Program Targets Bilingual Military Personnel

A new tuition-free, Internet-based training program designed to help bilingual military personnel enter the mortgage finance industry, and thereby promote Latino homeownership, has been announced by Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association.Called Welcome Home, the new program also boasts the participation of the Department of Defense Reserve Forces Policy Board, the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, the National Puerto Rican Coalition, Univision, and four prominent lenders: Branch Banking & Trust, CitiMortgage, GMAC Mortgage, and U.S. Bank Home Mortgage. Freddie Mac and the MBA said the program will aim at providing about 1,000 new graduates a year for potential careers in mortgage sales, origination, underwriting, servicing, collections, and commercial and multifamily lending. "A lack of bilingual information about homebuying and mortgage finance may be stopping thousands of Latino families from seriously considering homeownership, according to numerous studies," the organizations said.