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Leaha Crawford and Rhonda Nolen are business consultants that discuss the current struggles of small business owners and entrepreneurs. Each episode covers steps necessary for smaller businesses and business owners to grow and prosper.
Unknown Speaker 0:00
This is a que un the studio's original program. The following is a paid program sponsored by Crawford management group and smart time consultants. Please be advised that the voices and opinions you hear do not represent the views of 91.5 Jazz and more the University of Nevada Las Vegas or the Board of Regents of Nevada System of Higher Education.
Unknown Speaker 0:27
Hi, my name is Leah Crawford. And I'm Rhonda Nolan. And you're listening to the let's talk with Leah and Rhonda show for all the beautiful entrepreneurs out there. This is for you. Happy Super Bowl Saturday, y'all, y'all it is here. The Superbowl was here. Oh my God. It is tomorrow. We have been waiting for years for this. I remember. I mean, I just remember when it first was announced, you know, Las Vegas Superbowl 2024. It is tomorrow. I want to say congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 40. Niners they will battle it out tomorrow. It's the Battle of the array. It's battle of the reds. No, my team is not there. But that's okay. But should be a good time. Food family fun. I know everybody around town. Just know they are here they are here. I know. We went to an event earlier this week. It was fun for some children had a good time. So Super Bowl. I don't even know which one it says Do y'all know which one is 5050 something 5758 Thanks for the 858 is 5858 Well today, guys, and even though it's super boring, we're all excited to get down to the business. I was able to. We were pressed the most on some time ago and I was able to go into their offices. And you know how people always talk about you know, home ownership. They got this program, they have that program. Well I found one that is doing the work, doing the work, getting it done, and they are in our valley. It is Chicanos Por La Casa did I get it? Right? You know, right? Yes. So I am privileged to have Thomas Rivera and room Rumi don't give Don't Don't Don't get mad at me. If I say it wrong Chai then that's correct. i There's I am privileged to have them in the in the studio with me this morning to talk about the programs that Chicanos Por La Causa offers. So welcome, gentlemen to the show.
Unknown Speaker 2:20
Thank you. Thank you. And good morning. Good morning.
Unknown Speaker 2:23
Good morning. And thank you for having us today.
Unknown Speaker 2:26
Hey, you want to know as we a lot of scheduling to get you guys here, but I'm glad that you're here. First of all, tell me about yourself and tell me where are you from? Originally,
Unknown Speaker 2:34
I was born in Mexico in the state of Durango, Mexico, raised in Los Angeles and moved here to Nevada in 2000 to 2002 I woke up New Year's Day, you know, with the wrong mindset. And I think I'm moving to Las Vegas.
Unknown Speaker 2:47
Hey, so you've been here? 22? Yes, two years longer than me. Okay. All right. So Thomas, what about you?
Unknown Speaker 2:53
Yes. Tell us who you are here. was born in California, Southern California, in the Bay Area. And I've been here in Las Vegas for 25 years. Okay, so
Unknown Speaker 3:02
you're excited to do the 49 as a here? Yes. Has MF X my team that should say
Unknown Speaker 3:11
thank you, thank you. I'm excited, you know, thinking like, you know, to happiness today and I'm excited to you know, provide information that we do. All right.
Unknown Speaker 3:18
So, um, talk to me about first of all talk to me about Chicanos Por La Causa. What is that?
Unknown Speaker 3:23
Well, let's give you a little brief history. Chicanos Por La Casa or Chicanos for the cars to Carlos because they were founded in 1969 out of Arizona, very similar to the civil rights movement of Martin Luther King. Our movement was sesor Chavez famously known Chicano right so a group of students in Arizona decided to protest because there was a lack of, of opportunity for Latinos via the education realm. So they protested and they started Chicanos Por La Causa out of a small church. And they've been there now for going for 55 years, providing every line item when it comes to social services for the community. So
Unknown Speaker 4:00
for all those of those for those of us that don't know, I don't know Chicanos. What is that? Chicano? What is the Chicano,
Unknown Speaker 4:07
so Chicano is a second third generation Mexican American, who, who has been raised in the United States born here and raised, but they still have that connection with their Mexican culture. And they're so proud of it. And they and they're very respectful of it. And so they're kind of like the Guardians. Right? Always looking for helping our community and demonstrated our culture to the rest of the country. Okay,
Unknown Speaker 4:32
thank you. Thank you for that description. Because that's what I didn't know what what what it meant. So what programs are you offering? Let's talk about the program.
