Help Me Keep My Home Project,
Vancouver, BC
1. HEADLINE:
Help Me Keep My Home Project, Vancouver, BC
2. TIMELINE:
NOV 18, 2018, to MAY 5, 2021
3. THE CHALLENGE:
Establish legal & beneficial ownership of the client’s current residence; negotiate, reduce and settle client debt; rebuild and help increase client credit rating; and secure a mortgage.
4. STORY
Actual names of some persons involved in this story have been changed to protect their privacy.
In the early hours of the morning on August 15, 2018, after working a night shift, a father named Jun was riding home to his wife and daughter on his motorcycle. On that terrible morning, an SUV travelling in the same direction collided with him causing a severe crash which resulted in Jun’s tragic and sudden death.
Upon receiving the news of Jun’s death, shock and inconsolability reverberated in the hearts of his immediate family and soon in the hearts of his friends, coworkers and others who knew him.
I first learned of Jun’s death from his sister Fancy not long after the accident occurred. Fancy and I attend the same church and we are both members of the Legion of Mary at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Vancouver, BC which is also where Jun’s funeral Mass was held.
Forty days after Jun’s passing, a celebration of his life was also held at Blessed Sacrament Parish. On that same day, our Legion of Mary praesidium (group) happened to be having its weekly meeting in the basement of the church. When the meeting ended, Fancy invited us all to join in on the celebration of Jun’s life that was taking place next door. When we arrived at the event and before occupying some vacant seats at the back of the room, we were all encouraged to get a plate of food from the catered buffet.
While we were eating and talking, we were introduced by Fancy to Jun’s wife, Susan. She was putting on a brave face, even smiling when a photo from the slide show of Jun caught her attention on the big screen at the front of the room. I felt privileged to be part of such an intimate and beautiful event. Before leaving, I expressed my condolences to Susan and said that I would pray for Jun, for her and for their daughter.
About a month later, at one of our Sunday legionary meetings, I noticed that Fancy wasn’t her usual self. We were often the first two to gather downstairs so while we were alone, I asked her what was wrong. There was a long pause and with a pensive look she then asked if we could talk about it after the meeting.
During our talk, I learned from Fancy that her sister Socorro had borrowed money several years ago against the family home where Socorro had lived since the ‘80s when her parents originally purchased the property. Fancy explained that, unfortunately, there was a point in time where Socorro, for several reasons, was unable to keep up the mortgage payments on the home and consequently the home ended up in foreclosure. In order to keep the home, a solution that everyone agreed to at the time, was to have the property transferred to her brother Jun who did have the means to qualify for a mortgage needed to refinance the property.
When the mortgage was secured in Jun’s name back in 2010, Socorro continued to pay the mortgage payments along with all of the other household bills as she was the beneficial owner of the property – a fact that was never disputed by any of the family members, including Susan. Now comes the tricky part for a family, that with Jun’s death, had already endured a devastating tragedy. When Jun died it was discovered that there was no trust agreement drawn up at the time of the property transfer legally declaring that the beneficial ownership of the property would remain with Socorro. To add to the travails of this grief-filled process, Jun had not updated his will since 2001, so the house in which Socorro lived, became the property of Jun’s estate leaving Jun’s wife Susan in control of the house as she was the Executor of his estate.
After all of this was explained to me, in addition to her grief at the loss of her brother, I realized Fancy was also experiencing the terrible strain and worry created by the uncertainty of what might happen to the family home. The tension and emotional fallout was palpable and many questions started to come up like, where would Socorro live? What could she afford to purchase? Would she qualify for a mortgage? I asked Fancy if she or any of her other siblings would be able to co-sign a mortgage with Socorro in the event the house was sold but the answer was no because they all had mortgages of their own.
Following our lengthy discussion, I told Fancy that I might be able to help her tackle the intricacies of this crisis and find a remedy. I was honest with her because for me, it wasn’t a question of whether or not I could help her and her sister, but rather, did I have the bandwidth to do it, given the time requirements and complexity of the undertaking.
In the days that followed, I prayed fervently and, in my prayers, I asked the Holy Spirit to guide me and help me discern if it was God’s will for me to help Fancy and her sister.
