Javier: Striking Gold by Building Credit
An entrepreneur finds the secret to lifting up his business
Javier began his entrepreneurial career in the United States with a carpet business. Now, as a licensed contractor, he renovates old rental properties to manage or resell. After spending nearly a year working on the first property he bought, when he sold it at a profit, he was thrilled. He had found his American Dream. Javier thought that “flipping houses” was going to be his most lucrative business strategy yet. But when the market took a turn for the worst, he borrowed as much as he could from friends and family to pay his mortgages, but ultimately lost two of his properties and filed for bankruptcy.
Javier suddenly found himself at the bottom of a hole that banks and lawyers couldn’t help him get out of.
He opened one credit card before but after losing his properties, his score plummeted. He tried to apply for loans but the banks wouldn’t touch him. Not having credit was particularly difficult for Javier because it meant he couldn’t even rent tools from Home Depot.
Javier wasn’t sure what to do next. He had heard of Lending Circles and was familiar with the concept from growing up in Mexico. His mom would participate in tandas very often and buy things for him and his five brothers and sisters. Now as a father of three and the only source of income, it was critical for Javier to pay off his debt and take care of his own family. He decided to join a Lending Circle to build up his credit and learn more about financial management.
“Cash is good to buy, but credit makes it easy in the United States. Credit is gold. You don’t have credit, you don’t have anything,” Javier says.
With three years left in his bankruptcy program, Javier balances running his remaining properties and construction business and paying off his debt.
After finishing his Lending Circle, Javier now has a repaired credit score, which makes him more confident about going to banks and applying for credit cards. He is happy he has taken the first step towards improving his financial health and changing his life. Javier was even featured in a video for MAF’s 2014 Community Leadership Award, where he shared his story and how proud his family is for what he’s accomplished.
After working so hard, his goal is to take his family on a well-deserved vacation to Puerto Vallarta and Cancun to celebrate overcoming a difficult challenge and looking positively towards the future.