Being a single, newly divorced mother of two small children. I dreamed of owning my own home again. I was prepared to make some choices to put me in a situation to better myself and provide a home for my children. I heard this ad on the radio for NHBA, I was excited to hear that there were programs to help people buy homes. I found the website, read about the services and made an appt with the Dallas office.
I had applied for two mortgages previously and was told that I pre-qualified, but would have to worry about a down payment and closing cost. I explained this to the person reviewing my information. He told me, even if you pre-qualify you are still going to be saving more money by going through their program because I wouldn't have to worry about coming up with a down payment or closing cost. I was also concerned about some negative reports on my credit. He told me that once my information is reviewed, I may have to pay on some of the items or at least set up payment arrangments. So I paid for the credit report.
A couple of days later, I was called "congratuations, you have been accepted" I was told I had to pay a total of 3500.00 to be paid in 10 months. After making an ititial payment and setting up a bank draft, I was then to wait for a letter explaining what I needed to do next.
The had question regarding assistance in finding a home, young man stated that I should not have a problem getting the help I needed to find a home, the program is there for me every step of the way, and that I would be assigned to someone that would help me along the way and answer any of my questions. He also told me they had realtors to assist in finding a home.
In the mean time, he told me to go looking for a home to rent-to-own. I was already in a home I was going to attempt to purchase, however once she called the program, she forced me move out with a 20 day notice. I called the program for help, they told me to look for for sale by owner homes or get an apartment until I pay down some of my other debt. I went to several homes, listed for sale by owner, they were all confused about the program and did not want to participate. I was told that I would be able to get my money back if rejected three times. I made calls, sent emails, even sent a letter for help. No response except, you have to work the program by paying off your debt. I explained that I don't have any money left to pay anything additional toward my debt because I entered the program.
I then asked to get a detailed explaination of where the money I had paid into the program was going. I was told to review the contract. I did, it still does not have a detailed description of where the money went.
I was able to purchase a home a couple of months later without their help, when I called back to inform, I was told that the program is here for me if I ever need it but I will not be given any of my money back, ever. $2,500.00 gone.
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