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Homeownership, long an integral part of the American dream, has eluded too many African Americans for too long. But a recent partnership between Fannie Mae, the nation's largest source of financing for home mortgages, and the NAACP hopes to help underprivileged and minority families become homeowners.

The five-year, multimillion-dollar partnership will provide expanded mortgage financing, homeownership counseling and homebuyer information to at least 20,000 African American families. Working with lenders such as NationsBank, Fannie Mae will expand its commitment to provide mortgage financing. It will also provide up to $110 million in special financing products, including a new $50 million underwriting experiment tailored to meet the "unique credit needs of NAACP clientele." Under the partnership, the NAACP will provide homeownership resource information to households in areas served by its Community Development Resource Centers. The CDRCs are local arms of the NAACP that provide a range of consumer lending counseling services.

"Although the national homeownership rate is at a record 66.8%, the rate of ownership for minority Americans remains substantially lower," says Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines. "Through this partnership, we hope to provide assistance to underserved borrowers on a wide range of mortgage products."

# posted by Medical Information : 2:45 AM