Futures Home Assistance Program, a non-profit organization that offers gift funds for down payments to qualified homebuyers, announced today the creation of a department specifically designed to meet the linguistic and financial needs of Hispanic communities throughout all 50 states. Futures also announced the opening of an office in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Based on the U.S. Census figures from 2000, the Hispanic community in the United States is the fastest growing demographic in the country. Unfortunately, Hispanics are noticeably underserved by most national businesses, particularly in the Real Estate market. FHAP’s Executive Director, Edward P. Hays, said it was vital to open up the down payment assistance program to the Hispanic population, and to demonstrate that, Hays announced that Futures Home Assistance Program has extended all aspects of its programs to Hispanics who might not otherwise investigate the opportunity of home ownership, due to language barriers.

“When the foundation began in 2000, our goals were clear,” Hays said. “We wanted to provide a no-strings-attached way for people to purchase homes by offering them down-payment assistance, and we wanted to do so by not only making the process easy, but offering superior customer service at every turn. Once we began making Futures a common name among realtors, mortgage lenders and customers, we wanted to make our program accessible to more than just English-speaking homebuyers throughout the United States. Launching our Spanish Department is an exciting step for us, and we look forward to giving Hispanic communities all across the U.S. and Puerto Rico the same high quality of customer service and attention as we have to their English-speaking counterparts.”

In addition to the rollout of its Spanish Department, Futures Home Assistance Program announced today that it has also opened offices in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Upon receiving approval from the Puerto Rican government to offer down-payment assistance to U.S. citizens in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Futures announced the hiring of Carlos Torres as Regional Director of Puerto Rico. Torres earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of Puerto Rico and has previously been employed with JA Gonzales and PanAmerican Financial in San Juan.

Torres will report to Aida Perez, who has been named the Spanish Program Director, overseeing all operations in the entire Spanish Department. Perez will be responsible for the development of a marketing approach and grassroots outreach efforts to Hispanic communities around the U.S., including states where the Hispanic populations are growing at increasingly rapid rates, such as Florida, Texas, California, Arizona and Georgia, to name a few. She will oversee operations in the Spanish Program throughout the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well.

Futures Home Assistance Program is a non-profit organization that assists homebuyers in obtaining gift funds to use as down payments on loans for new or resale homes. Established in 2000 by Edward P. Hays, Executive Director of the foundation, Futures is headquartered in Stockbridge, Georgia,

Futures raises funds to help qualified homebuyer's requirements of funds needed for purchases. There is no obligation for repayment of these funds by the homebuyer, and no lien or mortgage placed against a participating property. The gift funds, which can be offered up to 6% of the entire cost of the home, may be used for part or all of any down payment or closing costs required by participating lenders in order to qualify the buyer for the home of their choice. Futures met all requirements of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to offer down payment assistance to homebuyers, and the foundation works with approved mortgage lenders, realtors and other real estate professionals in all 50 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

For more information, please visit www.fhap.org or www.fhap.org/espanol for the Spanish version; or call Fauve Yandel, Director of Marketing and PR, at 770-560-8913 or 800-672-4055 outside of Atlanta.

Published: April 15, 2002

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.