In a partnership with Fannie Mae and Countrywide Home Loans, the AFL-CIO plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars over the next three in mortgages for union members in 32 metropolitan areas throughout the country.

Countrywide will originate the loans and sell them to Fannie Mae, which, in turn, will package them into securities that will be purchased by the AFL-CIO's Housing Investment Trust, a pension fund with more than $2 billion in assets and growing.

The program is aimed at the nation's nearly 13 million union members, about 700,000 of which buy and sell homes in any given year. Some 60 different unions are under the AFL-CIO umbrella.

"Home ownership is the backbone of a strong and vibrant community and a real asset for America's working families," said Linda Chavez-Thompson, an AFL-CIO executive vice president.

Under the "HIT Home" initiative, buyers will be given the opportunity to qualify for Fannie Mae's "Working Family" mortgage, a loan with payments that can be tailored to coincide with the borrower's payday and, as a result, allows borrowers to build equity faster and pay off their debt sooner.

If the borrower is paid on a weekly basis, for example, 25 percent of the monthly payment can be deducted automatically from each paycheck. And if he's paid every other week, then half the normal payment can be deducted electronically.

In addition, the program offers low downpayments, reduced mortgage rates, and free property appraisals, credit reports and counseling in either English or Spanish.

Even though Working Family loans are "a little more difficult to service," Michael Taliaferro, executive vice president of production in Countrywide's consumer markets division, said the big Calabasas, Calif.-based lender is "excited" about the program.

"The fact that (the AFL-CIO) is willing to invest in these mortgages sends a great signal to their members," he said.

Countrywide, which is "hoping to see a dramatic pickup in market share" as a result of its participation in what Taliaferro called an "affinity lending relationship," was chosen over several other lenders after an exhaustive evaluation by the AFL-CIO, primarily because of its lending record among minorities.

According to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act figures, Countrywide has been the leading lender in United States to Latinos for four consecutive years.

The initiative is aimed at putting people in homes, Chavez-Thompson said at a press conference.

"We need to do everything in our power to provide the encouragement, counseling and financial services to make home ownership a reality for the people who teach our children, safeguard our streets and keep our economy strong," she said.

The Housing Investment Trust is used as an investment vehicle for union and public employee pension programs to finance the development of single and multi-family housing. It not only has provided a competitive return for investors, it also has financed more than 50,000 housing units and provided more than $3 billion of financing for projects nationwide.

Published: November 21, 2000

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.