MEDIA RELEASE
Contact: Brandon Laster, Public Information Officer
(816) 759-6692

Release No. 98-04-04
April 20, 1998

TOWN & COUNTRY MORTGAGE SELECTED AS MASTER SERVICER

The Missouri Housing Development Commission selected Town & Country Company of St. Louis as its master servicer for single-family mortgage loans proposed to be originated under MHDC's Single Family Mortgage Revenue Bond Program.

By contracting with Town & Country, the St. Louis-based mortgage banker will work closely with more than 60 other lenders throughout Missouri authorized by MHDC to originate loans. Town & Country will be responsible for training to ensure that each individual loan conforms to MHDC guidelines before purchasing the loan as Master Servicer. The initial contract will be for a three-year period commencing May 1, 1998.

"The use of a Master Servicer provides us with a more efficient system," said Richard G. Grose, MHDC Executive Director. "This process results in a savings of time and manpower. It also generates additional revenues that can be used to provide more affordable housing for Missourians." Previously, several different loan-serving institutions provided this service for MHDC.

Town & Country was one of five groups who submitted proposals. Submissions were also received and evaluated from: Countrywide Home Loans of Pasadena, California; a joint venture by First Mortgage Investment Company of Shawnee, Kansas, Equality Savings of St. Louis, and Delmar Financial, St. Louis County; First Nationwide Mortgage of Dallas, Texas; and Leader Mortgage of Cleveland, Ohio.

One of the requirements levied by the Commission was that each financial entity submitting a proposal must have had a past history and presence in the Missouri mortgage community. Town & Country Mortgage has been in every one of the Commission's Single Family Bond issues, starting in 1976. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ranked them 7th nationally among those firms considered as medium- to low-volume servicers in their Loss Mitigation Performance Scores report.

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Contact Philip Mango, Jr., telephone (314) 727-5144 at Town & Country Mortgage for more information.