Xinia Solis with son, Santino, 2, and daughter, Azul, 3

Family Stays in Home With Agency’s Help

Xinia Solis has always believed that owning a house represents the American dream. But the dream nearly slipped away when her husband was laid off last summer.

Solis, her husband, Tony Tirado, their two toddler children and her mother-in-law live in a two-bedroom, two-bath house in East Los Angeles that the couple bought for $489,999 in October 2006.

When Tirado lost his contracting job for three months last summer, they fell behind on their $3,600 monthly payment for two house loans.

“It was terrible,’’ said Solis, 32, a vocational nurse who works in hospice care. “I got behind on so many bills. It was so much stress because everything was on me.’’ When their house went into foreclosure, Solis did research on the Internet and contacted the East Los Angeles Community Corporation (ELACC), a nonprofit housing agency that is a longtime partner of the California Community Foundation.

Angelica Rubio, ELACC’s foreclosure prevention specialist, was able to work out a temporary repayment plan with Solis’ lender. “She advocated for us,’’ Solis said. “If it wasn’t for Angelica, we would have lost the house already.’’

Solis’ husband now works full-time as a pressman for a printing company, averaging 30 hours of overtime each week to help pay their mortgage. “We still live month to month,’’ Solis said. “We’ve regretted buying the house, but we can’t let it go because we’ve invested so much in it.’’

Like many low-income people, the Solis family did not qualify for a 30-year fixed rate loan, said Rubio, who has counseled more than 200 homeowners since last June. The Solis family has what’s called an 80/20, which is actually two loans. Eighty percent covers the majority of the loan for the price of the house, while 20 percent covers what would usually be the down payment, but at a high cost.

Angelica Rubio of ELACC

The larger loan becomes adjustable in three years. Rubio hopes that by the end of the year, the Solis family will have raised their credit scores so that they can refinance and get a lower fixed rate loan.

Since 1996, ELACC has attracted more than $80 million in housing development resources for low-income residents of Boyle Heights and unincorporated East L.A. Like other nonprofit housing agencies, it has been overloaded with calls from people who have a home loan they couldn’t afford. Last year, ELACC launched a free Foreclosure Prevention Program. It includes workshops and counseling to help people who cannot pay their mortgages, don’t understand how their mortgage loan works and don’t know what steps to take to avoid losing their homes to foreclosure. The workshops are held throughout the year. The first one drew 30-35 people. The second, in October 2007, attracted about 75. They expect even more at this year’s workshops.

“We’re addressing a crisis that is regional,’’ said ELACC president Maria Cabildo. “We really feel that a house is an incredible stabilizing force in families. That’s why we try do everything possible to keep a family intact.’’

Grantee: East Los Angeles Community Corporation Awarded: March 2008 Grant: $100,000 Grant Purpose: Two-year capacity-building support Founded: 1996 Description: ELACC is dedicated to harnessing housing and other community development resources to benefit low-income residents of Boyle Heights and unincorporated East Los Angeles. Staff: 22 Foreclosure Prevention workshops: The workshops are free and are held Saturday mornings from 10 a.m. to noon at the ELACC office, 530 S. Boyle Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033. Dates are July 26, 2008; Oct. 18, 2008; Jan. 17, 2009; April 18, 2009; and June 20, 2009. Call ELACC at (323) 269-4214 to register or arrange for a free counseling appointment. Housing: ELACC develops affordable housing, neighborhood facilities, single family and multi-family housing. ELACC makes housing affordable to households, whose income falls between 35 to 50 percent of the area median income for rental housing units and 50 to 80 percent for area median income for homeownership units.

View other stories in Solutions, the foundation's latest journal.

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