After this period of contemplative prayer, I made a decision. I called Fancy prior to our weekly Legion of Mary meeting at the church that Sunday and I told her I would help her. She was overjoyed and I could hear the relief in her voice. After thanking me profusely, Fancy also told me that when I called, she had just finished a 54-day Rosary Novena to Our Lady of Pompeii in which her main prayer petition was for someone to help her with this complex family matter.
For reference and to understand the providence of the moment described above, a small deviation from the narrative is required in order to explain what a novena is.
The word novena is derived from the Latin word novem, meaning nine but in practice is a spiritual devotion consisting of the recitation of a set of prayers that are prayed over 9 consecutive days to obtain special graces, favours or to prepare for a liturgical feast.
The 54-day Rosary Novena to Our Lady of Pompeii, however, is a much more elaborate novena because it consists of saying fifteen decades of the Rosary every day for 27 days in petition; then saying fifteen decades every day for 27 days in thanksgiving, whether or not the request prayed for has been granted.
Meditations vary on each of the 54 days and a special format of prayers for each of the Rosary mysteries is also recited. What’s more is that when each Hail Mary prayer is said, it is looked upon as a rare and beautiful rose presented at Mary’s feet. These spiritual roses, bound in a wreath with Spiritual Communions, are most pleasing and acceptable gifts to Mary and bring special graces down upon the person reciting the 54-day novena prayers.
A picture of Our Lady of Pompeii is shown to the left. Accompanying her is St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Sienna. To learn more, go here.
Back to the story. Now that I had volunteered to help Fancy and her sister Socorro, I turned my attention to the main goal which was to help Socorro keep her home.
As previously mentioned, Susan, Jun’s wife, was the Executor of her husband’s will. As the Executor, she was willing to apply for probate and assist with the transfer of the property to Socorro barring she herself, was indemnified for all costs pertaining to the process. The first order of business, therefore, was for us to investigate and review strategies that would allow Socorro to stay in her home, while at the same time, meeting the conditions set out by Susan.
Given Susan had already consulted a lawyer, it made sense for Socorro to do the same. Beforehand, however, we wanted to explore two recommendations made by the Chartered Accountants who were previously consulted on the file and asked to provide advice.
The first option was to report Jun’s estate tax as if Socorro was the beneficial owner of the property and have the estate apply for a clearance certificate with CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) directly. This path was suggested by the accountants because all parties agreed that the property beneficially belonged to Socorro and that once the clearance certificate was obtained, the tax risk to the estate would no longer exist. There was a risk, however, that CRA might ask for proof of a bare trust agreement between Socorro and Jun which, although not legally required, was not established between them.
The second option was to go to court and hope that the judge would provide a form of order that Socorro was the beneficial owner of the property. There was some risk, however, that the judge might immediately realize that the primary purpose of the order was to get a tax result and then advise that the issue would be more properly dealt with by the Tax Court.
Given the strength of the facts (and that everyone agreed the property and its associated liabilities were Socorro’s), the agreed path forward was to deal directly with the CRA which is what we attempted to do.
Unfortunately, the Executor’s lawyer advised Susan against providing us with the list of assets. The list was the only outstanding item that our CPA needed to complete the application for a clearance certificate from the CRA.
This refusal to provide the asset list brought the process to a grinding halt. It was a real blow to the team and to the significant progress already made. We had to face facts however and given the situation, we quickly realized that there was no other option but to go back to the drawing board, despite the time and money already invested to get us this far.
As part of the new plan, and to help us deal with the impasse, we were put in touch with a Wills, Trusts & Estates lawyer to represent Socorro. After we met with her, things progressed smoothy and we soon received confirmation that Susan’s lawyer was going to draft the probate application materials and forward them to Socorro’s lawyer for her review prior to submission. While we waited patiently, we suffered another setback. We received word that the lawyer we were working with was leaving the firm. Socorro’s file, was therefore, transferred to another lawyer. He had extensive experience with estate matters but he wasn’t the right fit for us so we asked if the partner who was involved on the periphery, could represent Socorro. He agreed and it was a good fit for all.
In a parallel process, behind the scenes, we were also working with a Mortgage Broker whose patience and expertise were most welcome. He was sympathetic to Socorro’s situation and made recommendations designed to help her increase her credit rating and in doing so, significantly improve her chances to independently qualify for a mortgage. With this guidance, I took the opportunity to negotiate a reduced amount of debt to be paid to one of Socorro’s creditors. When the debt was settled, we watched her credit score rise.
