Countrywide's Housing America. (Affordable Lending).

On the 10th anniversary of a sweeping program dedicated to getting minorities and low- and moderate-income people into their own home. Countrywide has accomplished a lot. By reaching out to Hispanic, African Americans and other minorities, as well as those with modest incomes, the company has helped them climb the ladder to homeownership.

SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 1969, COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS INC., Calabasas, California, has been committed to addressing the barriers and challenges faced by lower-income and minority families in becoming homeowners. Ten years ago, the company decided to try something different in an effort to extend homeownership opportunities to minorities, low- to moderate-income individuals and borrowers living in underserved communities. To focus on this important issue, Countrywide launched its formal affordable lending programs, called House America[R]. * Today, as House America celebrates its 10th anniversary, our commitment is stronger than ever. In 2001, Countrywide announced its One Hundred Billion Dollar Challenge--a commitment to provide $100 billion in residential financing to minorities and lower-income individuals and communities over the next five years. Beyond that, the Challenge builds and enhances existing programs, educational resources, community outreach efforts and participation in nonprofit organizations. *

House America has come a long way since its launch in 1992, and Countrywide has achieved impressive results. The company has been the No. 1 lender to Hispanics from 1995 through 2000--the most recent year for which Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data has been analyzed for loans originated and purchased. In March 2002, Mortgagestats.com, a Thomson Financial company, named Countrywide the No. 1 Lender to all minorities in its 2000 HMDA analysis.

How has Countrywide been able to achieve this level of success in affordable lending? It has been through cumulative House America efforts: the introduction of innovative loan products; the commitment to operate dedicated House America branch offices in underserved neighborhoods and inner cities; the opening of a first-of-its-kind, no-obligation counseling service, the House America Counseling Center, in 1993; and a revamped Web site to provide information to consumers and others interested in homeownership.

Keys to success

Over the years, Countrywide has been a pioneer, working with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offer affordable loan programs. The menu of loan options is long and includes House America loans, conventional loans with greater flexibility, affordable loan rates and lower down payment requirements.

Special programs abound, including the following:

* Expanded approval/Timely Payment Rewards

* Multi-unit loan programs

* FHA and VA loan programs

* New Immigrants Initiative

* Location-efficient mortgages (increased ratios for home buyers purchasing near public transportation; assumes lower transportation costs as part of total budget)

* Down-payment and closing-cost assistance programs

* Rural housing loans

* Mortgage revenue bond programs

* Rehabilitation loan programs

Of course, in the majority of cases, these programs are available to any mortgage lender. Yet Countrywide has been able to maximize the effectiveness of these loan programs. The key has been Countrywide's concerted effort to reach out to minority and lower-income borrowers in their communities.

In 1993, Countrywide opened four House America branch offices in Chicago; Los Angeles; Newark, New Jersey; and Washington, D.C. Since that time, the House America branch presence has grown and 22 major metropolitan areas are now served. In addition, the company has always made an effort to staff the offices with local home loan professionals, many of whom live in the communities they serve.

The House America Counseling Center has also played a major role in Countrywide's accomplishments. For nine years, the House America Counseling Center has provided a comfortable, no-cost, no-obligation environment for individuals to obtain accurate, relevant and useful information--in English or in Spanish. Calls are answered by experts qualified to address questions about homeownership and the loan application process. The counselors can determine loan eligibility, identify assistance programs and help with credit issues that enable callers to plan for future eligibility.

Despite these efforts, Countrywide recognizes there is much more work to be done as a lender and as an industry leader. Educational outreach is the key to continued success. It is the key to removing the disparity in minority versus white homeownership rates and lowering barriers to homeownership for lower-income individuals and underserved communities.

Reaching out today: Multiple strategies, singular goal

Innovative loan products and programs offer extraordinary benefits. Yet, the advantages may go unrealized unless the mortgage industry reaches out and educates low- to moderate-income and minority consumers and communities about the many homeownership opportunities available. The overriding goal is to communicate and provide educational experiences for these borrowers.

Community outreach is a group effort. To ensure the success and growth of outreach programs lenders, nonprofits, government agencies and many other organizations must work together to achieve the goal.

At Countrywide, sharing the news with low- to moderate-income and minority consumers that homeownership opportunities are accessible and affordable means involvement in an array of activities. These include direct-to-consumer efforts, participation in nonprofit organizations, internal initiatives and alliances, and membership in industry trade associations and housing and public policy organizations.

In each of these four strategic categories, Countrywide has proven itself a strong advocate of educational efforts that reach out and show underserved borrowers and those who live in underserved communities that homeownership is a realistic goal. As you'll read, many of our activities combine elements from the four strategies.

