Freddie Mac may again be drawing the ire of many of its mortgage lending customers by expanding one of its first-time home buyer programs, but limiting collaring the initiative so it applies to just a select group of its approved seller/servicers.
Freddie's alternative qualifying initiative pilot, which was launched in 1993 with PNC Mortgage Corp. and the Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., has expanded - to six lenders. The program allows home buyers to qualify by placing greater emphasis on monthly cash flows rather than traditional housing and total debt raTio methods.
The lucky six are: Sunbelt National Mortgage, Dallas; Weyerhauser Mortgage Co., Woodland Hills, Calif.; Household Bank, Prospect Heights, Ill.; Crestar Mortgage Corp., Richmond, Va.; FSB Mortgage Corp., Minneapolis/St. Paul; and First of America Mortgage Co., Kalamazoo, Mich. Freddie plans to evaluate the program further before expanding again.
