Chase to Open 24 More Mortgage-Counseling Centers

27 existing centers have served 60,000 families already

NEW YORK - Chase today announced that it is opening 24 more Chase Homeownership Centers in the next four months to provide face-to-face help to thousands more homeowners who are struggling with their mortgage payments. That will bring the total to 51 Chase Homeownership Centers in 14 states and Washington D.C.

“Our first 27 centers have proven to very effective in reaching families who are facing financial hardship and have fallen behind on their mortgages. So, we are adding more locations to help more homeowners with their loans, including working with them to complete and assemble all the documents we need to provide permanent payment relief,” said Charlie Scharf, head of Retail Financial Services at Chase, the consumer business of JPMorgan Chase.

Chase is the only major mortgage servicer that has opened a large network of face-to-face centers to help struggling homeowners understand their options and help pull together paperwork for mortgage modifications. Borrowers can schedule appointments or simply walk in six days a week. In 11 months, Chase Homeownership Centers have served more than 60,000 borrowers.

Using languages including Spanish and Vietnamese, center staffers also reach out to homeowners through hundreds of community foreclosure-prevention fairs and through non-profit counselors. In addition, Chase has mailed 538,000 letters to struggling borrowers living near a center.

Responding to the needs of homeowners who have been hit hard by the housing and economic downturns, Chase will have centers in six new markets:

* Cleveland, 1500 West 3rd St.
* Dallas, 12750 Merit Dr.
* Houston, 11550 Fuqua St.
* Boca Raton, Fla.
* Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
* Seattle, Wash.

In addition, Chase will open 18 Chase Homeownership Centers to supplement existing centers. A total of seven new Chase Homeownership Centers will be in California, bringing the total number of Chase centers in California to 16; the six additional Florida centers will make the total 11.

In 2009, Chase approved more than 568,000 new trial modifications under the U.S. Making Home Affordable Program, its own modification program and Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA and FHA programs.

For information, borrowers struggling with Chase, WaMu or EMC-serviced loans can go to www.chase.com/myhome or call (866) 550-5705.

Chase services about 10.3 million loans, including about 8 million loans for investors.

About Chase
Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), which operates more than 5,100 branches and 15,000 ATMs nationally under the Chase brand. Chase has 146 million credit cards issued and serves consumers and small businesses through bank branches, ATMs and mortgage offices as well as through relationships with auto dealerships and schools and universities. More information about Chase is available at www.chase.com.