an aggressive program to eradicate predatory lending in the metro area. Don’t Borrow Trouble Louisville is a two-pronged program that will combine an extensive public education campaign with comprehensive counseling services to help families avoid scams and resolve financial difficulties in an informed manner.

“Providing consumers with counseling and educational services protects their financial health and helps to maintain the stability of our neighborhoods,” said Congresswoman Anne Northup. “I applaud Freddie Mac and the Don’t Borrow Trouble Louisville Metro Coalition for coming together and aggressively working to rid our community of predatory lenders.”

The Don’t Borrow Trouble Louisville Metro Coalition initiative will use brochures, mailings, billboards, public service announcements, transit ads and television commercials to better inform the public on financial issues. The campaign will answer consumers’ questions if they are considering taking out a loan or to provide assistance if they have already taken out a loan. The Don’t Borrow Trouble hotline number is 502-736-9999.

Mayor Jerry Abramson stated, “I applaud this effort and give it my full support. We want the rights of our citizens and the integrity of our neighborhoods preserved. We want agencies that seek to prey on some of our most vulnerable citizens—the elderly, single parents, low-income people—to know that we are creating a well-informed and well-armed community. Agencies who practice predatory lending are not welcome in our fair city.”

“There is nothing more damaging to the prosperity of our neighborhoods or the preservation of homeownership than predatory lending,” said Craig Nickerson, Vice President of Community Development at Freddie Mac. “Don’t Borrow Trouble is a tested campaign that gets results and we are delighted to join with Rep. Northup and the Metro Louisville Coalition to make it work for Louisville area families.”

Don’t Borrow Trouble Louisville campaign is the latest Freddie Mac effort to expand responsible homeownership in the Louisville area. Over the past five years, Freddie Mac has invested nearly $9.5 billion in the Louisville area helping an estimated 85,000 families own homes.

The goals of Don’t Borrow Trouble are to:

Reduce and ultimately eradicate predatory lending practices in Metro Louisville.
Educate borrowers about the dangers of predatory lending and provide them with helpful resources.
Coordinate access to homebuyer assistance programs offered by initiative partners.
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.

The lead agencies coordinating the effort with Freddie Mac are The Housing Partnership and the Louisville Urban League. In addition to the lead agencies and other Kentucky partners, the City of New Albany, Indiana also joined the campaign. Foreclosure rates in Kentucky have recently increased, and Indiana has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation. Unusually high loan foreclosure rates are considered an indicator of likely predatory lending activity.

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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