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"It's all about stabilizing the community and neighborhood revitalization, but a huge component is the education process. When people receive homeowner education, they can make a decision as to whether they are ready for homeownership or not." —Kim Smith Moore, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage prepared. "I thought she made a wise decision because a lot of people don't understand the responsibilities of homeownership," Moore said. "Education for the homebuyer is very critical, and it's an important piece of the LIFT program." Another essential requirement of the LIFT programs includes not only collaboration between the bank and the nonprofit organization administering the program, but also the community where funding is being offered. "We involve community leaders because these programs are focused on helping families and neighborhoods recover," Moore explained. "To accomplish this, we have Wells Fargo local ground teams in all markets working along with the local nonprofit affiliate and local organizations to ensure success of each project." LIFT down payment assistance programs will be rolled out in 22 markets by the end of 2013, according to Chris Hammond, SVP, corporate communications. The newest program, UrbanLIFT Community Grant Program, will also distribute nearly $11.5 million in funds to nonprofits for neighborhood improvement projects across 25 cities with diverse populations. To qualify for down payment assistance, a prospective homebuyer must be mortgage qualified, meet eligibility requirements including not exceeding 120 percent of the area median income, and have completed the homebuyer education class. Although Wells Fargo underwrites LIFT programs, prospective homeowners may seek financing for the remaining balance of their home purchase from any qualified lender that accepts these down payment assistance programs. NeighborWorks America will approve the lender, administer the funds, and offer homebuyer education. Hammond says that homes available to prospective homebuyers are not owned by Wells Fargo Bank, and the down payment assistance may be applied to any new mortgage purchase loan including 203(k) renovation loans. In fact, the homes purchased though LIFT programs do not have to be REOs, but can be any home on the market for which buyers can qualify. 50 "Wells Fargo has made a $180 million commitment in collaboration with NeighborWorks America to help housing markets deeply affected by foreclosures through creating more sustainable homeowners," Hammond explained. "We've learned that people who complete the homeowner education classes offered by the NeighborWorks America network are better prepared to become sustainable homeowners." Statistics show that the LIFT programs have been very successful in terms of creating new homeowners, according to Hammond. "Since the program started in 2012, Wells Fargo and NeighborWorks America have helped to create nearly 4,500 new homeowners," he said. As the programs continue to expand, Hammond says, there are always new challenges to overcome. "Market conditions have changed since we started these programs," he said. "At that time, there was a surplus of inventory and vacant homes. Now, prospective buyers may face competition from investors and cash buyers. That's where down payment assistance and homebuyer education come in, because together they can help make homeownership achievable." Partnerships Pay Off The nonprofit that Wells Fargo Bank chose to partner with in its neighborhood assistance LIFT programs is no newcomer to helping low-income families live in affordable homes in sustainable neighborhoods. For the past 35 years, NeighborWorks America has been offering homebuyer information and counseling to people interested in pursuing homeownership and those who are mortgage ready. Other services include counseling to avoid foreclosure for those who are under financial distress. Headquarters for this organization is in Washington, D.C. In addition, the group has seven regional offices, one national office, and more than 235 independent, community-based nonprofit organizations serving more than 4,500 communities nationwide. Most funding for this organization comes from Congress, as the organization is a chartered public nonprofit. The group also receives philanthropic donations as well as contributions from financial institutions. "NeighborWorks America helps to strengthen communities by providing training for homeownership," explained Marietta Rodriguez, national VP of homeownership and lending. "Our counseling and education programs help prepare homebuyers to be better informed and become default resistant. We feel that the home purchase process is very complex and can have some pitfalls. This can be diminished through our pre-purchase homebuyer training." In addition to training prospective homebuyers, NeighborWorks America is the nation's leading trainer of community development and affordable housing professionals. These classes are open to anyone, and although some are available online, most are classroom-based. NeighborWorks America also participates in the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Program, launched in December 2007, which offers counseling to families at risk of foreclosure and training for counseling through other nonprofits. More than 1,700 counseling agencies operate under this program. As NeighborWorks America strives to educate and help prospective homebuyers secure and retain sustainable housing, the group also helps businesses achieve their objectives, according to Rodriquez. In addition, she said, "We are a good steward of public as well as private dollars, and we provide a valuable and needed service in helping to create safe and affordable communities." Support from Feds "Through my work on the board of NeighborWorks America, it is clear to me how critical counseling is for at-risk homeowners facing foreclosure," Thomas J. Curry, comptroller of the currency, stated recently. He added that in a report to Congress, NeighborWorks America described how the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program has served 1.3 million homeowners, helping them secure loan modifications and other types of assistance. Curry also believes it is important to teach prospective homebuyers the ins and outs of purchasing a home. Most have no idea of the details or requirements for becoming homeowners, nor do they realize the cost of maintaining a home in addition to keeping mortgage payments current. After participating in homeowner education training, some people decide that it might be wise to delay buying a home. In addition, sometimes counselors need to advise clients to wait until they are better prepared financially to purchase a home. Occasionally, a counselor has to tell a client that

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