AWARD WINNING ANTI-PREDATORY LENDING DRIVE LAUNCHED BY MAYOR LAFORTUNE, FREDDIE MAC, FAIR HOUSING COALITION

Oklahoma’s First Don’t Borrow Trouble Network Can Be Reached At 918-596-1500

Tulsa, OK – Tulsa Mayor Bill LaFortune today joined officials from Freddie Mac, the Tulsa Area Fair Housing Partnership and Homeownership Tulsa (HOT) to launch Oklahoma's first Don't Borrow Trouble hot-line and counseling network to help Tulsa residents spot and avoid unscrupulous lending practices.

The new Don't Borrow Trouble hotline is being added to Homeownership Tulsa's existing HOTline at 918-596-1500. HOT's counseling staff is being trained to provide Tulsa borrowers who have questions about predatory lending or believe they are the victims of predatory lending practices with advice and referrals to one of Tulsa's two HUD certified housing counseling agencies, the Community Action Project of Tulsa County and Housing Partners of Tulsa.

The award winning Don't Borrow Trouble campaign combines advertising and consumer education to alert families about predatory lending practices, such as exorbitant interest rates, excessive fees, or deceitful lending practices. These practices annually cost Oklahoma borrowers nearly $56 million, according to a recent report from the Community Action Project of Tulsa County.

Mayor LaFortune said, "The City of Tulsa and all of its housing partners strongly support responsible lending and consumer education on predatory lending practices. We are proud to join with Freddie Mac to address the dangers faced by homeowners and prospective homeowners due to predatory lending practices. The HOT program and our other housing partners have been successful in providing information to Tulsans in order to pave the way to home ownership. This campaign will teach people to buy what they can afford, how to save money, and how to avoid accumulating more debt than they can repay. We will promote home ownership while assisting first time buyers with education that will keep them out of financial trouble."

"Don't Borrow Trouble is a critical ingredient to the integrity of the American Dream of homeownership in Tulsa," said Craig Nickerson, Vice President of Community Development Lending at Freddie Mac. "Don't Borrow Trouble is a tested campaign that gets results. And we're delighted to have the opportunity to make it work for families in Tulsa."

U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development Region VI Director, A. Cynthia Leon, said, "Acting (HUD) Secretary Alphonso Jackson is committed to preventing predatory loan practices from destroying the dream of homeownership for American families. HUD is actively involved in combating predatory lending through research, regulation, consumer education and enforcement actions against lenders, appraisers, real estate brokers, and other companies and individuals that have victimized homebuyers.' "

Tulsa's Don't Borrow Trouble campaign is being launched as a one-year pilot program. Other organizations participating in Don't Borrow Trouble include the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Credit Counseling Centers of Oklahoma, Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, Greater Tulsa Association of Realtors, and the National Association of Professional Mortgage Women.

Pioneered in Boston by Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Massachusetts Community & Banking Council, Don't Borrow Trouble is being expanded nationally by Freddie Mac. The campaign has received an award for excellence by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Freddie Mac has helped more than 20 communities across the nation launch local Don't Borrow Trouble campaigns.

The Don't Borrow Trouble campaign is the latest Freddie Mac effort to expand responsible homeownership in the Tulsa area. In the past five years, Freddie Mac has invested more than $7.3 billion in mortgages, making affordable homeownership possible for an estimated 69,500 Tulsa families.

In addition to Don't Borrow Trouble, Freddie Mac has also taken several actions to help protect borrowers from predatory-lending practices. These actions include a ban on the purchase of mortgages with prepayment penalties in excess of three years and single-premium credit insurance policies, and requiring subprime lenders to accurately and fully report monthly borrower credit files to credit repositories so families can benefit from their good payment histories.

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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