The Baltimore offices of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, a nonprofit housing services program, is helping put predatory lenders out of business by offering what some financial analysts have named the best mortgage program in the country.
“We?ve helped rescue people about to lose their homes to predatory lenders, and financed those who conventional mortgagors had turned down and subprime lenders were offering interest rates that would have bankrupt the borrowers down the road,” said Ashidda Khalil, executive director of the Baltimore office. “Since opening in 1996, the Baltimore office is now the third-largest producer of mortgage loans for NACA nationwide.”
What makes NACA unique is its product.
NACA requires no closing costs, down payment, application fee or private mortgage insurance. NACA loans are always 1 percent below the prime rate. In addition, NACA applicants must participate in a homebuyers workshop that includes credit counseling to help them see how much home they can afford. They also must meet lending criteria. The company can pay their mortgage in the event they fall on hard times.
“My dream of homeownership was a nightmare because of my credit,” said Denise Jones, who purchased a home with NACA?s help in 1998. “Now I have something to leave to my children, that they can use to build their own financial future. I could not have done it without NACA.”
NACA started in 1988 in Boston when NACA Chief Executive Officer and attorney Bruce Marks sued and won an $8.5 million landmark settlement against FleetBank for its predatory lending practices against minorities. He then went after others, recovering millions and scaring them into “contributing” to NACA before Marks took them to court.
“The NACA program will play a critical role in helping those with less-than-perfect credit get the financing they need without falling prey to loan sharks,” said Roger Bowen, a Baltimore-based real estate analyst. “As the FDIC continues to tighten lending guidelines and conventional lenders? unwillingness to extend credit to this market, the American dream of homeownership will not be a reality for this population.”
NACA offers purchase, refinance and rehabilitation loans regardless of income or credit status. The program is not for investors but is designed to help put and keep people in their homes, including those with weak credit histories and those who have filed bankruptcy.
Contact the local office of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America by calling 410-783-0465.