Direct-to-consumer efforts

At both the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and neighborhood levels, Countrywide historically has been and continues to be a highly visible participant in homebuyer education programs.

The company is committed to being an ongoing presence at large homebuyer fairs, such as those sponsored annually by the Fannie Mae Foundation in the nation's major metropolitan areas. Year after year, we have staffed booths at homebuyer fairs and met face-to-face with individuals interested in buying a home. We have also led seminars and been panelists for group sessions. Our commitment to cosponsoring or participating in select homebuyer fairs and events in partnership with nonprofit organizations is equally strong.

While larger homebuyer events enable us to reach hundreds of underserved borrowers during a one-day event, our smaller, neighborhood-based efforts offer an even greater personal touch. Countrywide's House America branch offices stay very active in their communities. One example of this strategy is the branch "open house." At these informal get-to-know-you events, community members are invited to meet the branch team members--friendly, helpful professionals who often live in the communities the branches serve. This past year, the House America branches in New Orleans and St. Louis held highly successful events.

Another very effective way Countrywide directly interacts with its neighbors is through seminars given at venues such as neighborhood housing projects, places of worship and other community meeting centers. For example, in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, the House America branch manager offers monthly informative presentations to interested residents of a nearby housing project. Home-buying events have also been held in cities such as Baltimore, Philadelphia and San Antonio, Texas.

Whether one-on-one at a branch office or face-to-face at a homebuyer fair, Countrywide directly touches low- to moderate-income and minority individuals and families, delivering a personalized message that homeownership is accessible. Over the years, company representatives have met with tens of thousands of potential homeowners in these direct-to-consumer efforts.

Participation in nonprofit organizations

At the local and national levels, Countrywide is proud to join the efforts of nonprofit organizations committed to fair lending and affordable housing. The company provides support to these organizations in many forms, including sponsorship, program and event participation, and volunteer leadership positions on executive committees and other governing boards.

A long-time leader in lending to minorities, last year Countrywide became involved with an extraordinary national nonprofit initiative for increasing African-American homeownership, called With Ownership, Wealth (WOW). Countrywide, as a founding partner of WOW, has joined forces with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (a nonpartisan, nonprofit, public policy research and educational institute) and other organizations (including MBA, which has a representative on WOW's executive committee) to contribute to the mutual goal of creating one million additional African-American homeowners by 2005.

The WOW campaign includes comprehensive outreach programs such as homeownership fairs and seminars, credit counseling and educational resources addressing down-payment and closing-costs assistance programs. Countrywide also serves as a member of the WOW executive committee. The committee holds meetings that serve as planning sessions to review ways that WOW can capitalize on existing homeownership initiatives such as Fannie Mae Foundation Home Buyer Fairs.

The WOW executive committee is implementing and plans to participate in educational events for potential homeowners in some Congressional Black Caucus districts. The meetings are attended by members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Countrywide team members and representatives from other partner organizations.

Complementing our partnership with WOW is an array of other relationships with nonprofit organizations large and small. For example, Countrywide works at the local level with Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE), a nonprofit group based in New York City. AAFE provides education, counseling and services regarding homeownership and fair housing, among other topics, to more than 20,000 Asian Americans each year. Countrywide has sponsored an operating grant to AAFE. The company also offers hands-on assistance at its AAFE Homeownership Centers.

Another local nonprofit partnership is an ongoing initiative to revitalize existing homes in Los Angeles neighborhoods and provide quality homes for ownership by low-income households. In this exemplary public-private partnership, the city of Los Angeles, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Countrywide and five other local lenders have joined with Enterprise Home Ownership Partners (EHOP), an affiliate of The Enterprise Foundation. The three-year EHOP program will increase opportunities for homeownership in neighborhoods such as South Central, Boyle Heights, Highland Park and others. This spring it was my great pleasure, as Countrywide's executive responsible for affordable lending, to attend a press conference and celebrate with the first family to own an EHOP-sponsored home.

Internal initiatives

Countrywide has major internal business development programs that address increasing homeownership among minorities and lower-income families. Our initiatives augment participation in nonprofit programs and complement alliances with organizations such as the Spanish-language media giant Univision and the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust.

In 1998, Countrywide launched its ambitious Hispanic Initiative. Recognizing that Hispanics prefer to work with individuals who can communicate in the language of their choice, the company doubled the number of branch staff members who are bilingual by 2000, also doubling the number of bilingual existing branches from 47 to 100. New bilingual Countrywide branches also were opened in markets from Las Vegas to Orlando, Florida. Most important, the company created a dedicated human resources recruitment team to hire Spanish-speaking sales and operations staff throughout the organization.

