Minneapolis and New York - May 10, 2006 - The National Urban League and the Homeownership Preservation Foundation are joining forces to reduce the number of home foreclosures in African-American communities, where increases in foreclosure rates are threatening the recent progress made in minority homeownership gains.

Through the launch of a new partnership, the Homeownership Preservation Foundation will provide up to $1.2 million to the National Urban League over a three-year period to provide free foreclosure prevention counseling and education focused on reaching African-American homeowners in Houston, St. Louis, and Philadelphia, where minority foreclosure rates are high and rising. The program includes mortgage default counseling and post-purchase education.

"The new civil rights movement of the 21st century is economic empowerment and home ownership is one of the keys to closing the economic gaps that exist between communities of color and other communities," said Marc H. Morial, National Urban League President and CEO. "The partnership between the National Urban League and the Homeownership Preservation Foundation will help more African Americans preserve their homes and build the economic base for their family's future."

As part of the partnership, the National Urban League will support the promotion of the Foundation's 888-995-HOPE hotline, which is available nationwide to all homeowners who are concerned about their finances and the possibility of foreclosure. Homeowners who call the hotline receive free, confidential advice and counseling from HUD-certified counseling agencies designed specifically to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. Those who are in need of additional face-to-face counseling and education will be referred to the Urban League affiliate in their city.

"Our partnership with the National Urban League will further help reduce foreclosures through education and empowerment," said Sharon Sayles Belton, a Homeownership Preservation Foundation board member. "By spreading the word about 888-995-HOPE, offering homeowners the choice to receive face-to-face help, and educating homeowners about how to avoid foreclosures, we have a real chance of making a difference."

The new grant will enable the National Urban League to provide more assistance for foreclosure prevention in the Urban League affiliates in Houston and St. Louis in 2006, and in Philadelphia beginning in 2007. The programs will consist of default counseling, involving face-to-face meetings with homeowners to help them avoid foreclosure, and post-purchase homeownership classes that will cover such topics as budgeting, property and school taxes, debt management, home maintenance and repair.

Low interest rates and lenders willing to use nontraditional criteria in making loans helped push minority homeownership rates above 50 percent in 2004, the first-time minority homeownership rates ever reached that level in the United States. However, those gains are being eroded by a rising tide of foreclosures in some cities. According to the US Census, the African American homeownership rate dipped by 1 percent in 2004, only the second time the rate has dipped in the last 10 years.

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