CEDC’s NeighborWorks® Home Ownership Center (HOC) has joined forces with Wells Fargo and Neighborhood Housing Services of America (NHSA) to develop a new Refinancing Program designed to help working families refinance by offering a new low interest loan product. In addition to the new loan product the program offers educational workshops designed to increase consumer awareness of predatory lending practices and enhance skills with financial fitness, budgeting, credit, refinancing and home ownership.

With predatory lending practices on the rise, particularly among low income and minority consumers, CEDC strives to help families with various challenges. Some want to become homeowners but have trouble managing their debt; others need to refinance but have trouble qualifying because of high interest or predatory loans. “The big question for us was, ‘how do we get the word out about predatory lending practices and how can we help people get out of these bad situations?’ That’s how the Refinancing Program was born,” says Bertha Garcia, Director of CEDC’s NeighborWorks® Home Ownership Center.

“The great thing about this refinancing program is that it is linked to our Financial Fitness Program. We’ve found that many families in need of refinancing need to consolidate their debt, so it’s easier for them to handle both their debt and a mortgage. Out goal is to get them in a better situation so they can pay off their debt and continue to be homeowners,” continues Ms. Garcia. One of the many benefits of the new program is that it goes beyond just helping to solve consumers’ ‘money problems’. Through education and financial management workshops, families can learn to budget and manage their finances in order to avoid more debt and to protect their investments.

Robert McClish, Emerging Markets Manager for Wells Fargo says of the program, “Offering something back to the community is part of our vision as a company and CEDC has been doing that for over 25 years so we feel that it’s an honor and a privilege to partner with them in this program to help working families.”

Return to HomeOwnership Division of CEDC.