MC LEAN, Va. – Freddie Mac and the Credit Union Mortgage Alliance Network (CUMAnet) have officially kicked off their recently announced business agreement with a newspaper advertising and direct mail campaign to get the word out to both members and non-members about Freddie Mac's suite of affordable lending products and other information for first-time homeowners. CUMAnet is a multi-owned real estate CUSO owned by three New Jersey-based CUs – Affinity FCU, Basking Ridge; Greater Alliance FCU (formerly Central Bergen FCU), Hackensack; and Proponent FCU (formerly HLR FCU), Nutley. The CUSO also has 38 credit union clients nationwide. Under the agreement, CUMAnet, will market Freddie Mac's suite of affordable lending products, including Home PossibleT, a flexible credit and low-down payment mortgage option designed for first-time home buyers. In addition, the agreement calls for Freddie Mac and CUMAnet to work together to develop and distribute information that would help more potential borrowers understand the mortgage process. One of the initiatives the organizations will promote is material from Freddie Mac's "Homeownership: Let the Truth Move You" campaign, a national effort launched by Freddie Mac in 2004 to provide accurate information about the home buying process and correct a lot of the misunderstandings about the mortgage process including what's involved and what's required to qualify for a mortgage that Freddie Mac says keeps many potential homeowners from buying a home. CUMAnet has been a seller/servicer for Freddie Mac for about eight years, and CUMAnet's Leo O'Donnell, assistant vice president, CU relations, underwriting and originations, says this is the first Freddie Mac program the CUSO has partnered with the Government Sponsored Enterprise on. "Many of our credit union clients have community charters, so partnering with Freddie Mac to help them market their "Homeownership: Let the Truth Move You" campaign is a great way for those credit unions to reach out to their communities to offer home ownership education and introduce the benefits of credit union membership. It's a perfect marriage," says O'Donnell. Last month CUMAnet debuted the campaign with an advertising campaign that features customized newspaper ads, direct mail pieces and statement stuffers with each CUMAnet CU client's name, logo and toll-free number. Tonni von Schaumburg, assistant VP of marketing for Affinity FCU who worked on designing the marketing and collateral pieces for CUMAnet said the overall theme of the creative is "owning a home is easier that you think." She said the newspaper ads, which debuted in May, will run in New Jersey newspapers with circulation in CUMAnet CUs' areas. -

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