March 2004. Pauline Umeh, a hard working nurse, and her now ex-husband Larry, lived in Richmond where they rented a house from a friend. They wanted to buy a house and had found the perfect one in Antioch. It was located right across the water to make transportation to her job at the hospital easy and convenient. During the purchase of the house though Pauline and Larry's marriage began experiencing trouble.
Soon Pauline and Larry began filing for divorce and although Pauline truly wanted to continue buying the house, Larry made it impossible for her to purchase due to their relationship still reflecting as married in offiical records. Months passed. Pauline gave up the house she wanted and continued to plead with Larry to sign the divorce papers so that she could move on with her life and buy a house of her own...
Story continued by Pauline's mortgage broker, Ellen:
"I remember Pauline and I talking on the phone every so often about her situation. She so badly wanted to buy a house and become the independent woman she had always been at heart. One day, eight months after we first met each other and started the process to buy a house, Larry called me out of the blue. He called to complain about his current situation with Pauline. A month after larry reconnected with me, Pauline and I asked Larry to meet to sign final divorce paperwork. Over the phone, he was enthusiastic and amenable, but in reality the day came and went without Larry showing up.
The following few weeks Larry continued to call me to discuss some troubles that had arisen due to the previous purchase that had fallen through. He was being contacted by their old Realtor and didn't know how to proceed. I put Pauline and Larry in touch and accompanied them to a restaurant to discuss the nature of their situation. Ultimately, after another month of working things out between the two, Larry finally agreed to sign the divorce papers. Soon thereafter Pauline found another lovely house and we helped her achieve the dream that she had been hoping for for years. That was a great day -- a happy occurrence that was a long time coming."