Unknown Speaker 4:39
We'll start off with our housing counseling and education program. We're going on 13 years providing housing counseling services here in Las Vegas. And what does it encompasses? It's a HUD certified program. What we do is we provide everything related to housing on the homeownership homeownership side. On the Home preservation side, credit card Listening downpayment assistance. And I can let Thomas, I'll give you a little insight as to what he does when he meets a client on one on one. Okay,
Unknown Speaker 5:08
so Thomas helps you talk to us about
Unknown Speaker 5:09
them. Yes. First of all, I'm a HUD certified counselor for housing. And my job is to help the community to become homeowners, or also where we do it helped the community, those families who are in a jeopardy to lose their homes. And we do provide help in order for them to not to lose their home, we have some problems that is called foreclosed foreclosure prevention. I also do credit counseling and foreclosure prevention, prevention and credit counseling, credit counseling, and do mortgage assistance to buy a home and
Unknown Speaker 5:47
more business to buy a home. Yeah, the number is 725207. This is the right number. Yeah, I got the wrong number. See, I got the wrong number here that says so 75, they
Unknown Speaker 6:01
made a mistake on the on the air you call 22071614.
Unknown Speaker 6:05
See, I'm glad I said we live on the air y'all 702-207-1614? Again, 702212071614. All right. Well, I just want to put the number out there, because you're talking about housing insecurities, which is huge. And helping people that don't know, they don't know what what options they have. Especially if you're in your home, and you don't want to lose your home, you have an option. If you want to purchase a home, you have an option? Yes. Correct. Yes. And if you need credit counseling to get ready to purchase the whole, you can help them there as
Unknown Speaker 6:50
well. Yes, because sometimes I do encounter families that they have low credit for a credit FICO score, yes. And they need some guidance, you know, to to try to increase that FICO score to try to answer and that's where we come in, we give it the the information, you know, for them to do Grabbin basically like a guidance, we give a guidance, you know, for them how to increase the FICO score.
Unknown Speaker 7:13
How to Increase up Yes, got it. Well, you're listening to the less awkwardly and Rhonda show. I am Leah Crawford. And my partner Rhonda Nolan is out you know, everybody sends Simran to some loves and peace and blessings. She had an a family emergency. And it's not with us today but just send her some love to send her some love during this time. Roomies Okay, so we got the mortgage assistance, we got the whole homeowner assistance. What else? The credit counseling downpayment. We didn't talk about the downpayment assistance do we say that and
Unknown Speaker 7:44
no downpayment assistance that, you know, we help, you know, to cover the closing costs to cover the down payment. And this grant that will help the families you know who are feminists or low income families, that we provide assistance for them to have the opportunity to become homeowners the opportunity
Unknown Speaker 8:02
to become homeowners with the increasing cost of homes in the valley. Because the costs are increasing. Are there more people applying for help now? What what are you seeing because the costs have increased in this valley?
Unknown Speaker 8:19
Yes.
Unknown Speaker 8:21
25 years ago, how's this? 50,000? Yes.
