In the mortgage finance industry, financial literacy (particularly in the credit reporting arena) seems to be trending upward. We receive a lot of feedback from our Hispanic mortgage broker customers. Most likely, its a combination of a down mortgage market in which mortgage brokers trying every tactic they know to get a loan, including targeting and educating Hispanic borrowers; and the development and acceptance of credit building tools for Hispanic and other non-traditional borrowers, such as PRBC's non-traditional credit reports; where a credit score is derived by reporting normal bill payments such as rent, utilities, etc. over a short period of time. Our Hispanic credit education resource pages have seen exponential growth in traffic over the past year; so it appears that the general Hispanic public is querying the web for more info as well. If you would like to use any of our Hispanic resources from our website in your educational efforts, please let me know. I would be glad to help. See below for review:

Credit Education in Spanish:
Calificación de crédito
Preguntas frecuentes de los prestatarios
Recursos para fraudes y robos de identidad

Credit information in English:
Credit score meaning
Frequently asked credit report questions

This is really amazing. I really agree that Latinos need to be educated or guided in order to maintain their finances. Lately, I've had a dilemma about what lies in my future. I'm very passionate about helping my fellow Latinos advance and become educated. Since I'm very business savy I've chosen to major in finance. However, I had no idea how to utilize my degree in finance to help advance the Latino agenda. I'm only going into my 2nd year at the University of Delaware but I've been wanting to do research on future career options. Is there anyway you can assist me with this? I would really appreciate it if you can inform me of the different ways I can use a finance degree to help Latinos!

-Diana Lantigua
Univeristy Of Delaware
Second Year Finance Major
Campus Alliance de La Raza
Assistant VP of Finance
dianal@udel.edu

I am currently employed by Educators Credit Union in Racine Wisconsin. (Prior to that I spent 24 years in law enforcement)
Anway, my position here at Educators was created to address the lack of financial literacy overall, but more so for the many latinos who do not utilize financial institutions, not because they don't want to but many times because of fear and not really understanding how financial institutions work.

I do financial literacy workshops in community centers, churches, anyplace that will allow me to come to educate Latinos on the many aspects of financial literacy, anything from opening up an account up to and including how to purchase a new or used vehicle and all other topics in-between.

Have an awesome day!
G.C. Rendon

I am first generation American (although I have obtained my dual citizenship). I've been working with the Spanish speaking for 10 years and recently as the Hispanic Services Manager at a financial institution. I've seen the lack of education on banking services and have made it a priority in our outreach to the Spanish speaking. I grew up seeing my parents sign contracts they didn't really understand and being taken advantage of. Unfortunately, there are too many people out there for the money, knowing the client will most likely not file a complaint. I also have concluded that there are many who are now interested in the investment arena. As a result, I've chosen to leave my position as the manager to become a financial advisor, focusing primarily on the Spanish speaking. As in my position as a manager, education will continue to be the primary focus as I outreach to this population. My hope is to bridge the gap from unbanked to financial awareness without compromising the cultural identity we continue to live by.
LuzElia