October 23, 2000

‘Call Sono Home’ Partnership Helps Single Mother Realize Dream

Weed & Seed, Justice Department, Norwalk Redevelopment Agency, Fannie Mae and People’s Bank Work Together for Homeownership

NORWALK, CONN.
Magalie Semexant-Coffy has overcome a list of challenges to realize her dream: She purchased a home of her own.

She is a single mother of four who recently finished law school – with the student loans to prove it – and isn’t yet earning enough money to qualify for a conventional mortgage. But thanks to “Call SoNo Home,” a partnership between Norwalk Weed & Seed, the U.S. Justice Department, the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency, Fannie Mae and People’s Bank, she has purchased a home – and the yard is big enough for her children to run and play.

Semexant-Coffy and her children make up one of the first five families to purchase homes in South Norwalk through Call SoNo Home, a unique program designed to help residents learn the home buying process and overcome the barriers to buying a home.

“We are all thrilled that the first five families have purchased homes as part of the Call SoNo Home program launched in May. This is just the beginning, and we are confident that more families will join the ranks of homeowners in the near future,” said U.S. Attorney Stephen C. Robinson. “Creating safe, healthy communities is a primary goal of the Weed & Seed program. We are beginning to see the fruits of our labor in South Norwalk.”

Semexant-Coffy works at Housing Court in Bridgeport and Norwalk while preparing to take the bar examination. Law school drained her resources, and her having just started a new job diminished her attractiveness to lenders, even though she could get help with a down payment and closing costs from the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency and Adopt-a-House in Stamford.

“I had to buy a home,” she says. “I have four children and I work in Housing Court and I know what it’s like to rent. Just after getting out of law school, the amount of money I’m making by itself isn’t enough to qualify me to buy a decent home.”

Call SoNo Home was launched in May during a community event that not only introduced the partnership, but also offered an initial homeownership seminar in three languages. Through Call SONO Home,

Call SoNo Home was launched in May during a community event that not only introduced the partnership, but also offered an initial homeownership seminar in three languages. Through Call SONO Home,

• People’s Bank provides its trademark home buyer education class “Unlocking the Possibilities of Homeownership”and also committed $1 million in mortgage financing for first-time home buyers and others seeking to purchase homes through this program.
  
• The Norwalk Redevelopment Agency provides pre-purchase counseling and also earmarked $100,000 to provide no-interest down payment and closing cost assistance loans for qualified buyers.
  
• The Justice Department’s Weed &Seed program brings together local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to assist communities in “weeding”out crime and developing strategies to “seed”neighborhoods with programs and resources which serve to begin the process of revitalizing these communities.
  
• Fannie Mae has agreed to purchase the loans approved by People’s Bank. People’s is providing Fannie Mae’s Community Lending mortgage products, designed to help borrowers overcome the two primary barriers to homeownership –lack of down payment funds and qualifying income.

“She had gone to several lenders and no one would pre-qualify her, and without pre-qualification your buying power is diminished,” said Waldo Emerson Williams, People’s vice president, Residential Lending. “At People’s we believe that we need to look beyond traditional income requirements to knock down the barriers to homeownership.”

Or, in Semexant-Coffy’s words, “there’s a fine line between being able to buy a house and living in a shelter.”

Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) is the largest non-bank financial services company in the world. It operates pursuant to a federal charter and is the nation’s largest source of financing for home mortgages. Fannie Mae is working to shrink the nation’s "homeownership gaps" through a $2 trillion "American Dream Commitment" to increase homeownership rates and serve 18 million targeted American families by the end of the decade. Since 1968, Fannie Mae has provided $2.9 trillion of mortgage financing for over 35 million families. More information about Fannie Mae can be found at www.fanniemae.com .

People’s (www.peoples.com) is a diversified financial services company providing commercial, consumer, insurance and investment services. Founded in 1842, it is the largest state-chartered bank in Connecticut with managed assets of more than $13 billion, 143 branches and 220 ATMs. People’s is a leader in commercial banking, residential lending, Savings Bank Life Insurance sales and supermarket banking. An international credit card issuer, it ranks 17th nationally as an issuer of MasterCard and Visa credit cards. People’s subsidiaries offer brokerage services, asset management, equipment financing and leasing, and insurance services.

CONTACTS:
Paul T. Nonnenmacher, media relations officer, Corporate Communications, 203-338-3478 or ptnonne@peoples.com

Deborah P. MacDonnell, manager, External Communications, 203-338-3255 or dpmacdo@peoples.com

Roberta Burns-Howard, vice president, Corporate Communications, 203-338-2378 or rjburns@peoples.com.