Jim Alex loved the house he’d rented in Dennis for four years so much that he bought it 11 years ago. Now he shares it with his wife Angela and an adult foster daughter with special needs. But three years ago he closed his antiques business when the rent for his retail space grew too high. Odd jobs couldn’t fill the gap, and then Angela lost her job at a florist shop.
“It seemed like we were digging a deeper and deeper hole, and our savings were dwindling,” said Jim.
A friend told the couple to call HAC. They met with foreclosure-prevention counselor Karin Bar, who is part of a department that assisted 804 households in 2010. “She gave us hope without making promises,” said Angela. “She was always there for us. When we talked to her, nothing else mattered to her at that moment.”
Bar helped steer Jim and Angela through the mountain of paperwork. It took eight months, but they got a mortgage modification that reduced their monthly payments by 40 percent.
“Now we can breathe again,” said Angela, knowing that the house they love will be theirs for years, a place where their children and six grandchildren can come to visit Jim and “Grangela.”