AFL-CIO Helps Members Buy Homes

The best way for working families to build wealth is a challenge that is harder than ever. Home ownership is slipping out of grasp for more and more Americans whose incomes are rising at a far slower pace than soaring home prices. But the AFL-CIO's HIT HOME Program is helping union members accomplish that goal.

Through the program, Countrywide Home Loans’ account managers work with union members to offer homeownership education and fast, up-front approvals as well as hundreds of dollars in savings in closing their loans. The program also offers The Working Family Mortgage, which allow homeowners to build equity faster and cut interest costs by scheduling automatic electronic pay deductions. HIT HOME also helps people refinance their homes.

"With skyrocketing housing prices, even with low interest rates over the past few years, many union members have missed out," said Randy Kinder, a program manager for HIT HOME.

He called the program, which began with a pilot program in 2000, an opportunity for union members that helps create "a wealth-building vehicle across the country."

So far, the program has helped more than 9,800 working families secure loans for a total volume of $1.4 billion.

Even when perspective home buyers are not in the position to buy a house, learning about steps to reach that goal is also a valuable tool the program offers, said Luis Acosta, a HIT HOME account manager who works for Countrywide Home Loans.

Working in the Southern California region, he said he has helped about 100 working families over the last year. He said that with the resources available at Countrywide, he is able to zero in on loan programs that clients qualify for and helps them through the process. Union members can also be confident that account managers are working for terms that are best for them.

SEIU member Luis Pereira, who lives in North Hollywood, Calif., described to members of the HIT HOME program how much the resource had helped him.

"I was a renter for many years. I went to Countrywide and learned about the HIT HOME program and received the kind of support I needed to carry me through the entire process of buying a home," he said in an interview for the HIT HOME web site.

For more information, call 1-866-HIT-HOME or visit www.HitHome.org