Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance

MAHA was great when it came to buying a home. I had a Soft Second mortgage so I was required by Mass Housing to take classes at MAHA.
I got sick in 2010 and missed a few mortgage payments so one of their Foreclosure Prevention Specialist contacted me. She seemed very nice and sounded like she was almost close to tears when I told her my story. I had already been denied for 2 loan modifications, one prior to me missing any payments and one after me having missed a few payments. She sent me a form to sign so that she could speak to the mortgage company on my behalf. I signed the form and sent it back to her via email within minutes. I never heard anything back from her.
After 1 month I called her to find out how it was going and she had no recollection of who I was (poor record keeping). I had to tell my sob story all over again before she recalled. Then she told me again about the form. I told her that I already sent her the form. She then asked me to send her copies of the letters that I received from the mortgage company. I emailed those over to her within minutes.
More time goes by, still nothing from her. When I did speak to her again I told her my financial situation and she suggested off the record that maybe I should file for bankruptcy. So I followed her personal advice and looked into it. I ended up doing just that. I filed for Chapter 7, cleared up all of my debt and I’m now trying a 3^rd time to get a loan modification on my own.
The last time I spoke with her, I told her I did what she said and filed bankruptcy. She said she told me no such thing and that they’re not allowed to suggest such things. I told her I know she suggested it because I hadn’t even considered it prior to our conversation! She has no recollection of this of course. Now when she calls, I don’t even answer and don’t return her calls because clearly she can’t do anything for me that I can’t do my damn self.
In a nutshell, I just want to say that MAHA is good for some things, hence the 2 star rating. But you guys really need to get some better trained, better organized, more professional Foreclosure Prevention Specialists on board. I don’t expect to have to refresh your memory of who I am every time I speak with you. You should have a FILE and there should be notes of each interaction in that file! When I send you paperwork, that should also be in the file. What a waste of time!

MAHA is a great organization that can often assist your average home buyer in buying their first home. They offer classes to make sure that you’re looking for the right things, are ready to buy your first home, and give you lots of knowledge. I sadly took the class the week before closing, so it really, REALLY wasn’t helpful at this stage. I needed to have the certificate for the type of mortgage product we were getting, but had I known about the class at the beginning stages of house hunting, I absolutely would have arrange to go then. It was really anxiety provoking after the fact, when we’d already gotten a mortgage, had a home inspection, have insurance, and are really DONE and are just waiting.
There was some disorganization in the class process:
1.) No one on the hospital staff (the class was in a room at Boston Medical Center) knew where it was. Had MAHA given the front desk info, I think it would have been way easier. A bunch of us were sitting in the wrong conference room at the first date of the class as we were told it was in one of the three conference rooms, and it ended up being in a blocked off part of the cafeteria. It wasn’t noted on the website, and that wasn’t indicated when I called.
2.) When I called to find out about the class, and make sure I had everything I needed before registering online, I called and indicated we already were already in the process of buying a house and I needed this certificate. I was told very specifically that I would receive the certificate at the end of the class. The instructor Hilda also indicated at the start of the first class that we would receive the certificate at the end of the class. Ends up, NO, we received a letter indicating that the certificate was on file at the MAHA office, and we needed to call when we were closing to get that. That’s fine and all, but I had really indicated that we were closing, and I needed the certificate! It was one additional thing to deal with yesterday, the day before closing. Cortina at the MAHA office dealt with it so it all worked out, but I was seriously on the verge of a panic attack on Saturday at the end of the class series.
The class I took was three days consisting of two three hour classes, and one six hour class. Despite the mix ups, I still think MAHA provides a really awesome service to first time home buyers, or first time home buyers who have additional questions AFTER home buying.