With assistance from Freddie Mac,
pharmacy chain CVS/pharmacy recently started offering its 1,000
employees in Washington, D.C., a homeownership program that includes
special loans, down payment and closing cost assistance and
financial education.
Freddie Mac, which buys and sells mortgage-related securities,
helps employers to provide homeownership benefits. It advises
employers on how to structure such benefits and links them with
lenders, nonprofit housing counseling agencies and down-payment
assistance programs in their area. Typically, Freddie Mac gives this
free assistance to companies with 1,000 or more employees.
CVS offers employees a $500 forgivable grant to purchase a home.
Eligible employees also receive a temporary interest-rate reduction,
increasing purchasing power up to 30%. Most employees must work at
CVS for two years in good standing before they use the benefit, but
pharmacists and management-level employees are eligible upon hire.
Participation also will require three years of continued employment.
CVS hopes to extend the benefit nationwide, eventually.
The company aims to improve its employees' homeownership rate,
which is 65% in the D.C./Baltimore area, trailing the national rate
of 69%. The program will "help promote employee recruitment and
retention," says Gordon Howard, a CVS area vice president.
Employers interested in seeking assistance in setting up
homeownership programs can visit Freddie Mac
(http://www.freddiemac.com/news/archives/afford_housing/2005/20050602_solution.html)
or call 703-918-5134.