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

Truly A Gift

Terry Newman & Sandy Garcia, TDHCA, 1/25/2011

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EPCCED Staff & the Castillo-Mendoza Family, El Paso TX
HOME Contract for Deed Conversion Program
Photo: Terry Newman & Sandy Garcia, TDHCA

Contract for deeds are like treadmills. They make you sweat and do not get you anywhere. Mario Castillo and Susana Mendoza, residents of Deerfield Park Colonia in El Paso County, are all too aware of this metaphor. They entered into a $20,000 contract for deed to purchase raw land in February 1999. After eleven years of high interest rate payments, the Castillo-Mendoza family still owed over $12,000 on their contract for deed. “We paid and paid and weren’t getting anywhere,” remembers Ms. Mendoza.

Fortunately, getting off the contract for deed treadmill can be easy even if it seems too good to be true. For years, a friend kept telling Mrs. Mendoza about TDHCA’s HOME Contract for Deed Conversion Program (CFDC) administered through the El Paso Collaborative for Community and Economic Development (EPCCED). EPCCED offers a wide variety of loans, programs, and services, including financial literacy programs, down payment assistance, and contract for deed conversion assistance. Ms. Mendoza did not believe her. “It was too good to be true,” remembers Ms. Mendoza. “There was catch somewhere.”

Ms. Mendoza finally went to EPCCED and after gathering all the required documentation and filling out an application, her family qualified. The CFDC program not only converted the contract for deed into a traditional mortgage, but also replaced their substandard mobile home with a new stick-built home. EPCCED helped the family the build equity it never had before.

“This is truly a gift from God,” says Ms. Mendoza. “I’m glad I finally came in. We are very grateful to everyone who was a part of this blessing. Thank You. I love my new kitchen!”

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HOME Contract for Deed Conversion Program