At this point in the process, even with the little wins along the way, we felt defeated and drained. Not only had we already faced many obstacles, but during this time Covid 19 was officially declared a pandemic and many of the people we were working with to help advance Socorro’s cause came down with Covid. This of course was worrying in and of itself but when coupled with the provincial health restrictions put in place, our progress was stifled. It seemed like everything was against us.
For me personally, I knew there was only one thing that could lift me up. It was prayer. Following in the footsteps of Fancy, I prayed the 54-day Rosary Novena to Our Lady of Pompeii. I prayed with all my heart. I knew that I must let go and trust that God had everything in hand.
Faith was certainly required at this stage because on the face of it, despite the appearance of things moving forward, new terms were added by Susan’s lawyer to an Indemnification Agreement (IA) that was mutually agreed to previously. Apparently, it was not enough that Socorro had already agreed to indemnify and save harmless the Executor of Jun’s estate for any claim that was made against the Estate by the CRA for any capital gains taxes, income taxes, fines or penalties that could arise as a result of his ownership of the property. Instead, the revised IA included stipulated that Socorro also provide a collateral mortgage to secure her obligation under the IA. She rejected the revised IA and agreed instead, that the best course of action was for her lawyer to prepare a court application for a hearing in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. When filed, the application would seek a court order which if awarded by the judge, would transfer the property from Jun’s estate to Socorro directly.
The events and administrative tasks that led up to Socorro’s day in court were numerous. To maximize her chances to win in court, Socorro’s legal team strategically prepared for all the different ways the hearing could go. The fear was that the judge might seize on one unexplained aspect of the case, resulting in a postponement past the current mortgage expiration date which would give rise to even more problems.
Thankfully, and after so much work, when we did have our day in court, it ended successfully for Socorro. At the hearing, beneficial ownership of the property was established through a vesting order. Certain provisions had to be met, but Socorro would be able to keep her house.
Outside this process, she also got mortgage approval a few days before the existing mortgage in her brother’s name was about to expire.
My prayers were answered!
When I called Fancy to tell her that we were successful in court, we were both moved to tears. We gave such thanks to God and to Mother Mary for her intercession. We marveled at how a situation borne from such tragedy could be turned into one filled with such hope and love. We acknowledged that even the delays we suffered were part of God’s plan. Others too, who were involved in the case, recognized that many inexplicable happenings were more than just a coincidence. From a faith perspective, such occurrences were due to the dispensation of the special graces that I spoke about earlier.
One year after all matters surrounding this case had concluded, I wrote an email to Fancy and share part of it below as a means of spiritual inspiration.
“Fancy, your unfailing faith lifted my heart and inspired me to pray the 54-day Rosary Novena to Our Lady of Pompeii. Because of Our Lady’s intercession, our prayers were answered. This is something I shall never forget. I look back at the miraculous string of events that occurred – there are too many to count. We have so much to be thankful for. God knows what we need when we need it. Our faith is our strength. My heart is full of love and joy and peace. Thanks be to God and thanks to Our Lady of Pompeii for her intercession. She brought us together and is with us always.”
5. OUTCOMES:
Most notably Socorro was legally deemed beneficial owner of her home. No less important is the degree to which both sides of the family were brought closer together. What could have amounted to conflict within the family resulted in positive outcomes.
This was not an easy case. It was complex and taxing in every regard. It involved several parties working together including chartered professional accountants, lawyers, business consultants, mortgage brokers, and bankers. Most people would have given up. We did not. We saw this challenge through to the end.
For those who donated their time, thank you! May God bless you abundantly for your generosity, patience, and compassion.
This case exemplifies that truly with faith, kindness and love, all things are possible.
6. QUOTE
“This is my heaviest burden on my shoulders at this very difficult time. I’m praying everyday that God will hear my prayers and answer me.” Fancy.
7. PSALM-PRAYER:
God our Father, great builder of the heavenly Jerusalem, you know the number of the stars and call each of them by name. Heal hearts that are broken, gather together those who have been scattered, and enrich us all from the plenitude of your eternal wisdom.