For Immediate Release
November 22, 2004
Contact: Neighborhood Reinvestment - Becky Fleischauer, 202-220-2360;
bfleischauer@nw.org
MGIC – Ryan Daniels, 414-347-6436; ryan_daniels@mgic.org
MGIC Supports NeighborWorks® Homeowner Education Program
More consumers will soon receive much-needed help understanding
the homeownership rules of the road, thanks to Mortgage Guaranty
Insurance Corporation’s (MGIC) generous support of Neighborhood
Reinvestment Corporation’s national homeownership education
and counseling initiative, NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership
Education and Counseling (NCHEC).
MGIC’s support will help NeighborWorks Center to achieve
its mission of training, certifying and supporting homeownership
educators and housing counselors nationwide. Over the next 3 years,
MGIC will provide scholarships for 150 families of modest means
to attend homeownership education courses at NeighborWorks Training
Institutes.
“We thank MGIC for their vision and support of such an important
initiative,” Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation CEO Kenneth
D. Wade said. “For families throughout our nation’s
history, the front door of their first new home has been their
threshold to the American dream. Today, thanks to supportive government
policies, creative-minded mortgage professionals, and networks
such as NeighborWorks, millions of families are learning that
they, too, can own a piece of that dream.”
Using a ‘train the trainer’ model, NCHEC has created
a force of certified counselors, who have served more than 400,000
people with pre- and post-purchase guidance and education. By
2007, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation intends to increase
national capacity to serve more than two million individuals each
year. NCHEC’s efforts have resulted in a one third reduction
of delinquent payments at the 90-day mark for its participants.
NCHEC’s success is reinforced by a recent study that found
borrowers who received counseling have half the default risk of
those who have not participated in a counseling program.
“MGIC is proud to work with Neighborhood Reivestment, the
standards-bearer in homebuyer education,” said Geoffrey
Cooper MGIC’s Director of Emerging Markets. “We share
the NeighborWorks passion for helping families achieve long-term
successful homeownership. Our support of NCHEC further enhances
our SmartPath
TM program which provides consumers lower MI premiums
when they receive pre-purchase face-to-face counseling and education.”
About MGIC
MGIC (www.mgic.com), the principal subsidiary of MGIC Investment
Corporation, is the nation's leading provider of private mortgage
insurance coverage with $179.8 billion primary insurance in force
covering 1.45 million mortgages as of September 30, 2004. MGIC
serves 5,000 lenders with locations across the country and in
Puerto Rico, helping families achieve homeownership sooner by
making affordable low-down-payment mortgages a reality.
About NCHEC
The mission of the Center is to work with industry partners to
promote quality standards; provide expanded training and certification
opportunities for existing counselors; and support counselors
with tools, information, and continuing education. Through NCHEC,
national curriculum and certification standards for homeownership
education and counseling will be established. The goal is to help
create cohesion, provide quality control, and build sustainable
support for the homeownership and counseling industry. NCHEC will
work with industry leaders to ensure the adoption of these standards.
