Acosta Named CEO of The De Oro Group.

Business Editors

ONTARIO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 3, 2003

Influential Industry Veteran will lead Latino-Owned Real Estate

Services Firm In Branch Expansion Plans that include California &

Arizona

Gary Acosta, chairman and co-founder of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), has been named chief executive officer of the Ontario-based De Oro Group, one of the nation's largest Latino-owned real estate and financial services firms. The 40-year-old mortgage banker, who was just named by Realtor(R) Magazine as one of the top 25 most influential people in real estate, joins De Oro through the acquisition of his company SDF Realty. Based in San Diego, SDF Realty performs online mortgage transactions and originated more than $150 million in home loans last year.

Acosta's vast contacts in the industry through NAHREP and in Washington, D.C. is expected to help De Oro as it seeks to establish itself as the full service provider of real estate services to the growing and economically powerful Hispanic population.

"Gary is a recognized leader in the industry. His leadership, vision and contacts in both the private sector and government will help take De Oro to the next level as the national lender to the Hispanic community," said Alex Espinoza, chairman of the board for De Oro, who is also running the Ontario-based mortgage branch office.

Acosta, who became a co-owner of the company through the merger, was the driving force behind De Oro's alliance with mortgage market giant Freddie Mac last summer. The deal enables De Oro to offer affordable home loan products geared toward helping more Latinos achieve homeownership. The alliance also allows De Oro to enter the secondary mortgage market through U.S. Bank Home Mortgage. The goal for the combined initiative is to reach a loan volume of $1 billion within two years.

A professional mortgage banker for more than 15 years, Acosta founded SDF Realty in 1989. In 2001, he co-founded Emerging Market Technologies Applications (EMTA), a housing related technology solutions company for Hispanic and other underserved markets.

Acosta is the chairman of Freddie Mac's Affordable Housing Advisory Council and an appointed director of the National Association of Realtors. He also serves on advisory committees for JP Morgan Chase and Fannie Mae.

The De Oro Group is a full service real estate provider with three separate divisions including De Oro Home Loans, a mortgage banking company, Century 21 De Oro, and De Oro Escrow and has 11 offices and 140 employees throughout Southern California and Arizona. De Oro Home Loans was named by HUD as one of the top five lenders nationwide for Hispanic borrowers in 1996. The company also earned the prestigious National Association of Realtor's HOPE (Home Ownership Participation for Everyone) Award in the Brokerage Division in 1998, and the Century 21 Diversity Award in 2000. To date, De Oro has helped more than 15,000 Latino families achieve the dream of homeownership.