brightgreen mortgage campaign - Prius Sweepstakes - Go Green

1st Metropolitan Mortgage Introduces BrightGreen Mortgage Campaign; Toyota Prius Sweepstakes CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct 8, 2008 – 1st Metropolitan Mortgage, a national mortgage originator, has made a commitment to making the mortgage origination process more environmentally friendly by introducing its national BrightGreen Mortgage campaign. The program will give originators the tools and support to produce more environmentally-friendly mortgages while saving consumers time and money. Participating branches will operate in a greener and far more sustainability way than the current industry standard to produce mortgages. “We do not have to be environmental activists or make complete lifestyle changes to have a significant, positive effect on our environment,” said Daniel Jacobs, 1st Metropolitan CEO. “Simple acts go a long way to preserving our future. 1st Metropolitan Mortgage has always said we have a solid foundation for a better future. The BrightGreen Mortgage initiative is just another way of demonstrating our commitment to the future.” The campaign has multiple facets from community initiatives to a hybrid vehicle sweepstakes to new technology and business practice better accomplish the mission of the BrightGreen Mortgage. “As a company in an inherently paper-saturated business, we believe it is imperative that we take the initiative to reduce paper and become even more environmentally socially responsible,” Jacobs said. “This campaign increases awareness within our organization of corporate social responsibility while also providing our originators a way to differentiate the goods and services they provide in a highly commoditized industry, which is not historically environmentally responsible. Consumers win, we win, the environment wins… and one lucky person will win a Toyota Prius.” There are several elements to the BrightGreen Mortgage campaign, including:

• Consumers will have the opportunity to win a Toyota Prius hybrid during a six-month sweepstakes. The Prius is one of the country’s most popular hybrids with gas mileage of 45 highway, 48 city and 46 combined.
• A local coloring contest for students will encourage young people to share their thoughts about being eco-friendly. The winning pictures will be compiled for a calendar. Click here for Form Entries Due December 12, 2008
• 1st Metropolitan will provide special on-going sustainability training to help participating branches become more eco-friendly.
• There will be a focus on the using recycled paper in when paper elimination is not possible.
• Recycling, document scanning and e-signatures (where allowable) are key elements to the BrightGreen Mortgage.
• 1st Metropolitan will also plant a new tree for each loan closed as part of the BrightGreen Mortgage.

The company estimates that for every loan, 500 pieces of paper are used, which means for 17 closed loans, one tree is consumed, 811 gallons of waste water is created and 242 pounds of green house gases (CO2) are created. This does not take into consideration the loans that do not result in a closing. With the BrightGreen Mortgage, 1st Metropolitan plans to reduce these numbers substantially. “While we cannot eliminate 100 percent of the paper, waste water and green house gases used in the mortgage,” Jacobs said, “the BrightGreen mortgage is a major step toward greater sustainability and the reduction of squandering our environmental resources.”

1st Metropolitan Mortgage