By Dustin Tyler Joyce
July 16, 2007

The Mayors’ National Dollar Wi$e Campaign and other financial literacy efforts are essential to helping Americans achieve homeownership, realize the American Dream, and contribute to strong, vibrant cities. That was the central message delivered by Angelo R. Mozilo, chairman and CEO of Countrywide Financial Corporation, to mayors at the Monday morning business/plenary session of the 75th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, June 25. His company, Countrywide, is the nation’s largest home-mortgage lender and the founding sponsor of the Dollar Wi$e Campaign.

The annual Dollar Wi$e Week, Mozilo announced, will be recognized this year September 24-29. “Focusing on the theme ‘Savings for Kids and Families’,” Mozilo said, “we will work together to help kids around the country establish savings accounts, so that they can understand, at a very young age, that financial knowledge is critical to fulfilling their goals.”

Countrywide’s financial support for Dollar Wi$e totals over $1 million over five years. These funds support various aspects of the Conference of Mayors’ financial education efforts, including the Dollar Wi$e Capacity Grants Program, which annually awards grants to various cities to enhance and expand their financial education efforts.

Mozilo praised individual local Dollar Wi$e campaigns in cities across the country. He pointed out San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s initiative to help his city’s 50,000 unbanked residents come into the banking mainstream through Bank on San Francisco. Mozilo noted the active support and efforts of Conference Vice President Miami Mayor Manny Diaz in establishing ACCESS Miami, a comprehensive, community-wide outreach program involving the EITC, the unbanked, youth, and others. The Countrywide co-founder also looked to financial literacy efforts such as Mayor Shirley Franklin’s in Atlanta, which reaches out to young people, and those of mayors along the Gulf Coast, who are working to help victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita regain their homes, livelihoods, and financial footing.

Countrywide is undertaking other efforts to increase its borrowers’ financial literacy and likelihood for successful homeownership. Mozilo referred mayors to his company’s new online financial education curriculum called H.O.M.E., or Home Ownership Mortgage Education, which “provides information, examples and tools from beginning credit and financial management, to life as a homeowner.”

Supports Call for FHA Reform, Addresses Foreclosure Crisis

In his speech, Mozilo praised U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson, who preceded him in addressing the mayors gathered for the plenary session. Mozilo offered his support for Jackson’s call for legislation to modernize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and implored mayors to do the same.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has long supported legislation to revamp and modernize FHA, enabling more Americans to achieve homeownership. “Homeownership is the foundation of the American society,” Mozilo said. “It’s in the fabric of the American Dream. … It’s the only way people can get into the middle class. It’s the source of wealth for most Americans who are not born wealthy.”

Today, however, many new homeowners find themselves struggling to make their mortgage payments, and some eventually default on their loan. Of those at risk for delinquency, Mozilo stated, half will not contact their lenders, and their lenders may not be able to get in touch with them. “They get frightened; they run,” Mozilo explained.

Mozilo assured the mayors that any responsible lender is willing to find ways to keep families in their homes. He asked the mayors to encourage their constituents to contact their mortgage lenders if they found themselves having trouble making ends meet. Mozilo further asked the mayors to contact him if they have any problems with Countrywide in their communities: “We don’t win when others lose,” he said.

The chairman of the nation’s leading mortgage lender also took some time to address the high rate of foreclosure that is afflicting many cities across the country. “Countrywide, like all responsible members of the mortgage lending industry, is reaching out to customers we believe are in danger of default earlier, and with greater urgency, dedication and determination than ever before in our home preservation efforts.” Mozilo also spoke of Countrywide’s partnerships with organizations such as NeighborWorks and ACORN and praised the “tremendous level of participation and cooperation” among entities in the private, government, and non-profit sectors in addressing the foreclosure crisis.

In closing, Mozilo expressed his desire to maintain and strengthen the partnership between The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Countrywide Financial Corporation: “Let us continue to work together to promote financial literacy so that every American is empowered with the knowledge they need to fulfill their dreams, strengthening our families, our neighborhoods and our society.”