UNITE HERE Launches Website, Survey, to Engage Countrywide Borrowers |
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The labor union UNITE HERE has launched a website, http://www.eyeoncountrywide.info, as an open resource on the sub-prime lending crisis and the nation's number one sub-prime lender, Countrywide Financial Corporation. UNITE HERE represents over 450,000 North American members, with a tradition of consumer advocacy. UNITE HERE also sent a survey this week to 1,500 borrowers who took out Countrywide adjustable rate mortgages (Option ARMs). With the survey, UNITE HERE will research customers' experience, including knowledge of the terms of loans at the time they were taken. Countrywide Financial Corporation, the umbrella group that owns Countrywide Home Loans, Countrywide Bank, and sub-prime division Full Spectrum Lending, is the nation's largest mortgage lender and recently, its largest sub-prime lender. Countrywide borrowers are of particular interest in examining the crisis, because, as the leader in the industry, Countrywide has the potential to set trends that affect consumers, particularly working families including those of UNITE HERE members. "Sub-prime" refers to home loans given to borrowers with less than perfect credit. These loans include adjustable rate mortgages (Option ARMs), stated income loans, no-document loans, and interest-only loans. Recently, sub-prime loans have come under intense criticism by policymakers, mortgage industry advocates, federal regulators, and consumer advocates. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has held congressional hearings twice this year on the sub-prime crisis, which involves an estimated 2.2 million borrowers at risk of foreclosure. Pending home foreclosures for Countrywide Financial Corp. as a percentage of unpaid principal balance increased by 113 percent from June 2006 to June 2007. Countrywide believes that it had more defaulted "subprime" loans in 2006 than in any other year in the company's history. For more information on sub-prime lending and Countrywide Financial Corporation, consumers are encouraged to visit http://www.eyeoncountrywide.info -- information for Countrywide customers interested in participating in the survey is also available there. Contact: Anna Oman of UNITE HERE, +1-212-332-9380, aoman@unitehere.orgSOURCE UNITE HERE
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CONTACT:
Anna Oman of UNITE HERE, +1-212-332-9380,
aoman@unitehere.org
