Helps More Immigrants in the U.S. Achieve Homeownership
HOUSTON, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Through Bank One Mortgage, more
immigrants in the United States will be able to achieve homeownership with
mortgage financing made available through Bank One's partnership with Fannie
Mae's New Immigrants Initiative.
Bank One Mortgage will begin to offer homeownership financing through the
New Immigrants Initiative starting this week in the Houston marketplace. The
program was introduced earlier this month in Chicago. "The New Immigrants
Initiative will strengthen our commitment to the community lending needs of
the Chicago and Houston markets," explained Paul Swan, Chief Operating Officer
of Bank One Mortgage.
The $100 million New Immigrants Initiative enables people, who are newly
arrived in this country and have two years of residence and work history, to
achieve homeownership in a more flexible, streamlined manner. While immigrants
newly arrived in this country are the focus of the initiative, United States
citizens and permanent residents are also eligible to participate. Six key
features of the initiatives are:
Down payments as low as 3 percent for eligible, working non-permanent
residents who have applied for a permanent resident card (known as a "green
card");
* Related co-borrowers with no credit history are permitted, under certain
circumstances;
* Greater flexibility for borrowers with cash on hand;
* A borrower's most recent hourly wage rate can be used to determine
qualifying income;
* Boarder income from relatives living in the same household is permitted;
and
* Part-time or multiple job income of a 12-month duration averaged over
the most recent 24 months is permitted.
Key loan and property requirements include:
* Must be borrower's primary residence.
* Down payment must be from borrower's own funds: minimum 3 percent of
sales price for one-unit properties and minimum 5 percent in case of
two-unit properties.
* Source of down payment may include:
-- Cash on-hand.
-- Co-mingled relative funds, provided relatives reside with borrower.
* Fully-amortizing fixed-rate mortgages with 15- to 30-year terms.
"Through the New Immigrants Initiative, we are responding to the immigrant
population growth trends in the United States," explained Swan, of Bank One
Mortgage. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) indicates that
there are now over 26 million immigrants in the United States, with most of
this population arriving since 1980. By the year 2010, the total U.S immigrant
population is projected to be 31.6 million people, or 10.6 percent of the
American population.
"We will continue the expansion of home-buying opportunities by improving
the quality of housing and removing barriers to homeownership," said Swan of
Bank One Mortgage. For more information about the New Immigrants Initiative
program being offered through Bank One, contact Kate Hibbs 317-288-8727.
Bank One Mortgage is a subsidiary of BANK ONE CORPORATION (NYSE: ONE)
which is the nation's fourth largest bank holding company, with assets of more
than $264 billion. Bank One offers a full range of financial services to
commercial and business customers and consumers. Information about Bank One
can be found on the Internet at http://www.bankone.com .
Fannie Mae is a New York Stock Exchange company and the largest non-bank
financial services company in the world. It operates pursuant to a federal
charter and is the nation's largest source of financing for home mortgages.
Over the past 30 years, Fannie Mae has provided nearly $2.5 trillion of
mortgage financing for over 30 million families. More information about Fannie
Mae can be found on the Internet at http://www.fanniemae.com .
SOURCE Bank One Mortgage
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Related links:
http://www.fanniemae.com
http://www.bankone.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/084675.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 084675
CONTACT:
Kate Hibbs of Bank One Mortgage,
317-288-8727; or Fannie Mae's Consumer Resource Center,
800-7-FANNIE
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