ACB: Press Releases

Contact:	Robert Schmermund (202) 857-3104 Jim Eberle (202) 857-3145	Jim Eberle (202) 857-3145 (work) (703) 893-2593 (home) [email protected]	For Immediate Release October 24, 2001 #01-72
E-mail: [email protected]

AMERICA’S COMMUNITY BANKERS FORMS ALLIANCE TO HELP SENIORS OBTAIN REVERSE MORTGAGES FROM THEIR LOCAL BANK

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — America’s Community Bankers announced a program today that will help its community bank members provide reverse mortgages to seniors. The program is being offered by ACB’s subsidiary, ACB Partners, Inc., joining with Financial Freedom, the nation’s largest lender and servicer of reverse mortgages and a subsidiary of Lehman Brothers Bank, FSB.

Under ACB Partners’ arrangement with Financial Freedom, ACB members will have the option of participating as either an affinity broker or a correspondent lender.

ACB members will receive training to enable them to work with their senior customers in determining which reverse mortgage product best fits their needs. Financial Freedom will also provide marketing support, including a dedicated toll-free hotline and a special website to provide information and online sign up for the program.

Through the alliance, ACB members will be able to offer seniors a complete line of Financial Freedom’s reverse mortgage products, including FHA Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, Fannie Mae’s Homekeeper reverse mortgage, and Financial Freedom’s Cash Account reverse mortgage program. Each program requires mandatory credit counseling.

“This alliance provides ACB members with a unique and invaluable product targeted toward a very important part of their customer base,” said ACB President and CEO Diane M. Casey. “This is the type of relationship product that underscores community banks’ commitment to serving the lifelong financial needs of their customers.

“This program will give community bankers the tools to help their valued senior citizen customers — especially those with limited incomes — stay in their homes,” Casey added.

The program is open to persons aged 62 or more with equity in their homes. The loans have no income requirements, require no monthly payment, and the payments made to homeowners are tax-free. Participants can never owe more than the value of their home.

Community bankers that are currently originating reverse mortgages or have a correspondent relationship with Financial Freedom are enthusiastic about the ACB Partners/Financial Freedom alliance.

“We have been offering reverse mortgages as part of our product portfolio for three years,” said Joyce E. Kuhn, assistant vice president, Ridgefield Bank, Ridgefield, Conn. “We believe it is an important niche product that provides a great service to our older clients and offers additional revenue potential to the bank. It is particularly satisfying to me, personally, when a borrower says, ‘I am so happy I did this. What a difference it has made.'”

“This new ACB Partners/Financial Freedom alliance provides a great way for us to expand our business in one of the fastest growing markets in America: senior homeowners,” said Robin M. Fuller, assistant vice president, Elmira Savings and Loan, Elmira, N.Y. “The program provides the product innovation and versatility we wanted to offer our older homeowner clients. It gives them new options for retirement, lifestyle and health care funding.”

“This alliance with ACB supplies member banks with innovative and versatile lending products while providing Financial Freedom with unprecedented distribution,” said Financial Freedom CEO James Mahoney. “In addition, it enhances Lehman Bank’s strategy of partnering with strategic institutions to offer unique mortgage products,” he added.

More information on the Financial Freedom program is available to ACB members by calling (866) 719-8107 or at www.financialfreedom.com/acbpartners.

America’s Community Bankers is the national trade association committed to shaping the future of banking by being the innovative industry leader strengthening the competitive position of community banks. To learn more about ACB, visit www.AmericasCommunityBankers.com.

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