FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARCH 28, 2001 CONTACT: <A HREF="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]</A> or (703) 903-3933 > FREDDIE MAC INVESTING IN ISLAMIC "MORTGAGES" FROM AMERICAN FINANCE HOUSE -LARIBA Islamic Home Finance Model To Help More Families Achieve American Dream In As Many as 21 States McLean, VA – Freddie Mac announced today it is investing in home financing contracts that are acceptable under both Islamic and American law, paving the way for a major expansion in affordable homeownership opportunities for observant Muslim families in this country. Freddie Mac has invested an estimated $1 million in contracts from American Finance House -- LARIBA under an agreement that makes it the nation's first Islamic financial institution to achieve Freddie Mac Seller/Servicer status. Observant American-Muslim families require a special housing contract because Islamic religious law prohibits the payment of interest on mortgages and other types of debt. American Finance House -- LARIBA is the Pasadena, Ca.-based institution that developed a Home Finance model for the American-Muslim community. "Today's announcement is a milestone. It shows how Freddie Mac and its lender partners continue to explore new ways to help diverse communities, like the American-Muslim community, take advantage of homeownership opportunities in America," said Saber Salam, vice president of customer strategies and offerings at Freddie Mac. "By supporting Islamic model mortgages, Freddie Mac is realizing its mission to foster homeownership opportunities in new and exciting ways." "Today's news is historic. Many American-Muslim families have stayed out of the housing market for years because they are not allowed by Islamic jurisprudence to pay, receive or be charged interest," said Dr. Yahia Abdul-Rahman, the expert on Islamic Banking and Finance who founded American Finance House -LARIBA in 1987. "Working with Freddie Mac will provide American Finance House - LARIBA with much needed liquidity to meet the growing demand for Islamic Home Financing in the American-Muslim community. This also will provide, in the near future, members of the community, who want to invest their savings according to Islamic law, with proper Islamically- sanctioned investment instruments." The Islamic housing finance model uses standard real estate financing documents, in accordance with state and local law, and is serviced like a conventional Freddie Mac mortgage. The key to the model is an agreement between American Finance House - LARIBA and the prospective homeowner that establishes jointly negotiated maximum monthly payments based on the property's sale price and fair rental value that mark the property to the market. In addition to American Finance House - LARIBA, Freddie Mac is working with other lenders to meet the need for Islamic home financing in America. "I want to applaud Freddie Mac and American Finance House- LARIBA for this important step in making homeownership more available to a rapidly growing new community in America," said Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, a Washington, D.C. -based immigration coalition. "Becoming a homeowner, perhaps more than any other event, marks the moment when those who are new to the American community feel that they are truly at home." Islamic home financing through >American Finance House - LARIBA</A> is currently in 15 states Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Availability is pending in six more states: Alabama, Connecticut, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. (More information on American Finance House-LARIBA, can be founded at www.LARIBA.com). Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation chartered by Congress in 1970 to create a continuous flow of funds to mortgage lenders. By supplying lenders with the money to make mortgages and packaging the mortgages into marketable securities, Freddie Mac sustains a stable mortgage credit system and reduces the mortgage rates paid by homebuyers. Over the years, Freddie Mac has opened doors for one in six homebuyers in America. >>> Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index Q4 2000 Release All Entries Are Percent Changes New England Middle Atlantic South Atlantic East South Central West South Central West North Central East North Central Mountain Pacific The United States Quarterly Change 2.95 2.13 2.35 1.99 1.47 1.63 1.30 2.13 2.89 2.03 Q3 2000-Q4 2000 Annualized 12.35 8.78 9.72 8.22 6.01 6.70 5.30 8.81 12.07 8.38 Quarterly Change Q3 2000-Q4 2000 14.17 9.30 8.13 5.28 6.65 8.19 6.44 8.27 11.97 8.41 Annual Change Q4 1999-Q4 2000 44.31 28.63 29.23 26.97 26.82 35.82 32.52 30.57 37.92 32.04 5-Year Change Q4 1995-Q4 2000 Annualized 7.61 5.16 5.26 4.89 4.87 6.31 5.79 5.48 6.64 5.72 5-Year Change Q4 1995-Q4 2000 Source: Freddie Mac > > By using this Website, you agree to be bound by the attached <A HREF="http://www.freddiemac.com/terms">Terms & Conditions</A>. If you have comments concerning our website, please contact the <A HREF="http://www.freddiemac.com/webmaster">Freddie Mac Webmaster</A>. © 1997 Freddie Mac, revised 2001 </HTML> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------