Diego and Ayde are a very loving and family oriented Spanish speaking couple. He works for Wells Builders and she is a stay-at-home mom. Their children have all attended our EICAP Head Start and they have been residents of the Uptown Trailer Park for five years. They are both legal residents of the USA – he has been a resident of Idaho for 25 years and she has been here for 10 years.
In 2007, they were subsisting on one income, with no savings, and barely making ends meet; when Broadway Ford, which owns the Uptown Trailer Park, decided to close it and use the property for something else, and the residents were given 6 months to move. As residents of Uptown, they qualified for the Uptown Trailer Park Project $1,000.00 grant money from EICAP and the City of Idaho Falls; to be used to buy a home or trailer, or to use to make improvements on a trailer already owned, or to use for first and last months rental costs.
In April 2007, the [family] chose to buy a home in Idaho Falls and applied for the $1,000.00 grant money offered by EICAP under the Uptown Trailer Park Project. EICAP arranged for them to meet with a mortgage company and a realty company, and provided translation at several meetings in their home and at the office, and at the final signing of the mortgage at closing. In May 2007, they encountered some obstacles and problems which caused a month and a half of delay, and in June, they no longer qualified for their initial financing.
During this short time the Federal Government had increased the interest rate and that, coupled with the stricter regulations governing loans, made the [family] no longer eligible for their original loan based on their income. It seemed like all was lost and they were not going to achieve their dream after all. However, after several phone calls and inquiries, by the realtor and EICAP, they were able to locate a mortgage company that was able to find them financing and a payment they could afford.
At the end of the escrow period when we all met for the final signing of the mortgage, they told me that it was a blessing in disguise that the trailer park closed; because otherwise they would have never moved, or thought they could qualify for a loan and be able to purchase a home of their own. They are very grateful to the City of Idaho Falls and to EICAP for helping them achieve their dream.