There are scattered efforts throughout the country to solve the crisis which has now become the INFRAPEOPLE mission. Any web search using homes for heroes, housing for heroes, etc., returns hundreds of results like these:
Many states are legislating funding and attempting solutions. Our South Central Texas Affiliate reports that lenders are now promoting the Texas plan:
But most state plans are hidden deep within a general search and usually return results like this:
which is part of an Ohio realtor’s blog.
One of our first line goals at INFRAPEOPLE was to track down and consolidate all these resources, post the links on Infrapeople.com, and make it immediately available to the general public. The more resources we located, the clearer this message became – these resources are only available
“If you qualify”
Which in today’s credit crunch market translates to: You must have a 720 Credit Score to get the best interest rate available or, often, even get the mortgage at all.
Most hero mortgage resources, even if you qualify, are limited to
“first time home buyer”
The fact is, even in today’s tight mortgage market, anyone with a 720 credit score and enough income to make the payment on the house they want can get a mortgage. There is really no special process or program that truly favors vital service people. There is only an identified market with reasonably secure income. This is a direct benefit to lenders, not vital service providers.
Based on INFRAPEOPLE’S preliminary portrait of you, our vital service providers...the people we count on most:
• Each of you, on average, saved 0.48 lives last year (teachers skew lower in direct emergency intervention but higher in prevention)
• Your credit score is closer to 620 than 720
• You are as likely to be facing imminent foreclosure as any other segment of the population
• You are as likely to have been foreclosed on in the past two years as any other segment of the population
• If you are between age 25-34 you are likely still carrying more education debt in proportion to income than any other segment of the population
• Your neighbors respect you but also expect you to provide free safety, free tutoring and free healthcare
• If you are a licensed nurse or EMT, you are often the only healthcare some members of your neighborhood receive
• Although housing prices are dropping rapidly, a nice home within a reasonable commute to your work remains just out of your reach
Whether we like it or not, availability of adequate housing in this country – rental or purchase - depends directly on our credit score. Data, often inaccurate data, about us compiles into a collection of reports from entities claiming to be our creditors, and accumulates into files maintained by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. We as consumers have no input in this process. The FCRA
www.ftc.gov/credit offers some recourse after the damage is done if the consumer is willing to wade through an endless quagmire of regulations and procedures.
In order to move our Infrapeople…those we count on most, into the tens of thousands of homes left empty by the ‘housing slump’ and ‘credit crunch’ we must first change how credit reporting is accumulated, evaluated and used by the entire housing industry.
We at INFRAPEOPLE believe that in order to accomplish our mission, a new credit reporting entity must be created exclusively for vital service people. The entity must always trust the word of the individual law officer, fire fighter, EMT, nurse or teacher. We trust them with our safety, our minds and quite literally our hearts. Any negative entry must be absolutely proven by the reporting party, whether a large corporation or small shop collection agency, and acknowledged by the vital service person against whom the negative entry is charged.
What do you think?
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