In what is described as the first step in rebuilding the housing finance industry's tarnished image, the Mortgage Bankers Association has created a non-profit umbrella organization to support philanthropic ventures that help families and communities.
As a model for the initiative, the MBA has selected Spare Key, a Minnesota charity which makes the house payments on behalf of parents with critically ill or injured children who cannot pay their mortgages.
The trade group plans to replicate the program nationally, starting with a $50,000 grant to establish similar initiatives in three cities, the first of which will be in the Washington, D.C., area. The Nation's Capital was chosen as the first location, said MBA President David Stevens, because "we need to make sure people in Washington know we care."
The association also plans to partner with EverFi, a leading financial literacy software company, to teach adults about the core concepts of finance. Members will be able to private label EverFi's programs and provide them to their customers and community groups, either as a free-standing program or to complement to their existing educational efforts.
The philanthropic initiatives are part of an effort to "reclaim our industry's proud legacy," Stevens said at the group's annual convention in Chicago. "We will fight like hell to defend our industry by doing it the right way going forward."
