Oregon Homeowner Initiative OHSI Signed a contract to have mortgage assistance. They made payments and then terminated me from the program stating I

16th of Oct, 2011 by User930361

I was told I was eligible for the Federal Hardest Hit Money that came to the State of Oregon.
I went through 3 eligibility screenings.
Went to the underwriters, and I signed the contract. Payments were made to the mortgage company.
Then I received a termination letter stating I was found ineligible due to not showing a 25% loss of income. I was terminated from the program.
I asked do you usually have people sign contracts and then find them ineligible? Was told their underwriters could not possibly have reviewed all due to overwhelming response.

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Comments

4309 days ago by Meg Story

Re: Mortgage Payment Assistance Notice of Termination

I received a Notice of Termination dated June 6, 2012. The notice was mailed in what I can only describe as a very “inconspicuous” looking envelope – I mistook it for just another bill. There was nothing on the envelope to indicate that it was time sensitive. Had “OHSI” logo appeared on the front or if it suggested I “Open Immediately, ” it certainly would have caught my attention long before it did. When I finally opened it, to learn that I had 21 days from the date on the notice, my appeal time had expired.

When I applied for Mortgage Payment Assistance, income for the entire year was based on income received during the final two months of 2010. In actual fact, my income for the year 2010 was more than 25% less than the previous year, but the way we were asked to calculate it did not reflect this. My husband passed away in February of 2010. I received Social Security Widow's Benefits for the last four months of 2010. Based on the way income was being calculated, a concern was raised at the time of application that I was over-income. As I did not receive these payments throughout the year and did not feel the last two months accurately represented my income for the year, I challenged it. I suggested that a more fair way to determine my income for the year would be to disperse the Widow's Benefits received at the end of the year over a 12-month period. I was told that this would have to be approved by an attorney up in Salem. After waiting a day or two for the verdict, I was told that my argument had been considered and my application had been approved. It appears now that this decision was never documented.

As a consequence of OHSI's prior approval relative to this issue, I acted in good faith, detrimentally relying upon their previous decision. After using my additional monies to pay off debts, I entered into an agreement to do some much-needed structural repairs to my home. At the time of the Notice of Termination, only a portion of the work had been started. Terminating my mortgage assistance at this time has resulted in financial hardship for me to both pay my monthly mortgage and complete the repairs. Additionally, not to pay for these repairs will put me into a breach of contract.

The method of calculation was just plain wrong and presented a totally inaccurate financial picture of many participants. A friend of mine who had been unemployed for nine months of 2010, was hired to teach at a local community college for the winter term. Because her income during the last two months of the year was similar to that of prior years, she was deemed ineligible.

I cannot fathom why calculations were done this way other than to possibly make it simpler for eligibility screeners. Yet why would you employ such a method if it has the potential to distort the facts? OHSI made a commitment and should honor it. MPA recipients should not be penalized for the ineptitude of the program's designers, particularly when this issue (in my case) had already been raised and approved. Furthermore, participants should have been allowed more time to appeal -- especially considering the way the termination notice was presented and with no prior warning. I believe a class action suit is in order here. Anyone else out there who finds themselves in a similar situation is welcome to contact me at my e-mail address: [email protected].