Thread: CO: Firm assists Latinos facing foreclosure

Firm assists Latinos facing foreclosure
"I was very afraid to have that bill on our backs for the rest of our lives."
By Tom LaRocque
Special to The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 11/08/2008 11:25:46 AM MST


Sylvia and Manuel Martinez, here in their rented home in Fort Lupton with their dog, nearly lost a home to foreclosure. HispaniCasas, a firm that specializes in helping the Latino community in Denver with real estate, stepped in and helped them negotiate a short sale. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post )Related
2008 Recession
Nov 8:
Parents pull kids from day care as money tightensNov 9:
Greenspan:Economy still slidingJobless rate jumps to highest since '94Sylvia and Manuel Martinez worked together in a home-cleaning business until mid-2007, when their lives changed. Sylvia suffered a stroke, and her husband needed to stay home and care for her.

The couple fell behind on a $217,000 mortgage.

After spotting an ad offering to help people verging on foreclosure, the couple called HispaniCasas, a real estate company serving the Latino community in Denver.

Within weeks, the company negotiated a short sale with the lender, essentially stopping the foreclosure, forgiving the debt and avoiding a deficiency judgment against the Martinezes.

The couple now rent a place in Fort Lupton and say they still feel relief at the outcome. "I was very afraid to have that bill on our backs for the rest of our lives," Sylvia Martinez said.

Company takes off

HispaniCasas is the creation of Javier Placer and Mark Oberholzer.

In 2006, Placer was a 27-year-old river guide living in Breckenridge. He was bilingual — born to Cuban immigrants in Florida — with no experience in real estate when another guide suggested he try real estate investing.

Placer took a class at the Colorado Association of Real Estate Investors. He partnered with Oberholzer, who speaks no Spanish, and the two started out placing ads in Latino newspapers.

"The phone started ringing off the hook," Placer said. The company paid referral fees to other investors who routinely discarded their Spanish-speaking leads.

Short sales — the process by which an investor or homebuyer obtains a property for less than what's owed to the foreclosing lender — became HispaniCasas' specialty.

Many investors have made a business of obtaining properties this way, buying them at a discount and flipping them or holding them for long-term appreciation.

HispaniCasas uses various strategies, according to Oberholzer. It retains some properties as rental units. It sells homes to other investors, either immediately or after repairs. It lists some with retail brokers. The company avoids leasing the homes back to the sellers, a strategy fraught with legal hazards.

A single father, Placer would often visit clients with his 1-year-old daughter in tow. The families would welcome him in and feed the little girl or entertain her with toys as they considered their home-selling options.

Since 2006, the company has worked with more than 200 homeowners. In roughly half of those cases, they initiated negotiations with the lenders. In about 25 percent of those negotiations, the company has successfully secured short sales, Oberholzer said. About 30 deals are in the works now.

HispaniCasas does not attempt to modify loans. Clients are free to walk from their contracts with the company and negotiate independently, in the event of a change of circumstances such as a new job.

Underserved population

Like other homeowners in foreclosure, many people in the Latino community are desperate for help, Placer said. Many were tricked or pressured into buying property at the top of the price cycle. They were easy targets for adjustable-rate mortgages with ballooning interest rates.

"A lot of them had no idea what kind of loans they were getting," said Placer.

HispaniCasas is a welcome presence in the region, said Shawn Camden, co-founder of the Boulder-based nonprofit Intercambio de Comunidades, which conducts language and cultural integration classes and provides computer and financial training for immigrants throughout Boulder and Denver counties.

Camden said the need for bilingual facilitators of real estate transactions has never been greater. Conventional brokers recognize the need as well, he said.

"I don't think there's any major broker that doesn't recognize the opportunity in the Hispanic community," Camden said.

Children of Latino immigrants will be an economic force nationwide, according to a study by the Pew Hispanic Center. Nearly a quarter of growth in the U.S. labor force through 2020 will be second-generation Latinos.

Members of the immigrant population are favorably self-selected, Placer said. "Just by nature of their being here, they are prequalified. A lot of people stay where they are and live in misery. These are motivated people."

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_10931860

Members of the immigrant population are favorably self-selected, Placer said. "Just by nature of their being here, they are prequalified. A lot of people stay where they are and live in misery. These are motivated people."



Huh?

Is he saying that just by making it this country illegally, or otherwise, latinos are automatically entitled to home loans?

Now I've heard everything.

Like other homeowners in foreclosure, many people in the Latino community are desperate for help, Placer said. Many were tricked or pressured into buying property at the top of the price cycle. They were easy targets for adjustable-rate mortgages with ballooning interest rates.

"A lot of them had no idea what kind of loans they were getting," said Placer.

Really? I find that hard to believe with the millions laraza has gotten to help hispanics with buying homes.

Well I am having trouble paying my mortgage and am worried about losing my home. My lender referred me to the Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS.) I received counseling from them and was referred to a website called Hope For Homeowners (H4H). From there I was able to pull up a list of lenders who supposedly are working with "Americans" having trouble with their mortgages. Here's the good part - I called one of the lenders and was told that this program is ONLY for people with "upside-down" or "subprime" mortgages, so I didn't qualify. I was so irritiated because we all know who the people are with upside-down and subprime mortgages.

Kinda sounds like everytime I went for unemployment when I would get laid off. I was told after 7 hours of waiting that I didn't qualify. Not once, but three times over a 10 year period, so I have never gone back to seek out the dole. Even though I have contributed to it for over 35 years.