TITUSVILLE, Fla. – A 72-year-old Titusville woman and her daughter found themselves on the brink of foreclosure after Homeowner Assistance Funds issued by the Department of Economic Opportunity went missing.
Nilda Molina and her daughter, Millie Aguirre, contacted News 6 and Make Ends Meet after their mortgage company, NewRez C/O PHH Mortgage Services, issued a foreclosure notice the day before Thanksgiving.
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“Not a single payment has been received by the mortgage company,” Aguirre told News 6. “I’m nervous, I feel like I’m worse off now (than) before I entered the program.”
Molina has lived in her Titusville home for nearly 30 years, and according to documents obtained by News 6, was approved for mortgage and utility funds for 18 months on July 13, 2022.
Aguirre said the DEO indicated the payments had been issued, but according to the mortgage company, the funds were never deposited into Mrs. Molina’s account.
The DEO confirmation letter said the payments “will be made directly to your service provider and may process at different times.”
News 6 contacted the DEO and a representative got to work immediately.
The money, all 6 months of missing mortgage payments, were issued Monday.
In an email to News 6, her daughter wrote in part, “We got results. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! We could not have gotten this done without you. This just made our Christmas.”
During our interview, Aguirre said she and her mother felt News 6 would have the answer.
“The first thing we thought was we should come to Getting Results on Channel 6 and see if they could help us,” Aguirre said. “Here you are and I thank you so much for that.”
In a statement to News 6, DEO Press Secretary Leigh McGowan said in part, “If homeowners are not seeing their awarded Florida HAF funds applied to their mortgage account, we encourage Florida HAF recipients to review their Florida HAF award letter. All award letters are emailed to Florida HAF recipients when they are initially awarded assistance.”
Each award letter states the name of the company to which the payment will be made. If the name of the company in the award letter differs from the name of the company their mortgage payments are regularly sent to each month, the best course of action for Florida HAF recipients is to contact the Florida Homeowner Assistance Fund Customer Assistance Center for assistance at 833-987-8997, Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
If you have an unemployment issue, email makeendsmeet@wkmg.com or text the words “Make Ends Meet” along with your issues to 407-676-7428.
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