With 400 foreclosed homes, Willingboro officials decided they needed to do something. So, they teamed up with the Homeowners Assistance Lease Option, or HALO.
Former Philadelphia Eagle Irving Fryar and partner Mario Henry are HALO. They're investors who see an opportunity in finding people, with certain qualifications, who are looking for a home.
"Of course they have to have a job, they have to have 3.5% down," Fryar said.
Prospective homeowners also have to have a credit score so low they cannot currently qualify for a mortgage.
For example, someone like Leglency Anderson. Anderson worked for months with HALO boosting his credit score. At the same time, HALO bought a foreclosed Willingboro house, fixed it up and rented it to Anderson. As part of the agreement, Anderson promised to buy it from them at a fixed price as soon as he could qualify for a conventional FHA mortgage, which just happened. Now he is a proud owner.
To be sure, HALO is not a charity.
HALO makes its money this way: It buys a distressed or foreclosed house for $100,000, adds $25,000 in improvements and sells it to the renter / buyer for $150,000.
Anderson says he could not have gotten here without HALO's investors.
"He said, up front, 'Yes we are looking to make money, yes we need to do what we need to do but, keep in mind, we are helping you achieve your goal and your dream,'" Anderson said.
Which is, in this case, owning a suburban home.....and as the youngest Anderson son learned - it includes a lawn that must be mowed. RELATED: HALO America's website.
