Isabel M. Estrada Portales
06/03/2005
Confirming longtime concerns about disparities expressed by consumer
advocates and community leaders, a report released by the National
Council of La Raza (NCLR) provides for the first time a comprehensive
analysis of the mortgage products and lending tactics targeted at
Hispanic homebuyers. The report examines the homebuying and refinancing
experiences of Latino homebuyers and the abusive lending tactics that
steer Latino families into unnecessarily expensive products.
Washington Hoy spoke with Irma Muñoz, spokesperson for GMAC
Mortgage, about the issue.
Washington Hoy: What have the GMAC done to prevent
predatory lending to Latinos?
Irma Muñoz: GMAC Mortgage has developed
extensive training programs to provide Loan Officers with the necessary
tools to best serve their customers. In particular, GMAC Mortgage,
as part of the "La Ultima Palabra..." initiative, has
tailored training certification specifically for Loan Officers that
work with the Latino community. This training teaches Loan Officers
to be sensitive to the particular needs of Latino families and some
of the unique issues they may encounter when working with an immigrant
based- bilingual community.
GMAC Mortgage has also developed a wide array of information about
the home financing process in both English and Spanish. This information
is free of cost and available to anyone by calling 1-888-259-4755.
WH: What kinds of programs GMAC has to help Hispanic
gain access to loans in favorable terms?
IM: GMAC Mortgage has over 400 mortgage products
available. These products include features that are tailored to
meet the needs of Latino families. For example, they take into consideration
non-traditional credit, broader income, cash on hand and undocumented
income.
WH: One of the main problems the latest report
from NCLR shows is that Hispanics lack access to the prime loan
market, and are constrain to the subprime which is more expensive
in many regards, and one of the policy recommendations is to facilitate
the access to the prime market. There are disparities, because it
looks like many Hispanics who would qualify for the other types
of loans, are still stuck with subprime ones. What kind of efforts
GMAC has in place that would assure a more equitable access of Hispanics
to the conventional loan market?
IM: We know through the NCLR study and research
we have conducted ourselves that Latino families have a higher propensity
to fall victims to predatory lenders. For this reason, we are committed
to working with the Latino community to provide access to education,
to ensure that our Loan Officers are always available to answer
questions about the home financing process in both English and Spanish,
and to make sure that we only provide financing opportunities that
are to the borrower's advantage.
Specifically, GMAC Mortgage launched this year "La última
palabra..." Initiative to let families know that we have "la
ultima palabra, the last word...for loans" We are so confident
that we meet or beat our competitors offers that we will give customers
$250 if we don't.
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