Jose, Housing Opportunities

Jose, Housing Opportunities

Jose, a native of Honduras and San Francisco resident, had fallen behind on his house payment because it had increased by almost $2,000 per month when his rate reset. The worried homeowner came to MEDA’s free Foreclosure Intervention & Default Counseling workshop, where  a foreclosure counselor analyzed his financial situation and found Jose had sufficient income to support a modification.

Jose’s lender, Ocwen, was willing to consider a modification if the homeowner could verify all household income. While Jose was able to show pay stubs and tax returns to prove his income, his partner, Reyna, was paid in cash and could not do the same.  MEDA was able to help Jose via its Free Tax Preparation service by helping Reyna obtain an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number), which she used to file her tax return and pay taxes on her earned income.  Jose’s lender was now able to check Reyna’s credit using the ITIN and was able to verify Reyna’s income by reviewing her tax return. With the household income verification satisfied, Ocwen agreed to modify Jose’s loan.  Jose’s monthly payment was reduced by $1,550.00 per month.

This client success story is the result of the service integration model MEDA has implemented to better serve its clients.