Recently the team worked with a pair of clients that were in a sticky situation. Something that we see more often that we should here in America; retired families that are stretched way too thin. Both husband and wife had put in over 25 years each at a well known department chain and had retired several years back and both were drawing social security benefits as well. In the many years after their retirement this left them with enough to pay their bills and some left over to enjoy their life. But like many Americans that are just getting by; COVID made it all much worse.
“We were able to eliminate $2,000 of their monthly debts and only marginally increased their monthly mortgage payment. “
The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the savings of millions of families throughout the nation. Those that were prepared are not struggling and those that were not were devastated. This client was no exception to that. When one of them experienced health issues the bills started to mount and things started to spiral out of control. Eventually, they had over a dozen maxed out credit cards and a couple personal loans and it seemed as if they would never be able to get caught back up.
This is where our team stepped in. Once the call was made and their citation explained to me we got right to work. In order to see how bad things really are we need to assess the situation and dig into the client’s finances and get a clear picture of what is going on. A personal consultation with the Burkowski team brought everything to light and made it clear to the clients that their situation was just not sustainable.
With over $2,000 in credit card and personal loan minimum payments and no foreseeable increase in their income the team explained to the clients their options and what could be done to help them. The clients were able to tap into their home equity and eliminate all of their higher interest loans and credit cards and convert them into one easy to manage payment. We were able to eliminate $2,000 of their monthly debts and only marginally increased their monthly mortgage payment.
The story doesn’t end here however. As Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither are refinances completed overnight as well. The Burkowski team works as fast and diligent as possible to get the paperwork done quickly while still being compliant. This particular case, the client wasn’t able to cover any out of pocket costs that were required. Burkowski’s team was able to work with the lender and other vendors to either get the costs waived or covered by other means. But there was still one more hurdle getting in the client’s way; solar panels.
The clients had gotten a solar system installed on their home some years before they contacted our team. Residential solar systems are a way to help people reduce their energy costs as well as can raise the value of the home in some instances. In this particular case the clients had financed the solar system and when that happens the finance company puts a lien on the solar equipment (called a UCC-1 filing) with the county. Now usually this is just a matter of filing paperwork in the right place and moving forward however, in this case the solar company incorrectly filed the lien and we were not able to close. Burkowski and his team worked with the solar financing company to not only correct the filing, but in order to not delay the closing, was able to get a subordination agreement from the solar company and to get all fees associated with that waived for the clients.
After working diligently with the lender, the solar finance company, the title company and the clients themselves we were able to close on time, correctly and ensure the clients are on the right path to debt relief all while saving them thousands of dollars in interest charges. See how we can help you consolidate debt and potentially save thousands.