National Broker Offers Relief to Employees, Families Affected by Katrina; 1st Metropolitan Mortgage Pledges Help to Rebuild Lives

Business Wire, Sept 13, 2005

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- 1st Metropolitan Mortgage, a division of Empire Equity Group, has established a relief fund and contributed $25,000 to help its employees and their families who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The company has encouraged its 1,000 plus employees to contribute to the fund. The company expects to raise a significant amount for the fund.

"I was very moved by the offer to help our fellow employees who have suffered losses due to Katrina and the floods," said Bruce Morosco, national production manager of the 1st Metropolitan's reverse mortgage division.

Unfortunately, 21 1st Metropolitan families were among the thousands of people affected by the hurricane and its aftermath that destroyed homes, businesses, claimed many lives and made it difficult to contact family in other areas. The company has set up a messaging exchange system to give families a method of contacting their loved ones and is also offering wireless modem cards for some of its employees who can use their laptops.

"We are deeply saddened by the pain and anguish these and other families have gone through as the result of this powerful hurricane and the subsequent repercussions," said Daniel H. Jacobs, chief executive officer of 1st Metropolitan. "With this fund, we are able to show the connection between all of us at 1st Metropolitan and our commitment to help one another in times of need. I know we will raise a significant amount of money to help our co-workers through this tragic event."

Three MetroBranches in the hurricane's path were damaged by the storm. To ease the burden for these MetroBranches, 1st Metropolitan is offering these branch managers and their staff the option of relocating to Charlotte, N.C., and working out of the corporate office with free nationwide licensing. 1st Metropolitan will also help them establish a new client base quickly by offering free direct mail leads in areas not ravaged by Katrina. The national mortgage broker has also contacted regulators of affected branch's neighboring states to learn if they will temporarily honor licenses from Louisiana.

"We want to help get them back on track with both their immediate and long term needs," Jacobs said.

Along with the aforementioned efforts and researching housing possibilities in Charlotte and in surrounding states, 1st Metropolitan has been in touch with the federal bank regulators to find out how the employees will be able to access their funds from the local community banks that were destroyed and whose assets were subsequently frozen.

Management at 1st Metropolitan said it will offer any unused funds to the general relief effort of other families devastated by the event.

About 1st Metropolitan Mortgage

1st Metropolitan Mortgage, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. and a division of Empire Equity Group since 2002, is a national mortgage brokerage, offering products from such lenders as Countrywide Home Mortgage, Chase Mortgage and Washington Mutual. The company is licensed in 48 states with approximately 250 branches nationwide. Leveraging the 22 years of experience of its parent company, 1st Metropolitan has an aggressive business development strategy. 1st Metropolitan's strategic theme for 2005 is setting the PACE (Partnership to Achieve Customer-Focused Excellence). For more information, visit www.1stmetro.com.

About Empire Equity Group, Inc.

Empire Equity Group has been in business since 1983 focusing heavily in the Northeastern United States. Since the acquisition of 1st Metropolitan, Empire has established development programs for branch managers, additional infrastructure to meet the needs of branches and installed the latest technology, such as an expanded intranet site and an innovative online loan origination system. For more information, call 704.552.0123.