December 8, 2003

Dearborn (MI) Mayor Michael A. Guido, the Michigan Mortgage Lenders Association and the Mortgage Bankers Association launched the first Stop Mortgage Fraud program in Arabic on November 7, 2003. The program, which is also available in English and Spanish, is designed to help prevent abusive lending practices, and is part of MBA's commitment to the Bush administration's "Blueprint for the American Dream" initiative to create 5.5 million new minority homeowners by the end of the decade.

Guido applauded the program and said, "We are happy to get this important issue out and to join the association in working to protect all of our residents from the practices of abusive lenders. People work hard to buy a home and to make a better life for their families. They should not be taken advantage of by unethical lenders and we want to help stop it."

"We wanted to come to Dearborn because of the support we knew we would receive for this initiative," said MBA Chairman Robert M. Couch, CMB. "I want to thank Mayor Guido and his staff from the city of Dearborn for taking the initiative and helping MBA by volunteering their resources to translate the English version into Arabic. With the enormous growth of Arabic-speaking immigrants in the United states, it is essential that we expand our Stop Mortgage Fraud initiative to include providing the information in Arabic."

Stop Mortgage Fraud is a nationwide consumer education campaign to provide consumers with important tools that they can use to protect themselves from abusive lending practices. It consists of a borrower's bill of rights, ten warning signs of predatory lending, and information on where a consumer can report suspected predatory lending.