Brenda had been in her home for 30 years when a fire threatened to destroy everything she had worked for.
Not only did the fire upend her life, but it led to her getting behind on her mortgage. To make matters even worse, Brenda learned that she had taken out a so-called ‘balloon loan,’ which required a huge immediate payment that she didn’t have. “When I bought my house, I was young and I didn’t know a lot about mortgages,” she says. She had not fully understood the terms of the loan when she had agreed to it.
Now that balloon loan was coming back to haunt her. The next few months turned into a nightmare. Brenda tried to work with her mortgage company, but they weren’t interested in helping her save her house. Then she reached out to other organizations that her lender referred her to. Nobody seemed to be able to help.
Yet Brenda didn’t give up. She kept her faith and kept searching for a solution. Then she found out about HomeFree-USA.
After contacting HomeFree-USA, Brenda met with Homeownership Advisor Alfreda Williams. That conversation proved to be a turning point. “She said, ‘I want to help you keep your house,’ and that made me feel good,” Brenda recalls. “It made me feel that somebody really was listening and caring.”
Alfreda made good on her word. She worked with Brenda and helped her find another mortgage company that would refinance the loan. Eventually, Brenda was able to find a solution that worked for her through BlueHub SUN, a mortgage program that helps families facing foreclosure stay in their homes.
Today, Brenda is relieved to know that the house she had lived in for decades will continue to bring her joy. She recommends that other homeowners who find themselves in challenging times contact HomeFree-USA and be persistent in their efforts to keep their homes. It’s also a good idea for homebuyers to work with HomeFree-USA so they can avoid taking out loans they don’t understand.
It doesn’t matter why you’re in danger of losing your home, she says. “If you messed up, you messed up. But now you can get it right.”
