MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 9, 2005

Los Angeles , CA — Century Housing, one of California’s largest affordable housing lenders, announces the establishment of The Century Community Lending Company, representing a coalition among Century and five other financial institutions with a goal of eventually providing $100 million in construction and permanent financing for much-needed workforce housing in Los Angeles.

Fifty million dollars is being provided by Bank of America, EastWest Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch CDC, and Washington Mutual, all of which have been active in financing affordable and workforce housing.

“This initial investment of $50 million, as it is recycled during the next few years, will result in the creation of more than one thousand homes that are affordable to working families,” said Century President and CEO G. Allan Kingston.

“We are offering smaller developers and property owners an opportunity to reverse neighborhood blight, rehabilitate existing buildings or acquire new properties, by providing the financing that is not usually available to these particular borrowers, while preserving neighborhood character and allowing smaller developers to fund rehabilitation projects,” Kingston said.

By combining resources from different banks, Century Community Lending Company will be able to deliver smaller loans that will help local neighborhood entrepreneurs and building owners improve their properties that may otherwise sit unused, in distress, or abandoned.

The program is modeled on the success of The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), a New York City affordable housing mortgage lender that has assisted Century in the implementation of CCLC. The CPC is a not-for-profit mortgage lender that finances low, moderate and middle-income housing throughout New York and New Jersey. Since its founding in 1974, CPC has financed over 115,000 housing units with a record investment of over $4.5 billion during the last 31 years. The CPC has nine neighborhood offices that work directly with local communities to come up with affordable housing solutions in partnership with government at the local, state and federal levels.

The affordable housing condition in Los Angeles is more like that of New York City than most people believe,” said CPC President and CEO Michael Lappin. “Century Housing has the experience to replicate CPC’s success, which we also hope to replicate in other cities and towns throughout the U.S.,” he said.

The Century Community Lending Company Program Manager Stephen Peelor says what makes this fund different is the flexibility to work with new and entrepreneurial developers who are unable to find construction and permanent loans from traditional sources, and to fund small developments that large financial institutions are unable to finance.

“Our community is in dire need of housing that is affordable to working families,” said Peelor. “By creating a fund that will provide developers with flexible financing, we are providing another financing tool to address the housing crisis.”