Mortgage Insurance Industry Launches Web Site for Consumers

Business Wire, Jan 18, 1999

DALLAS, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 1999--Consumers can learn how to use private mortgage insurance to buy the home of their dreams sooner than they expected at the mortgage insurance industry's new Web site, www.privatemi.com.

The site covers what mortgage insurance is, how it works and what options are available for today's home buyers, according to Ellen Schweppe, director of communications for the industry's Washington, D.C., trade group, Mortgage Insurance Companies of America.

"A fifth of all home buyers now rely on the Internet for information, and that number will grow," said Schweppe. "Our Web site features the latest and most comprehensive information on how mortgage insurance can help them buy their dream home."

Visitors to the site can use interactive calculators to determine how much sooner they can become homeowners and how much more house they can afford with mortgage insurance.

A section of the site on canceling mortgage insurance once it is no longer needed explains how a new federal cancellation law works. It includes a calculator home buyers can use to determine when insurance on their mortgages will be cancelled.

Another section discusses some of the pitfalls of uninsured piggyback mortgages, which stack a high-rate small second mortgage on top of a lower-rate first mortgage. The section features a calculator that helps loan shoppers figure out whether an insured loan or a piggyback mortgage is best for them.

"Two out of five home buyers use mortgage insurance to become homeowners these days," Schweppe said. "Our industry site provides information on the whole range of mortgage insurance options available, so consumers have the knowledge they need when they go shopping for a home loan."

MICA is the trade association representing the private mortgage insurance industry. Its members expand homeownership opportunities by enabling home buyers to purchase houses with as little as a 3 to 5 percent down payment.

For more information, visit www.privatemi.com.