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THE BEEHIVE HELPS VULNERABLE AND FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYERS BUY SMART & FIGHT FORECLOSURE

Easy-to-Understand Information and Resources on Mortgages, Owning a Home, and Foreclosure

December 19, 2007

Increasing rates of homeownership is good for everybody—boosting neighborhood investment, building assets, and strengthening community ties.  At a time when working families across the country are losing their homes at an astounding pace, homeowners and prospective buyers need help to navigate this increasingly complicated process. One Economy Corporation, a global nonprofit organization that uses innovative approaches to connect low-income people to the power of technology and information, today launched the Beehive’s Guide to Homeownership (www.theBeehive.org/homes) to educate vulnerable and first-time homebuyers about the process of buying a home and helps them avoid foreclosure and predatory sub-prime lending.

The Beehive’s Guide to Homeownership walks users through every step of buying and owning a home, using rich media tools and storytelling to make these issues accessible and easily understood to a lower literacy audience. Information and resources include:

1. Prepare to Buy: This section, created with support from Citigroup, focuses on costs to consider and ways to seek help locally. Resources include a video series following the experiences of a first-time homebuyer and a visual glossary of real estate terms.
2. How to Buy—The Mortgage Coach: The Mortgage Coach, created with support from the Surdna Foundation, helps homebuyers identify safe mortgage products, understand the complex home-buying landscape and evaluate risks like sub-prime lending, fraud and foreclosure. Users create a customized profile and receive recommendations on the best mortgage choices for their financial and personal situations.
3. After You Buy: Developed with support from AT&T Inc., After You Buy helps new and potentially at-risk homeowners understand the responsibilities of owning and maintaining a home: maintenance, repairs and neighborhood issues. Since many Beehive users are coming from a renting history, the content also helps educate users through new experiences, such as dealing with long-term neighbors, helping kids adjust to a new home and owning a pet. 
4. Foreclosure Prevention Center: Funded by Freddie Mac, this section helps at-risk homeowners deal with the intimidating and complicated process of foreclosure. Through interactive loan workouts, simple steps to taking action, a guide to legal rights, and personal testimonies, Beehive users can understand their full range of options, whether that means refinancing to keep the house or selling to avoid foreclosure.     

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QUOTES

ATTRIBUTABLE TO ONE ECONOMY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER REY RAMSEY (bio)

• We live in a time when consumer education is more important than ever. Information about homeownership ought to be easy to access and useful; that is precisely what the Beehive offers.

Please contact Austin Bonner to arrange an interview and/or for additional quotes.

ABOUT ONE ECONOMY CORPORATION

One Economy Corporation is a global nonprofit that uses innovative approaches to deliver the power of technology and information to low-income people, connecting them to valuable tools for building better lives and entering the economic mainstream. We help bring broadband into the homes of low-income people, employ youth to train their community members to use technology effectively, and create socially responsible media properties that offer a wealth of information on education, jobs, health care and other vital issues. Visit www.one-economy.com for more information.

ABOUT THE BEEHIVE

The Beehive (www.theBeehive.org) is One Economy’s multilingual self-help web portal that provides resources and information about the things that matter most: money, health, education, jobs, and family. Nearly 300,000 people each month access the Beehive and One Economy’s other innovative public-purpose media properties, giving them tools for building better lives.

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