The Official NACA mortgage thread

[SingleWithThree]

Thank you.  Yes that helped me a lot.  I appreciate the response.  This thread has been so helpful to me.  I go to my workshop next Saturday, but I like to know what I'm getting myself into as early as possible.  I'm in a current situation where I have to make a choice on whether to stay where I am at paying $700 a month or to move in with my boyfriend and have the chance to save money for a few months.  I don't know which is a better move because I want to demonstrate that I can make my payments.  I literally have to decide this weekend.  Not an easy decision by any means. 

[teton]

Are you able to use your own buyer's real estate agent or does NACA tell you who you can use? 

[Anonymous]

I had my first appointment today.  I drove 1.5 hrs. to the Oakland, CA. office, just to be told that I have to have my husband present as well....I had asked before both at the work shop and on the phone, if I could get approved by myself, and was told yes as long as I didn't need his income (I don't), it would be fine for me to apply alone.  Hubby has a forclosure from a rental property on his credit, so we figured that it would be better to just have me apply.  Wrong!  Anyway, the counselor was nice enough, but I got the feeling that there are things he really doesn't know.  At one point the Director had to come in and clarify something.  I got the feeling that approvals are turly case by case, so you won't know until it goes to UW for your particular situation.  Anyway, even though I had tons of various paperwork with me, we started were just able put basic info. in the computer, until husband comes in too. The counselor was able to tell me the MRF, which is $5800 for us, and that is one of the things I really wanted to know. I made another appt. for December, and will bring husband then, that will give us more time to save as well.  I did know that it is a long process, but I have a feeling that this process will test my patience a bit...

Bunny

[Coreyswife4ever]

Thank you all so much for posting, this has given me lots on insights on the program.  I've been contemplating on going for about a month now.  I made my appointment to attend the seminar and it's tomorrow.  I've asked a couple of people about the program and alot of them said it's a pretty good program.  One lady told me her brother went through the program and got an interest rate of 1.5 or something like that.  For those of you that's done the basic steps, can you please answer the following questions for me.

1.  What money needs to show in your account?  Is it the total amount you'll need altogether or just the reserves?

2.  Do all collections have to be paid off?  I read somewhere that if it's older than 2 years then they won't require you to pay them off.

[Coreyswife4ever]

Teton...

I noticed that you posted earlier and ask about a Chicago office so I'm gyuessing you're from Chicago.  I went to the workshop this past Saturday and it was very interesting.  How did your experience go?  Also, have you been scheduled for your counseling yet?

[SingleWithThree]

I went to the workshop in Cleveland Saturday.  Apparently the Cleveland office has only been around since May.  I'm hoping this means it is not as busy as some of the other offices and I can have a better experience than some others whose offices are real busy.  A person can hope, right? 

It was very interesting to learn how NACA started and to find out how they got their funding, etc.  I didn't realize any of that.  I got my membership ID from the main office today and plan on becoming a member tomorrow.  I can't wait for my first appt...it will be good to hear where I'm at and what work I need to move forward.  I'm looking forward to the challenge.

I'll let everyone know how it goes!

Any updates from those that are currently in the program?  Close to being approved?

[brighterday]

Here's a recap of my experience with NACA so far:

• 9/14 - Attended purchase workshop
• 10/10 - Had intake appointment with counselor. Reviewed required documentation (tax forms, w2s, budget, bank statements, credit reports, etc.). Told to write letters of explanations for derogs that occurred within last 24 months which included 2 late payments and a few CAs
• 10/24 - Had follow-up appt w/ counselor to review letters of explanation. That completed all of the documentation required of me at the time but my counselor had not received my rental verification from former landlord.  I contacted the landlord while I was sitting in the counselor's office and was told that the rental verification would be completed over the weekend.
• 10/27 - Had phone consultation with counselor.  Rental verifications received.  We discussed my file in depth as he prepared it for submission to the underwriter for review. At that point, I explained recent credit inquiries and other misc. questions.  The counselor prepared a narrative to accompany my file and I was told that he was going to submit it that day for review.  I was told to expect to wait at least 4 business days for a response from the UW.  I anticipate at least 10 days.

