Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs - Building Homes and Strengthening Communities

Most Grateful

Terry Newman & Sandy Garcia, TDHCA, 1/20/2011

Caption below

Dora Levario, El Paso TX
HOME Contract for Deed Conversion Program
Photo: Terry Newman & Sandy Garcia, TDHCA

After her husband passed away in 1995, Dora Levario wanted to provide a good home for her then two-year-old daughter so she entered into a contract for deed to purchase property in the Mission Trail Estates Colonia for $13,000 at an interest rate of 12%. She also purchased a used mobile home to place on the property.

Ms. Levario did her best to provide for her daughter. She worked for years at a major clothing factory sewing uniforms for the military but struggled to make payments on the land and mobile home. She made little headway on her contract for deed. She was making more payments on the interest of the loan than on the principal.

As time went on, health issues forced Ms. Levario to quit her job and go on a fixed income. Her daughter eventually married and moved out. She was all alone now and the contract for deed became an even bigger struggle for her.

Worried about the situation she was in, friends told Ms. Levario about TDHCA’s HOME Contract for Deed Conversion Program (CDCP) administered by Adults and Youth United Development Association, Inc. (AYUDA), a grass roots organization that provides a variety of services to Colonia residents in El Paso County. Being local, AYUDA understands the financial burden a contract for deed puts on low-income colonia residents.

AYUDA worked diligently with Mrs. Levario to gather all the required documents to convert her contract for deed into a warranty deed that would have a fixed interest rate. Mrs. Levario is now the proud owner of the property she has lived on for all these years. Her old mobile home was also replaced with a newly constructed site-built home.

“Thank you very much,” says Ms. Levario. “I am most grateful for AYUDA and TDHCA for the opportunity to live my golden years comfortably. God bless you and the work that you do.”

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HOME Contract for Deed Conversion Program