The Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday that it has teamed up with the National Council on Economic Education to create workshops for consumers on abusive lending and getting a first home.
The program builds on an existing one offered by the education group and supported by the MBA. In addition to helping teachers incorporate its information into their classes, it will have adult education - a first for the council, which has specialized in helping students from kindergarten through high school.
"We want to make sure that our customers are educated consumers so that they can avoid becoming targets of unscrupulous lenders and, at the same time, learn the financial skills they will need to get a mortgage and own a home," said James Murphy, a vice president at the mortgage group.
The Homebuyer Education and Learning Partnership is slated to begin a yearlong run in September in the District of Columbia, Alabama, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Virginia. The two organizations hope to expand it nationwide.
The new program is part of the MBA's seven-point plan against predatory lending and is sponsored solely by the MBA, which put up $130,000.