Best case scenario = they accept my letters of explanation and I move forward to the approval process.

Worst case scenario (hopefully) = i have to wait 6 months from the most recent late payment, which occurred in August, before I can move forward to the approval phase. The UW will also let me know which, if any, collections need to be paid.

In the meantime, I'm spending a lot of time in the Rebuilding Your Credit forum and taking steps to improve my credit and FICO scores. I've DV'd CAs, sent PFDs, and began the HIPPA process.

My advice to new/prospective NACA members...make sure you have all of the required documentation when you attend your intake appt.  If your current/former employer(s) utilize theworknumber.com (or similar vendors) for employment and salary verifications, go ahead and get the info needed (i.e. a salary key, etc.) beforehand.  Contact your current landlord (and former if less than 2 yrs at current residence) to let them know you'll be needing verification of rental history and to make sure you have the best contact info for them (fax #, email addy, mailing address).

[teton]

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@Coreyswife4ever wrote:

Teton...

I noticed that you posted earlier and ask about a Chicago office so I'm gyuessing you're from Chicago.  I went to the workshop this past Saturday and it was very interesting.  How did your experience go?  Also, have you been scheduled for your counseling yet?

---

I had my intake appointment this past Thursday. I have more than enough money banked  to meet their requirement. However, they will not approve me for over $1000 a month mortgage payment. I can't buy anything decent in this area for that. 

[Coreyswife4ever]

Good Morning All...

I was going over the book I received from NACA and I'm trying to get the documents together that I need when we go for our first counseling session.  I think the only problem I'll come across is the rental verification.  I have had so many issues with my landlord as well as other tenants and I really feel that if they have to verify rental history they'll screw us around.  See we had issues with the heat in our apartment the winter before last.  They promised us that they were installing a new boiler in September so that the heat issue wouldn't occur last winter.  Well they decided to install the boiler when the temperature outside was 0 degrees and we went without heat for almost a week off and on.  Sometimes we'd wake up and not have any hot water and they never warned us.  So I didn't pay my rent until the issue was fixed.  So the heat problem got resolved and we now have another problem.  I found some bedbugs in my bed in July and notified the landlord about this issue.  They completely played dumb like no one else had called about them.  The girl on the 3rd floor had called a month prior to when I called.  They told her it wasn't their problem and she had to pay for an exterminator.  So I'm guessing she didn't get a professional exterminator because the bedbugs spreaded around the entire building (12 units).  The landlords finally came out with their exterminator who didn't put treatment down in every bedroom like we were told they would do.  They only put it in the room that the bugs were spotted in.  So here we are in October and guess what, my son notices a bedbug in his room.  I take a look at his mattress and there were tons of them.  I had to discard his bed as well as the other bed that was in his room.  I notified the landlords and no return phone call, nothing.  My son's ceiling fan started to wiggle and became loose and now the light doesn't come on at all.  Told the landlords and they still haven't done anything.  So I've paid my rent late because my problems weren't addressed.  So I really think that if NACA has to contact them either my landlords won't respond or they'll make it seem like we're bad tenants.

So for those who've gone or are going through NACA, how was your rental history verified if you didn't have cancelled checks or money order receipts.  Oh, that's the other thing we've paid them with money orders and we've also paid them with cash.  Can you please tell me what the rental verification form looks like?  I don't know what to do.

[brighterday]

The rental verification form will be faxed, emailed or mailed to your landlord.  For the most recent 12 month rental period it asks for:

• rent amount
• due date
• paid within 15 days of due date (Y/N)
• amount paid
• payment form
• # of late payments during total tenancy (30/60/90 days)
• # of bounced checks
• judgement for non-payment of rent? (Y/N)
• rating of overal rental history (poor/fair/good/excellent)
• comments

I read on another site that you'll definitely have to have the form completed by the landlord if you don't have proof of payment (i.e. cancelled checks, etc.). You'll most certainly want to include a letter explaining why the rent payment was delayed/withheld.  Unfortunately, I've also heard that withholding rental payments is frowned upon, but the fact that each file is handled on a case-by-case basis will hopefully work in your favor.  Good luck!