(Jamaica Plain, MA) Citigroup, the nations largest financial institution, and the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (“NACA”), the country’s largest housing services organization, announced today a $3 Billion partnership to NACA’s Best in America home ownership program, the largest such national commitment in history. The $3 Billion in loans will be made to moderate- and low-income borrowers who graduate from NACA’s rigorous financial education and preparedness program.
Under the terms of the partnership, NACA Qualified borrowers will benefit from this unprecedented commitment on terms which are by far the best in the mortgage industry:
- NON – Acompte
- NON – Frais de clôture
- Pas de frais
- NO – Perfect Credit
- Below Market Interest Rate: 4.5% (30 yr fixed apr as of June 11th)
This partnership provides tens of thousands of hard-working families throughout the country with the unprecedented opportunity for affordable home ownership. As part of NACA’s comprehensive home ownership program, it also provides one-on-one counseling to each home buyer to help them navigate through the difficult process of securing an affordable mortgage. This comprehensive housing service is provided free for as long as it takes the buyer to become a homeowner.
This huge mortgage commitment not only benefits first time buyers. Homeowners with a predatory loan can refinance with no fees, points or costs at the current below market interest rate of 4.5%. In addition, NACA is working with CitiFinancial to resolve current customer complaints and to address other lending issues.
“This agreement brings the weight of both organizations to change mortgage lending in America, “states Bruce Marks, NACA CEO. “It sounds too good to be true but the more one scratches the surface on this program the brighter it shines. In these hard economic times with government cutbacks and fewer services for low and moderate income people, Citigroup has set a new standard for a private sector partnership that brings affordable home ownership to working people.”
CitiMortgage President, David Schneider said, “For us, improving neighborhoods by enhancing the supply of affordable housing is one of our most important goals. Every day we work with a variety of community partners to help make the dream of home ownership a reality. We are excited about partnering with NACA, because they have the ability to identify potential customers and to get them ready for a loan from CitiMortgage. Simply put, NACA does an effective job of getting people into homes and we know that it will be a strong partner to work with to expand our distribution channel. Together we are both striving to set a standard for affordable lending nationwide,”
The implementation of this partnership will occur on Saturday June 14e at six regional homebuyer workshops nationwide. At each workshop at 11:00 a.m. senior executives from Citigroup and senior officials from NACA will present this partnership in front of thousands of working people attending a NACA home buyers workshop, the first step in the home buying process. These will be extraordinary home buyers workshops with hundreds of participants in each city, joined by politicians and community leaders attending to show their support for the program. The announcement will include additional details that will show just how astounding this agreement is. The locations of the homebuyer workshops are as follows:
- New York—PS 198 (Isador and Ida Strauss School), 1700 Third Ave. at 96e St.
- Chicago—Congregational Church of Park Manner, 7000 South Kings Dr.
- Los Angeles—Miracle Theatre, 226 South Market St., Inglewood
- Washington, DC—Plymouth Congregational Church, 5301 N. Capitol St.
- Buffalo—Central Presbyterian Church, 15 Jewett Parkway
- St. Louis—Redemption Center, 7200 W. Florissant St.
In addition to the six cities where the announcement was made, CitiMortgage loans through NACA will be available immediately in: Baltimore, MD; Birmingham, AL; Jackson, MS; Milwaukee, WI; New Orleans, LA; Oakland, CA; and Sacramento, CA. Loans will soon be available in Southern Florida, Philadelphia, Northern New Jersey, Southern Nevada, and Southern Connecticut as NACA expands into these areas. NACA and CitiMortgage plan to expand this program throughout America in both urban and rural communities.
About Citigroup:
Citigroup is the preeminent global financial services company with some 200 million customer accounts in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, insurance, securities brokerage, and asset management. Major brand names under Citigroup’s trademark red umbrella include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex, and Travelers Life and Annuity. Additional information may be found at: www.citigroup.com.
About NACA:
NACA has been in the forefront of fighting predatory lenders for over a decade. NACA’s campaign against Fleet Bank in the early 1990’s drew national attention to the problem of abusive lending. Through aggressive advocacy and top-level home ownership services, NACA has become the country’s largest housing services organization. NACA provides refinancing to predatory lending victims as well as first time homebuyers. America’s biggest lenders have committed $7.3 Billion in mortgage funding so that NACA can offer its Best in America Mortgage program nationwide. NACA currently has 30 offices throughout the country and is rapidly expanding. For additional information access our website at www.naca.com or to sign-up for a Home Buyer’s Workshop call 1-888-302-6222.