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InterFirst Offers Products to Banks for Underserved Borrowers
By James Comtois
As an attempt to help community banks better serve underserved mortgage borrowers, InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based division of ABN AMRO Mortgage Group, is offering a new suite of products.
The Financial Institutions Group of InterFirst has recently begun offering ABN AMRO Mortgage Group's DreamFirst product suite to community banks and financial institutions. DreamFirst offers affordable mortgage products designed to meet the needs of low- to moderate-income borrowers and first-time homebuyers.
Features of DreamFirst include a higher debt-to-income ratio allowance, 100% loan-to-value, manual underwriting on "cautioned" or "referred" loans and the acceptance of physical cash for down payment. InterFirst's Financial Institutions Group's DreamFirst product suite includes 15-, 20-, and 30-year fully amortizing, fixed-rate mortgages as well as 7/1 and 10/1 LIBOR-based adjustable-rate mortgages.
Unlike other products frequently used to help underserved borrowers, the Financial Institutions Group's DreamFirst product suite makes affordable mortgages available at competitive mortgage prices, with standard, conventional, agency-eligible documentation.
"DreamFirst offers community banks and financial institutions unique products that enable them to meet the needs of first-time homebuyers as well as borrowers with limited credit and limited funds to close," said Michael Griffith, senior vice president of ABN AMRO Mortgage Group and group manager of Financial Institutions Group, adding that DreamFirst also enables community banks and financial institutions to expand their businesses in Department of HUD-defined underserved markets, including immigrant homebuyers.
"DreamFirst is the latest example of the Financial Institutions Group providing its partners with leading products and services to help them differentiate their business in a crowded market place and grow market share," said Mr. Griffith.
The Financial Institutions Group's DreamFirst product suite protects community bank and financial institutions group borrowers from unfair, predatory lending practices. DreamFirst products are available to community banks and financial institutions through the Financial Institutions Group's website, www.interfirstlink.com.
In addition to DreamFirst, interfirstlink.com provides community bank customers with online mortgage services and home loan information. It also helps banks eliminate the need for a loan origination process, since the product suite is web-based.
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