Dennis' Story
Dennis doesn't let his challenges get in his way ... MORE
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Scot Hafko -- 211/First Call For Help Referral
Scot and his wife Amy bought their home on a quiet cul-de-sac in a suburb on Cleveland's west side back in 1997. It's a great home for this couple with three young children, and Scot, who has a good job, solid credit rating and owned homes before, took out a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at a monthly payment he knew he could afford -- $1,200.
All this sounds pretty cut-and-dried, but in the past year, something changed. The lender increased the mortgage payment to $1,400 per month. At first, Scot just paid it and figured he'd get it straightened out when he had time. Over the coming months the payments swelled to $1,600, and finally reached nearly $1,900!
Scot's calls and letters to the lender were ignored. His attorney and accountant couldn't figure out the confusing paperwork the lender sent to explain why it arbitrarily raised the payments on a fixed-rate mortgage. Scot put the house up for sale to avoid foreclosure, but no offers were made on the home in over six months on the market.
Then one day, his attorney suggested that he call United Way's 211/First Call For Help. Scot called and a 211 Information Specialist referred him to several agencies, including ESOP (Empowering and Strengthening Ohio's People, formerly East Side Organizing Project). When he called ESOP and explained the situation, they said they could help.
"I was skeptical at first, to be honest," recalls Scot. "I went to their office and it's very modest, but don't let appearances fool you -- they have some extremely hard-working and effective people there."
Scot brought his mortgage paperwork to ESOP and they looked it over and told him they could work it out.
"They got through to my mortgage lender," says Scot. "I tried and tried over the past year and the lender wouldn't even talk with me! But ESOP took care of it. I was impressed."
ESOP renegotiated Scot's mortgage and he's since had his monthly payments reduced back to a reasonable amount. Scot took his home off the market and his family is staying put.
"Nobody should lose their home because of something like this," says Scot. "If ESOP could help me, I'm sure they can help others that are in a lot worse financial shape than I was about my mortgage. They didn't charge me a dime for their help. And I would have never found out about them if I hadn't called United Way's 211/First Call For Help."
"People ought to know about this," says Scot.
United Way is glad to have had a part in helping the Hafko family stay where they belong -- in their home.
United Way of Greater Cleveland's 211/First Call For Help is a resource people can count on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With a database of more than 2,000 health and human service agencies offering 15,000 different services, a call to 211 finds the help the caller needs. If you need help, call 2-1-1 or visit us online at 211cleveland.org.
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