Consumer complaint received 2019-01-30
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America ("NACA") (MD)

To Whom It May Concern, In XX/XX/2017 I closed on my first home with the assistance of a program called NACA ( The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America ). Their program is designed to make home ownership more attainable for more people, especially people with limited funds. NACAs mission statement is stabilizing communities through affordable homeownership and advocating for economic justice. They have a separate department that specifically handles any necessary repairs after closing known as the Home and Neighborhood Development ( HAND  ) department. I purchased the home knowing of the many repairs that were needed and expected them to be addressed in a reasonable amount of time. After almost two years of several setbacks and disappointments I found that not to be so. 
The HAND department not only controls the stipulations of the repairs they also control the money that is set aside for the project, and no one gets paid unless they approve it. This company is holding over {$30000.00} of my money that I pay on every month because its included in my monthly mortgage payment. My loan is financed through XXXX XXXX. Any time that Ive tried to contact the bank concerning this portion of the loan they pass me around on the phone for about an hour in which not one representative has any knowledge of the {$30000.00} of funds that has been mysteriously added to the price of my home. Ive been recently informed by a NACA representative that this is done intentionally because XXXX XXXX wants nothing to do with this portion of the loan. This was very disturbing because I then realized how helpless I was and how messy of a situation I had entered in. 
It has been almost 2 years now and not one single repair has been made to my home. They have sent me a list of contractors that supposedly works with them but not one contractor from their own list was willing to take on the job because of the poor  reputation that NACA has managed to build for themselves. The very first contractor I contacted, once I mentioned the name NACA, literally cussed me out and continued on a ten minute rant telling me all the reasons he would never work with NACA again. 
Over this course of time Ive exhausted their list of contractors twice. Personal searches has been, for the most part, unsuccessful as well. On a couple of occasions Ive even had repeat contractors come to my home for an estimate but upon arrival and recognition, they tell me what they told me the first time they came out, they can not help me. At one point I was able to get a company XXXX XXXX XXXX to finally submit a bid. We signed contracts and even set a start date but NACA refused to use any of the money set aside as a down payment. So the company refused to take on the job. Many contractors are afraid to take on such a large project without some type of financial security confirming our agreement for the same reason NACA is reluctant to give a down payment ; no one wants to take a loss. Meanwhile the only one suffering in the situation is the homeowner. 
It is now Winter and the highest temperature in my home is about 55 degrees. This is due to several broken windows, an open chimney, and a damaged roof, which are all on the list of repairs. It is impossible for the house to hold heat. My brand new furnace is running nonstop trying to maintain the temperature but to no avail. Its working so hard that I've had to have it repaired, out of pocket, to keep it up. The worst part of it all is that It's so cold that my son was hospitalized for 7 days. He has XXXX XXXX XXXX and one of the main triggers for a XXXX XXXX XXXX is cold temperatures. 
This has gone on so long Ive run out of contractor to contact and began making repairs out of pocket. I'm already starting to fall behind on my monthly mortgage payment due to the out of pocket expenses incurred. Even though Maryland law states through the XXXX that contractors are entitled to 1/3 down payment to start the work, NACA refuses to use any of the money set aside for these repairs as down payment. Which means that Ill be forced to come up with thousands of dollars that I dont have to get a contractor to take me serious and start on this project. As if that isnt bad enough, the chances of getting repaid the down payment from the funds thats already set aside for this project are slim to none, because that has to be approved by the lender, XXXX XXXX, who has absolutely zero knowledge of this {$30000.00} that I speak of when I call. 
Im wondering how an anti-predatory company feels like the biggest predator in this whole situation. Its almost laughable how the lack of assistance from the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America could be the very ones that may cause me to lose my home while protecting me from the predator. To add insult to injury NACA has now requested that I submit proof that Ive actually attempted to contact contractors. 

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