Unknown Speaker 8:23
And now the press has canceled, you know, go what? Yes. And so the the interest rate has gone up to has gone up as well. And that's that's putting the buyers in the strike, you know, they don't really want to go up there and buy homes because of the price. And now the income does not support the mortgage payment qualify. It makes me make things mad. I mean worse, you know, we have the interest rate, the interest
Unknown Speaker 8:49
rate high and and the price is high. So now the payment is high. But is it cheaper for them to rent? Well,
Unknown Speaker 8:56
the key term here is affordable housing. What is affordable housing nowadays, right? What is it? It doesn't exist? It doesn't exist, let's be real. With no rent control. We're experiencing a lot of renters complain about their rent when their lease is up going up. 300 $600 It's scary out there. Without rent control. In reality, landlords can increase the rent however they want, right? And we get a lot of complaints and so people are moving are making the decision to jump into homeownership because the the mortgage payment is very equivalent to what the retina is looking like in Las Vegas. So we're glad to help. So why do we want to give you money? It's, it's for the most part, it's free money to the community qualify? It's a forgivable grant. So if I if you allow me I can give you the terms of the assistance when the money is available. So let's say a homeowner has $5,000 towards the purchase of their home. The program was called which is a four to one match. So now the program if qualified will give you 20,000 So now you have a total of 20 5000 to cover your down payment and your closing costs, right? Any leftovers will go into principal reduction. Nice. So in some good years, we'll have multiple programs. And now we get to layer. Right. So let's say a person has comes in with a maximum contribution of $7,250. The program will wish we'll match it 29,000. And then if we have HOME funds in the city of North Las Vegas, and you find a home in North Las Vegas, now we could tell you an extra pot of money, which is an additional 14 999 1000. Right?
Unknown Speaker 10:30
So now he's talking about 30, like 43,000. Exactly. So
Unknown Speaker 10:33
why do I want to give all that money? It's about affordability. It's about making sure that you cover your down payment, your closing costs, by some principal down or even by the rate one point by
Unknown Speaker 10:44
the rate down because find the rate down. And those are terms that you hear people talking about, how do you buy a rate down? How do you know Pete more sophisticated buyers? I guess you talk about that? You know, so they're like, Okay, it's all just battle right down, and I can I can, you know,
Unknown Speaker 10:57
and what's the beauty about this money, it's forgivable after five years, it's actually prorated each year. So you just subtract, you divide the total amount given by five by five years, and each year one year is forgiven.
Unknown Speaker 11:08
Love it. Telephone number. I'm gonna get it right this time, y'all 70220716147022071614 So y'all, y'all listen to this. If you are looking for home, if you are you thinking about buying a home 702-207-1614 Because we're talking about mortgage assistance, downpayment, well, downpayment assistance. And then depending on where you live, the more money you possibly can qualify for. And these programs are here, the money is here. So qualifications and then I mean, you might say, Well, I think I might have, I don't know if my credit is good. Well, let's go find out. And let's find out where we are. And let's not guess, and let's not use you as as my friend was a de Tiktok mortgage broker or the the Facebook mortgage broker. Now let's talk to the real people that are in our community, doing the work that can guide you and you know, find out what pieces are missing, and plug in those pieces so that we can get you ready for homeownership. Now it's open to everyone, correct? Yes,
Unknown Speaker 12:21
our programs are open to anybody in the in the community looking for assistance or guidance. If we don't have the program, we have resources will guide you in the right direction. And just to elaborate a little bit more, every month, we host a minimum of two homebuyer education workshops, workshops. And in that workshop, we talk about everything homeownership. And we dive deep into the credit realm, why call it the 411 about credit. Because if you don't know what's in front of you, if you don't know if you don't pull your credit report, you don't know where you're at. So that's the first step is pulling your report and knowing where you're at, so you know where you need to go.
Unknown Speaker 12:56
Okay, so when you pull the credit report, are you pulling? Okay? Are you pulling from one service bureau? Or are we pulling from all the service
Unknown Speaker 13:03
bureaus? As a nonprofit, we pull a tri merge credit report nice, and it's a Soft Pool, so it won't hurt your credit score.
Unknown Speaker 13:11
Okay, and then explain to people because what is it well, what is a Soft Pool?
Unknown Speaker 13:15
So a Soft Pool versus a hard pool? Right? Soft polls are usually are done by nonprofits, maybe some lease applications. But it's just an a peek into your credit profile, it's still very similar to what you're going to get from from a creditor. A hard poll is when you get a credit applicant full credit application from a mortgage company, a car dealership, a credit card, those are hard polls. So those are the ones that affect your FICO score, even if you only pull it once. In most cases, it might hurt your FICO score from five to 10 points, right.
Unknown Speaker 13:44
And it basically takes about two years for that to come off of your credit report.
