Home Partners of America & Pathlight management Has the American dream of home ownership become a nightmare? Chicago, Illinois Nationwide

I recently came across the above-referenced article about Home Partners of America facilitating potential home ownership for individuals with less than stellar credit. 

 As of October of 2015, I was one of those individuals excited about potentially owning my home here in Southern California, I make 130k a year and after the completion of a two-year lease with an option to purchase arrangement with Home Partners I received approval within days. The process was quick and fairly easy, the agent is a resident of Long Beach and knew the area well, we were house shopping for months to find the perfect house. He was absolutely phenomenal! He went above and beyond to keep everything running smoothly kept me informed every step of the way once we found the perfect house 45 days later escrow closed we were moving our dream house. Finally security in our life.  

 However, after an unfortunate business calamity affected my ability to make my $2,900 per month lease payments, by late December of last year, I found myself spinning out of control simply trying to find someone at Home Partners with whom I could speak personally and directly in an effort to keep myself and my 16-year-old daughter in our home, and thus maintain some stability not to mention the stress load on a single parent.

 By February 2016, the whole thing unraveled, and I found myself out of my home, having lost my $8,000 deposit, and devastated.  That this transition can occur so quickly is something about which I believe others should be forewarned.  Simply put, when things are going smoothly and the lessee is able to timely make his or her payments, everything is just fine.  However, one finds him or herself in a bind, they should be aware of the complexities of the situation. No one should lose their home because they didn’t understand the court ordered stipulated judgment even though I had the money the payment was due on a national holiday. When I attempted to make the payment the next day after a federal holiday, a 5 day notice was placed on my door.    

 1.         As a practical matter, Home Partners of America is a virtual landlord, which appears to be based in Illinois.  The property management company it chose to represent its interests in connection with my home was based in Texas.  There was no local office or person with whom I could communicate.  Not having someone respond to your inquiries or calls is very disconcerting, as opposed to going to a physical management office locally, between, let’s say, the hours of 9 am and 5 pm.  The tenant is placed at a severe disadvantage operating in a virtual world when it comes to housing.  They ought to at least have the opportunity to plead their case, with a human being knowledgeable with the facts of their tenancy, before standing before a judge about to get tossed to the curb;

 2.         The only person with whom I had contact with the authority to communicate or negotiate anything on the landlord’s behalf was their locally retained law firm, after an unlawful detainer and collection action was filed.  As a practical matter, that law firm was not going to doing anything against Home Partners’ interest, and most likely do whatever necessary to generate its fees and get paid.  It seems to me that the typical layperson tenant is operating at a severe disadvantage vis-à-vis an experienced attorney in landlord tenant litigation.  In my situation, the virtual landlord’s agent and attorney presented me a complex legal document to sign at the time of the hearing on the unlawful detainer.  In my view, for the virtual landlord to present such a document to an unsophisticated layperson tenant, without an attorney, smacks of unfairness, no matter how business - savvy the tenant;

 3.         In criminal proceedings, where defendants face the potential loss of liberty, our system of justice ensures that the criminal defendant has the right to counsel, and if they cannot afford one, they can be appointed counsel to represent their interests. Although the loss of one’s home is not quite as dramatic as the loss of one’s liberty, it is pretty darn close, and there are all sorts of negative ramifications associated with the loss of one’s home.  I believe that consideration ought to be given to the provision of counsel (or, at a minimum, information adequate enough to enable the layperson tenant to make responsible decisions).  In looking back on it, there is no way a tenant / lessess in my situation should try to represent him or herself, without the assistance of an attorney; and

 4.         We should be concerned that our system allows a judge to be a participant in the administration of purported justice, but does not require the judge to ensure that the defendant layperson tenant  / lessee fully and completely understands his or her rights, and makes sure that they do not unwittingly waive any important rights.

 In theory, a tenant / lessee could make 7 of 8 payments, or 12 of 15 payments, and yet find him or herself in the same situation, to wit, unable to communicate with a virtual landlord, with an out of state property manager, both of whom were unresponsive to communications, and contact only with the attorneys representing the virtual landlord, while standing before a judicial officer more interested in the processing of cases as opposed to ensuring that the less sophisticated party fully understood their rights.

 I think that this issue is one of universal appeal and concern.  It is not a Republican or Democrat issue, and neither a poor tenant nor more prosperous tenant issue.  It is a people issue. Im currently working with a United States Assemblyman to help change the landlord tenant law and make change within judicial policy. Upside fantastic program downside is when tragedy unexpectedly strikes and you need time, you have a better chance of nailing jello to a tree then to receive a call back from there legal department.

Should you have any interest in discussing this further, please do not hesitate to contact me at SaveMy1924Bungalow@gmail.com.

Wehrle Ct, Long Beach California 90804