Supporting the language-of-choice concept, Countrywide makes available fliers, brochures, sales letters and much of the loan documentation paperwork in Spanish. These activities are complemented by the company's Spanish-language full versions of the purchase, refinance and home-equity loan products sections of Countrywide's Web site (www.countrywide.com), as well as its first-time homebuyer and current customer pages.

The Hispanic Initiative also reaches out beyond informational and educational resources available directly from the company. Countrywide has sponsored a radio show called "Su Casa Propia con Countrywide," on Radio Unica, a 24-hour Spanish-language talk-radio network. The show is an educational program designed to help Spanish speakers across the country to understand the home-buying process.

Another alliance within the Hispanic initiative is Countrywide's partnership with Fannie Mae as the exclusive mortgage provider for Univision.com. Visitors to Univision.com, the Spanish-language Web site, now have access to extensive resources about purchasing and refinancing a home. Calculators, educational information and loan preapprovals are presented in the Casa channel of the site sponsored by Fannie Mae and Countrywide.

Web site users can choose from six topics provided by Countrywide: Why Buy a Home?, Obtaining a Loan, Your Credit, Loan Products, Paperwork and Frequently Asked Questions. The site also explains that the company's bilingual home loan experts are eager to help at a toll-free phone number. An online loan preapproval request can be submitted directly to Countrywide. Because Countrywide's Web pages are embedded in the Univision site, users needn't leave the Univision environment.

Countrywide's commitment to homeownership for African Americans builds on the company's participation in WOW, as described earlier. The company actively seeks out opportunities to participate in local home-buying events throughout the nation.

Countrywide's partnership with the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust further supports both the African-American and Hispanic initiatives, as well as low- to moderate-income home buyers. Countrywide, Fannie Mae and the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust have teamed up to make home-ownership easier and more affordable for union families. This partnership, HIT HOME, is key to achieving important labor investment goals, which include affordable housing, community development and good jobs for union members.

HIT HOME was created for the more than 13 million active and retired members of the labor unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO. A special toll-free number connects union members to bilingual representatives at Countrywide. Information is also available at www.hithome.org, a Web site sponsored by the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust and Countrywide. HIT HOME is being launched in 32 cities nationwide over a three-year period.

Trade associations and public policy groups

As an industry, residential finance experts have an obligation to participate in trade associations and nonprofit housing organizations to ensure that public and private policies support community outreach and educational efforts. Countrywide actively seeks out partnerships with other local and national leaders who share our commitment to fair and affordable lending. Here is an overview of a few of the organizations in which Countrywide plays a leadership role in home financing and housing.

Countrywide is very active in the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP). In 2000, the organization welcomed myself and Antonio Valdez, vice president of retail business development, to its board of directors. NAHREP is a nonprofit trade association with the goal of increasing the homeownership rate among Hispanics nationwide.

Countrywide is also a strong supporter of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB). With members known as Realtists, the organization is a nonprofit trade association of minority real estate professionals. With more than 6o local, state and regional chapters, NAREB fulfills a vital role in helping to meet the nation's need for decent housing and its commitment to equal opportunities for all. Countrywide actively supports and sponsors local and national NAREB events, including community seminars, youth training and other outreach efforts.

In addition to these three organizations, Countrywide and its leaders play a major role in shaping the future of fair lending and housing through participation in other organizations and their events, including the National Association of Affordable Housing, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, National Council of La Raza, National Housing Conference and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

As this article indicates, the company believes that education through outreach is the best tool available to expanding homeownership today and in the future.

As of year-end 2001 U.S. Census data, the homeownership rate for non-Hispanic whites stood at 74.4 percent, while rates for African Americans and Hispanics were 48.1 percent and 48.8 percent, respectively. Low- to moderate-income households had a homeownership rate of 53 percent.

To increase parity, lenders, nonprofits, government agencies and many other organizations must work together to ensure that low- to moderate-income and minority consumers and underserved communities know about and have access to the many homeownership opportunities available. Countrywide has long demonstrated an intensity of commitment to educational programs and activities that will ultimately grow homeownership. Homeownership can be a reality for many people--even those who aren't necessarily ready right now. Our activities over the years have helped put thousands of Americans on the road to homeownership. Working in tandem with others who are similarly committed to affordable home financing, Countrywide envisions success in the future and a new wave of homeowners in our nation's neighborhoods.

Mary Salinas Duron is senior vice president, director of fair lending and House America[R] for Countrywide Home Loans Inc. in Calabasas, California.