Unknown Speaker 13:48
So we dive deep into the credit rounds, because it's important not only what to what to what you're looking for, at what you're looking at in front of you, but how to learn the tricks of the trade to get that FICO score up. Or how to what does the credit industry want us to be where they want us to be?
Unknown Speaker 14:04
So how long is this? So first of all, when is it? When do you have them every second
Unknown Speaker 14:08
and third Saturday of the month? Every second is the English class. every third Saturday is the Spanish class. So
Unknown Speaker 14:14
you have on the second and a third. Where are you? Where are the classes located?
Unknown Speaker 14:17
It's they're located in our building. We have a nice education room. We can fit up to 5060 people.
Unknown Speaker 14:23
It's beautiful too, but it's a nice space and they have parking downtown and they have parking. Yes. Kind of sort of don't go together anymore. Downtown and parking right. So what's the address?
Unknown Speaker 14:33
It's 555 North Maryland Parkway on the corner of Bonanza and Maryland Parkway. It's that old credit union that everybody used to know. Yes, it's that building where the classes are from 830 to three. We provide you breakfast. We feed you a lot of coffee so you don't fall asleep. And then we feed you lunch.
Unknown Speaker 14:52
All right. So do they need to register prior to coming to the class so number 702207161 Four again. 702-207-1614. Can I register for the class? How the day before? Or do I need to give some leave? I don't know,
Unknown Speaker 15:12
any anytime. Before today, Friday can be any the end day. And one day prior. Let's
Unknown Speaker 15:18
say you decided Friday at nine o'clock. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 15:20
this is what I want to do we do we do take walk ins, yeah,
Unknown Speaker 15:22
you do take walk ins. So the thing about it is you're making it easy. Well, let's say this, there's not as many barriers. So there are going to be some barriers. But it's not the barrier to even start, you just need to start make the decision.
Unknown Speaker 15:37
And the best part is that it's a HUD certified class, right, we've invited guest speakers in the industry to come and relate their line of business, like realtors and lenders, inspectors, title officers. So it's an all inclusive class. And not only that, it's it's my favorite effort. It's free. It's free.
Unknown Speaker 15:53
And not only, okay, I like it, the form of effort is free, right? The other sides of that is and you hit on something because you said Inspector, and a lot of times when you don't know anything about the cause the home ownership process. The first time is probably one of the most intimidating processes, because they give you a stack of documents, that stands about maybe a foot high to sign and it's like you're just signing and you're just signing and you're just signing, and there's so many things, you have to do so many hoops because you have to get an appraisal, then you have to get an inspection. And then you gotta go back. And if there's a problem in the appraiser or the inspection, then they gotta go back and correct. So what's a lot of steps? Do you hold your hands through the whole process? Yes,
Unknown Speaker 16:34
and no, yes. It's kind of like a 8020 relationship. Right? Yeah. We're hoping that we give you the tools. And you do most of the work as as a client, right? Because the trick here is to empower people with knowledge so that they become wise and and know how to do it the next time, especially when it comes to credit. When it comes to mortgage default. We give you the tools, we help you along the way. But we give you homework so that you take on some of the most of the responsibility. And you don't just sit back and be like, well, they take care of it for me. No, together.
Unknown Speaker 17:03
No, I appreciate and I appreciate that because it's the first home first time home the first time I went to a first time homebuyer seminar was in Washington, DC. And I was I would think I was in my 20s. And I was sitting and I was ready to buy and in my 20s in DC, we talked about affordable, that's something totally different in DC. And it was overwhelming. The amount of information that I received, it was good information. But it was a lot of information. And it's overwhelming. And sometimes I think I got I got paralyzed. Because it was so much information, are you but I guess you guys are counseling too. So you're having conversations to help because I was paralyzed. It was a lot of information.
Unknown Speaker 17:47
And that's the job of a county housing counselor right it's he's the middleman or middle woman in this whole process connecting you to the realtor lender. And then together as a as a team walk you through from the beginning to when you sign and get your keys.
