 |
|
|
||||
|
Stories | |||||
|
… to save the American Dream Send story to a friend Three years later, with a subprime mortgage crisis sweeping the nation, the Villareals could not keep up with rising monthly payments. Fearful of losing their home, Rudy called the local alderman, who recommended the Rescue Loan Program at ShoreBank. ShoreBank developed this first-of-its-kind program, which refinances mortgages at risk of default, as a response to the wave of foreclosures in Chicago and across the country. Research showed that, like the Villareals, about 10,000 homeowners in the bank’s priority neighborhoods in Chicago were candidates for the program, with income and credit that would qualify them to replace their adjustable-rate mortgages with 30-year fixed-rate loans at ShoreBank. "This crisis is far from over," says Michelle Collins, Senior Vice President, Mortgage Lending. "We hope that continued support from our depositors will allow us to fund more mortgages in this time of great need, and that our program can serve as a model for other institutions that want to be part of the solution to this problem." The Villareal family considers itself fortunate. Rudy adds: "I tell everyone about ShoreBank. I just could not disappoint my son, because he was so excited about having our own home." In 2007, the ShoreBank companies invested $223.6 million in homeownership and rental housing rehabilitation.
|
||||||
|
||||||
 |
 |
|
|
The long path to home ownership led Rudy and Edith Villareal and their son, Andy, to an adjustable-rate, low-interest loan on a four-bedroom house on Chicago’s West Side. "The loan officer told us, 'It is not a perfect loan. It has an adjustable rate, but you can refinance it in a year and you can get a house now.' We wanted the house, so we jumped", says Edith.