"After two foreclosures and two bankruptcies, Hermes Maldonado is as surprised as anyone that he's getting a third shot at homeownership. The 61-year-old machine operator at a plastics factory bought a $170,000 house in Moreno Valley this summer that boasts laminate-wood floors and squeaky clean appliances. He got the four-bedroom, two-story house despite a pockmarked credit history."
Who would loan to this gentleman? Anyone, anyone?
His reentry into homeownership three years later came courtesy of the Federal Housing Administration. The agency has become a major source of cash for so-called rebound buyers — a burgeoning crop of homeowners with past defaults who otherwise would be shut out of the market.
"After everything that happened, thank God I was able to buy another house," Maldonado said in Spanish. "Now, it's good because the interest rates are low and there are lots of homes."
Read it all.
Filed under: * Economics, Politics Economy Consumer/consumer spending Housing/Real Estate Market Personal Finance The U.S. Government * Theology Ethics / Moral Theology
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