Carl Compton III and his wife Deyma were living the American dream. New Brunswick, NJ residents since 1995, they successfully raised three children and a grandchild. Both enjoyed steady employment.

Carl worked for the FedEx Corporation for 20 years as a Truck Driver, and Deyma was employed by the NJ Department of Corrections as a Food Transporter for 17 years. In 2004, after years of faithfully saving their resources, they were ready to purchase their very own home.
And then misfortune struck.

In 2015, Deyma suffered a debilitating work-related accident. It required her to undergo two major surgeries and her injuries were so severe that she was unable to return to work. With her worker’s compensation benefits expired, she applied for Social Security Disability. However, with another surgery scheduled followed by months of rehabilitation therapy, Deyma went into a state of depression.
Her reduction in income caused a major hardship for the entire family. Within six months a large portion of their savings was depleted. They had to take out a pension loan in order to meet their monthly mortgage and household expenses. After running out of options, they spoke with their lender, Wells Fargo, who referred them to PRAB.

We were eventually able to secure a loan modification that reduced Carl and Deyma’s mortgage payment by $700 monthly.

The Comptons met with our Housing Coalition to seek information and assistance. We listened and went to work. First, we reviewed their economic situation and formulated a budget plan for them. Then we helped them apply for a loan modification. Time was of the essence. With a foreclosure impending, our Housing Counselor filed the necessary paperwork and persistently contacted the mortgage servicer. We were eventually able to secure a loan modification that reduced Carl and Deyma’s mortgage payment by $700 monthly.

A few days later, we received a call from Deyma. She could not stop expressing her gratitude and appreciation. She had thought they were going to lose everything they worked so hard to achieve. The family did not expect the Housing Coalition to fight so hard for them to keep their home. She said, “As luck would have it, turns out this is the best thing to ever happen to us.”