Unknown Speaker 18:00
Got it. Got it. All right, my name is Leah Crawford, you are listening to the let's talk with Leah and Rhonda show. And today we got Chicanos Por La Casa on the show, and we're talking about the programs that they offer right here in downtown Las Vegas on the corner of Bonanza and Maryland Parkway. Oh, Credit Union building, you can't miss it. I would encourage you, you know, I would just encourage you, you know, please, if you're if you're thinking about buying a home, you're not sure if you're ready to buy a home, you know, they're here for you. They're here for you to have the conversations to talk about you know, just what your goals are. You know, what, what are your family goals? You might be newly married or? No, you might just want to, you know, purchase a home. Now, what if I buy half a house? Now, I can't pay my mortgage, but I don't want to move? Can you help me? Yes. You say yes. I like Yeah, I like Yes.
Unknown Speaker 18:53
Yeah, we just have a program from the state that are right now is helping, like Rumi said, it's a problem that came out from the COVID-19. Okay, that people will lose in the home because you know, this and people are working. So now they cannot pay their mortgage payment. Now we have this program, it's a five year program that's going to help homeowners who are behind on the on the on the loan. So it's probably gonna pay the negative balance to bring the loan current. Okay,
Unknown Speaker 19:25
so what if I'm not behind? I think we had that conversation. What if I'm not behind, but I'm in a situation where I just lost my job. I know what's going to get tight.
Unknown Speaker 19:35
We have all the pros, one of the problems that we have is called our workforce, that we help families you know, and look for for a job or employment. If they proceed, you know, can you know, slipping in that, okay, you know, I'm not working now I see that I'm not going to be able to make my mortgage payment. So without helping them, you know, to find work, so they can you know, have that those income to make the payment on a mortgage payment. Yeah, and
Unknown Speaker 20:03
unfortunately, in order to get assistance, you have to have some level of income, right? Because they want to see that you have the ability if let's say we were the programmer who's approved you for $50,000, right? They want to know that you you're going to be able to pick up where, where the program stops or
Unknown Speaker 20:19
stops. You know, we've done this and we've been good. Now do you have to say you get the assistance, this type of assistance. I know what the first time homebuyer it was five years and every year went down.
Unknown Speaker 20:30
The assistance goes into a silent second, which is forgivable after three years.
Unknown Speaker 20:34
This is forgivable after three years. Okay. So what does the silent second talk to me about it's just like
Unknown Speaker 20:38
a second deed on your mortgage, but it's a silent amount, so you don't pay mortgage principal or interest. It's just, they're attached to your deed, and forgivable after three years. Let's say during those three years, you decide to sell your property. Well, the deed is in place so they can recuperate that money if you if you don't complete the three years. Exactly. Okay.
Unknown Speaker 20:58
I love it. I love it. Again, you're listening to the less talk with Leah and Rhonda show. I am Lea Crawford, and we are talking to Chicanos Por La Causa and they are here in the valley and they are ready to assist you. When you're talking about home ownership. You're talking about you know, just the insecure you know, you just don't know what to do what to do know people talk about it, they get on a talk about you know, buying a home buying a home buying a home. Well, they are here to help you make that a reality really to make that a reality. Again, they're located on a corner of Maryland Parkway, and Bonanza is 555 North Maryland Parkway, they have parking, they have a huge parking lot. And let's talk about those first time homebuyer classes again, because you do them twice, twice a month, once in English and one Spanish
Unknown Speaker 21:46
every second Saturday and third Saturday of the month. So second
Unknown Speaker 21:49
Saturday is English speaking, third Saturday in Spanish speaking. So you know, hey, I think the second Saturday is the second Saturday. Okay, God, this is the second day,
Unknown Speaker 21:59
we had to postpone the race. Because I
Unknown Speaker 22:04
think everybody postponed all activities today. Like you want to know what we don't want to. We don't want to stop anything. We want you to enjoy yourself. So we want to make sure that you enjoy it. So you know, when are you going to reschedule the one that was
Unknown Speaker 22:15
our next English class, we're going to have a pop up on March 2, because of the postponement of this one. And then so March 2 is the first Saturday, March 9, you'll have it again. The second Yeah, on the ninth, that's
Unknown Speaker 22:26
March 9, so you have March 2 and march 9. So just know that you're hearing us today and that you are able, you are able to to get in touch with them. So again, let me give you the phone number one more time. 702-207-1614. Again, 702-207-1614. And do you guys have any closing words, anything that you want to say about?
