HARRISBURG (April 23, 1999) - In an effort to educate Pennsylvanians about the legal basics of buying a home, the Pennsylvania Bar Association today launched its 1999 Public Awareness Campaign, �Home Sweet Home: Protecting Your Purchase,� during a kick-off luncheon in Harrisburg featuring Samuel McCullough, Pennsylvania Secretary of Community and Economic Development; and William Bostic, executive director of the Pennsylvania Housing and Finance Agency, as speakers.

�Buying a home is often the largest financial decision a person will make in his or her lifetime. As such, it should be an important and rewarding experience, not a problematic or troublesome one,� said Louis N. Teti, president-elect of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. �From understanding the Agreement of Sale to obtaining a mortgage to preparing for settlement, the �Home Sweet Home� campaign works to make the home-buying process easier for people by making them aware of their legal rights in a transaction.�

The PBA�s month-long real estate educational effort will feature events such as free public seminars on home-buying, radio call-in programs and informational expos across the commonwealth. A series of ads highlighting legal questions and a toll-free number to receive a free PBA home-buying brochure will appear in most newspapers statewide during the campaign. These ads are the result of a partnership between the PBA and the Pennsylvania Newspapers Association.

The �Home Sweet Home� campaign is part of an initiative by the Pennsylvania Bar Association to create annual public education programs to help citizens understand and find protection under the law. The first campaign, held in 1997, focused on the need for greater public understanding of wills and state inheritance laws.

Sponsorship of this home-buying educational effort is provided by the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the following county bar associations: Allegheny County Bar Association; Beaver County Bar Association; Berks County Bar Association; Carbon County Bar Association; Cumberland County Bar Association; Dauphin County Bar Association; Delaware County Bar Association; Elk County Bar Association; Erie County Bar Association; Lancaster Bar Association; Lycoming Law Association; Monroe County Bar Association; Montgomery Bar Association; Northampton County Bar Association; Schuylkill County Bar Association; Wayne County Bar Association; Wilkes-Barre Law & Library Association; and York County Bar Association. Additional funding was made possible through a grant from the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation and the Pennsylvania Bar Trust.

For more information on the campaign or to receive a free brochure on the legal basics of buying a home, citizens can contact the Pennsylvania Bar Association campaign hotline at (888) 799-4557.