Alex and Amelia came to Auriton with a problem. Alex had been laid off his job for three months and was preparing to go back to work. Although Amelia was working, her income was not enough to pay the mortgage as well as all of the other bills and since they had no savings, they were now 3 months past due on their mortgage and worried about losing their home. The threats from their mortgage company freighted them and they were thinking of selling their home as the only alternative.
When Alex and Amelia came into the Auriton office they were focused on how they could get out of their home and return financial sanity to their life. They had tried to refinance but had been turned down by everybody.
A short review of their situation by an Auriton counselor provided them a totally new perspective on their situation. Through a thorough budget analysis they learned that they had the ability, now that Alex was back to work, to make consistent mortgage payments. They learned that mortgage companies want to avoid people losing their homes and have programs to help in situations like Alex and Amelia’s. They learned that they have rights and that any action to take their home was going to take a long time.
Armed with this new perspective and a written Action Plan provided by their counselor, they requested a joint phone call with their mortgage company. The resulting call provided the mortgage company with enough additional information for the representative to send a request for financial information to Alex and Amelia.
It turns out that the collection calls had so frightened the couple that they had stopped talking to the mortgage company and the company didn’t know that Alex was back to work. With the help of the counselor, Alex and Amelia completed the request for financial information and returned it to the mortgage company.
Within a few days, the mortgage company has offered them a payment plan that allowed them to catch up on their mortgage by making slightly higher payments for six months.
Now Alex and Amelia are totally caught up on their mortgage and committed to a savings plan that will provide a buffer if either of them is without work again.