Unknown Speaker 22:54
I just wanted to share in regards to credit counseling? Yes. Because I do have a lot of families who come to me, and they worry about their credit, you know, and they don't know how to increase the credit. And it's a very simple formula, that you really can raise your credit. Come on, let's talk and I'm just gonna say that to everybody. In a very simple all you got to do just maintain your credit at 30%. Yep, balance 30% or less. Yes, there it is. That's the magic number. Okay, and you FICO score will increase.
Unknown Speaker 23:29
But let's talk about that though. So if you have $1,000 credit card limit, don't be like don't don't charge the whole nine that had $1,000 You want to keep it at about $300 Correct. So you want to make sure it's simple math. So it's 30% or whatever the credit limit is correct. You want to maintain a balance that's under that and you want to make your own time payments. Yes,
Unknown Speaker 23:49
and after six months, the banks will double your credit limit from 1000 to 2000. So
Unknown Speaker 23:56
in the class, we talk about all the tricks of the trade, which we're not going to give on the air
Unknown Speaker 24:02
because that was a good one. That was a good one. Because people always talk about you know, how do I raise my credit How do I raise my credit because I know when and that was a one time payments. So always make sure you pay them and even if you can't just pay the minimum balance even though they'll tell you gonna be paying us for 30 years just paying the minimum balance Panama no balance but ideally you want to only utilize 30% or whatever their credit card balance correct correct. I love it and you'll give us some more tips and tricks in the class we do Yeah, I love it. I love it. I might have to come sit in the class because I can learn some tips and tricks
Unknown Speaker 24:30
please please come so my my last two minutes of cents are my two cents is what is the first time homebuyer what
Unknown Speaker 24:37
is the first right let's talk about that because yeah, because yeah, what is the first time homebuyer so
Unknown Speaker 24:42
a person might have owned a house at some points I Well, I'm not I'm not a first time homebuyer anymore. So anytime you are off a deed, as long as three years have passed, you're considered a first time homebuyer again. So that's why you can qualify for these programs.
Unknown Speaker 24:55
Okay, so I so if I am off the D Oh, yes, I am off the deed so I have no deed in mind. So okay,
Unknown Speaker 25:03
so So let's say I own the house with my ex, okay, and I removed myself from the deed three years ago. So there's different ways to qualify as a first time homebuyer. What? No, I'm no longer on the deep three years have passed. I'm a displaced homemaker, right? Because in the marriage, he or she got the home. Look, I'm displaced. You don't even have to wait three years if you're a displace homemaker. Oh, that automatically qualifies you because in the divorce decree, the other spouse kept the home. So now you have displaced you are officially a first time homebuyer but in a normal sense, if I sold my house three years ago, I'm now considered a first time homebuyer again. That
Unknown Speaker 25:39
was good information. I want you to repeat that that was see look at the nuggets that you're getting this morning. And so if you are displaced, you immediately become so it might be hard going through a divorce. And you know, you basically you you have to leave your home. But now you qualify as a first time homebuyer a first time homebuyer I love
Unknown Speaker 25:58
and those are key features under HUD guidelines. Right, right, that most people don't know. So that's where we come in and inform people with Yes, you do qualify. And
Unknown Speaker 26:06
what he said is free. free.com free, free, free, free, free. Again, the telephone number 70220716147022071614. I want to thank you both. Thank you for accepting my invitation. I know when I when I did the tour of your facility some months ago, I was super, super excited. And I thought this information would be very beneficial to our listeners. Thank you again for coming in. I'm going to wish you the best on the San Francisco 40 Niners you know in a game somewhere I'll you know. Yeah, wish you the best. Again, my name is Leah Crawford. You've been listening to the let's talk with Leah and Rhonda show. It is Super Bowl Saturday in Las Vegas. Peace and blessings. Y'all be safe out there. Enjoy yourselves and we'll see you next week. Bye.
Unknown Speaker 27:04
Bye bye
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