When Eric purchased a brick grey-stone two flat building on the West Side of Chicago in 2003, his plan was to rent it out. “I was trying to live rent free, it was an investment property two flat: rent out one floor and let them pay for my mortgage– that was the idea.” Eric said.
However Eric encountered unexpected circumstances which resulted in him falling behind on his mortgage payments. “I ran into some problems: lack of work, got hospitalized, bills came up, so it became a problem.”
When Eric was hospitalized in 2012 it kept him from his job remodeling and rehabbing properties. “I was having abdominal adhesion surgery, so after that, you’re off for at least six weeks before you can really do anything.” Eric said.
After his hospitalization, Eric’s abdominal problems reoccurred. Though the problem did not require more surgery, it caused him to miss even more work in 2013; rendering him unable to keep up with the maintenance of his own property. “I didn’t have a tenant in the building. So, when I recovered, I had to work extra hard to get one of the apartments ready to get a tenant in there so I could have some income coming in there.”
Between his weeks of being absent from work and lack of tenants, Eric’s mortgage payments became difficult to manage. While working with his prior lender in early 2014, Eric was told that American Homeowner Preservation (“AHP”) had purchased his loan and that he should contact them. At the time, Eric still owed $221,910.48 on his mortgage plus about an additional $30,000 in accrued interest and late charges. AHP was able to settle Eric’s payments for an initial payment of $1,000 and 19 further monthly payments of $1,000. For $20,000, AHP will release his mortgage, leaving Eric with his two flat free and clear.
Eric is currently living in the basement of this property and is working on making it suitable once again for tenants. “The idea of putting it all back together and getting it back to the state it needs to be in; it’s a relief that it’s in my control now.” Eric said.
440 S LaSalle Street, Suite 1110, Chicago,IL 60605
