Chase commits $500 billion in home financing by end of decade to minority and underserved markets

New York, NY, January 30, 2003 - Chase Home Finance, the mortgage division of JPMorgan Chase Bank, announced at a press conference today the Chase Dream Maker Commitment -- an unprecedented $500 billion commitment through 2010, providing increased home financing to minority borrowers across the full economic spectrum, low-to-moderate income borrowers and new immigrant families nationwide.

As the largest commitment of its kind ever made by a lending institution, the Chase Dream Maker Commitment answers President Bush's call to the mortgage industry to make homeownership accessible to all members of our society. The funds will go toward single family home financing for home purchases, refinances or home equity loans and lines of credit.

"Chase has an ongoing, serious commitment to meeting the home financing needs of traditionally underserved borrowers. To raise the bar, we are answering President Bush's call and making it our mission to help close the homeownership gap in America," said Stephen J. Rotella, chief executive officer of Chase Home Finance. "By the end of this decade we expect to help millions of families from underserved segments with the American dream of homeownership. This is not our first step, but it's our biggest step."

"The Bush Administration is committed to adding at least 5.5 million new minority homeowners by the end of the decade because of the tremendous value that homeownership has for families, communities and the nation as a whole," said HUD Secretary Mel Martinez. "We applaud JPMorgan Chase for sharing in this commitment and for pledging to help bridge the homeownership gap. We look forward to a successful partnership with them."

Recognizing that making the dream of homeownership a reality requires more than just a financial commitment, Chase has laid the foundation with an increasingly diverse sales and support staff, mortgage offices, strategic partners as well as education and outreach programs to ensure the program's success.

For example:

Open New Retail Offices
Chase plans to increase its presence on a national basis by opening additional mortgage offices in key markets such as, New York, California, Texas, Illinois, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C.

Chase National Housing Advisory Council
To give the initiative immediate traction nationwide, Chase has created a National Housing Advisory Council, comprised of influential leaders representing underserved segments, including African American, Asian, Hispanic and Gay and Lesbian communities. The purpose of this Council is to provide guidance that will assist Chase Home Finance identify issues, brainstorm solutions and support the work of our strategic alliances.

The National Housing Advisory Council members are:

• Asian Americans for Equality, Chris Kui, President
• Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Weldon J. Rougeau, President
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Ingrid Duran, Executive Director
• Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Milton Rosado, President
• National Association of Realtors, Bruce Downs, Chairman of the Diversity Council
• National Association of Real Estate Brokers, Ed London, President & CEO
• National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, Gary Acosta, CEO
• National Council of La Raza, Raul Yzaguirre, President & CEO
• National Urban League, Hugh Price, President
• Human Rights Campaign, Kim Mills, Education Director
• Union Privilege AFL-CIO, Leslie Tolf, President

Increase Focus on Strategic Alliances

• Chase has established strong partnerships with Fannie Mae and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation as well as other housing finance partners such as Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, FHA, VA, Rural Housing Service and the Federal Home Loan Bank. For example, Chase partnered with the Congressional Black Caucus at the inception of its With Ownership, Wealth (WOW) initiative, which strives to create a million new African American homeowners by the end of 2005.
  
  
• Chase is also expanding existing relationships with other strategic alliances with member-based organizations, such as AFL-CIO, 100 Black Men of Atlanta, National Council of La Raza and National Urban League. For example, Chase will build upon its six-year, exclusive relationship with the Union Plus Mortgage Program of Union Privilege, the benefit arm of the AFL-CIO. To date, this partnership has provided nearly $2 billion in mortgages to union members through special products.

Level the Field with Financial Literacy
Chase will help to level the playing field for borrowers by increasing partnership programs with educational and counseling providers to help borrowers understand and select the best options available to them. Examples include:

• National Affordable Housing Seminars - Chase has partnered with many community-based organizations to provide homeownership counseling in more than 30 cities located in 15 states and the District of Columbia. These organizations include ACORN, the National Urban League and the National Council of LaRaza.
• Early Intervention Prevention Program - The Early Prevention Program helps borrowers who fall behind in their payments stay in their homes by developing payment solutions.
• Protection from Predatory Lending - Chase provides this protection through several vehicles, such as educational articles in ethnic and general market publications, the Chase Web site and one-on-one counseling sessions with our educational partners.
• In-Language Capabilities - Chase also provides in-language-marketing materials to ensure that individuals can fully understand the home buying process in the language with which they are most comfortable. We have ensured that we have multi-lingual capabilities at our origination and servicing centers.
• Establish a Nationwide Referral System - Chase is also developing a nationwide system to identify and refer applicants who are not yet mortgage-ready to housing and credit counseling agencies.

For more information about how to qualify for home financing, please visit any Chase office, log on to the Web site at www.chase.com or call 1-800-678-1051.

The Chase Home Finance business is headquartered in Edison, New Jersey. It is one of the largest residential mortgage lenders and employs nearly 14,000 people in major servicing and operations sites and has more than 300 offices across the country.

Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation is the mortgage subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase Bank, a division of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM). JPMorgan Chase is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $759 billion and operations in more than 50 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, asset management, private banking, private equity, custody and transaction services, and retail and middle market financial services. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase is headquartered in New York and serves more than 30 million consumer customers and the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients. Information about JPMorgan Chase is available on the internet at www.jpmorganchase.com.

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