Countrywide Financial Corporation Donations to NeighborWorks Exceed $500,000

For Immediate Release
August 31, 2006
Contact: Douglas Robinson, 202-220-2360; drobinson@nw.org
Ken Preston, 818-225-4610; ken_preston@countrywide.com

Countrywide Financial Corporation Donations to NeighborWorks®
Homeownership and Preservation Efforts Exceed $500,000

(Washington, D.C.) – NeighborWorks America today announced that Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE:CFC), America’s #1 home loan lender, has become a national NeighborWorks supporter and has donated more than $513,000 to foster homeownership education, counselor training, down payment assistance and foreclosure intervention programs. The funds are being used in part to support a network of 92 NeighborWorks HomeOwnership Centers that provide one-stop access to the various services and training that customers need to shop for, purchase, rehabilitate, insure and maintain a home. Additionally, Countrywide’s contributions have helped finance traiing programs provided by the NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education.

Countrywide’s gift included a $250,000 grant to the national NeighborWorks America organization, $163,750 in grants to select NeighborWorks centers across the U.S. and a $100,000 contribution to the NeighborWorks Center for Foreclosure Solutions. The Center for Foreclosure Solutions is a new national initiative designed to connect homeowners at risk of foreclosure to resources that may help them keep their homes. The program kicked off earlier this year in Ohio where foreclosures have more than doubled in the last five years.

Countrywide’s contributions continue the corporation’s long-time support of local community development and homeownership work by NeighborWorks member organizations. Countywide has been a supporter of NeighborWorks organizations since 2003.

“We have an important relationship with Countrywide that is based on a shared commitment to improving the lives of families and the condition of neighborhoods by expanding the reach of homeownership,” said Ken Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks America. “Countrywide’s current support will help hundreds of families learn more about what it takes to achieve homeownership and begin building one of the best foundations for wealth and prosperity – a home that they can call their own.”

“NeighborWorks is an ideal organization for Countrywide to work with as it shares our founding aspiration to educate homebuyers, especially first-time homebuyers and those in lower-income and minority communities, about the complicated process of buying a home,” said Countrywide’s Rodolfo Saenz, managing director of Corporate Marketing. “Together, we can combine private and public resources to empower a multitude of families to take the first step toward purchasing a home, while working together to protect those less fortunate who may face foreclosure.”

More information about NeighborWorks America, the NeighborWorks HomeOwnership Centers and the NeighborWorks Center for Foreclosure Solutions can be found on the organization’s website: www.nw.org.

About Countrywide Financial Corporation
Founded in 1969, Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) – America’s #1 home loan lender as ranked for 2005 by Inside Mortgage Finance (Jan. 27, 2006), Copyright 2006 – is a member of the S&P 500 and Fortune 500. Countrywide, through its subsidiaries, provides mortgage banking and diversified financial services in domestic and international markets. Mortgage banking businesses include loan production and servicing principally through Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., which originates, purchases, securitizes, sells, and services residential loans. The company is headquartered in Calabasas, California and has a workforce of more than 56,000 individuals and over 900 offices worldwide. For more information about the company, visit Countrywide’s Web site at www.countrywide.com.

About NeighborWorks America
NeighborWorks America provides financial support, technical assistance and training for communities across the nation, including the NeighborWorks network � a nationwide network of more than 240 community development organizations working in more than 4,400 urban, suburban and rural communities across America. These organizations engage in revitalization strategies that strengthen communities and transform lives. In the last five years alone, NeighborWorks organizations have generated more than $10 billion in reinvestment and helped more than 780,000 families of modest means purchase or improve their homes or secure safe, decent rental or mutual housing.