Unusual ministry aims to

share Christ while helping

people save $$$

By ANN STAATZ
    The white Chevy Trailblazer’s passenger window was smashed. On a chilly morning last January, George Haskin stood outside his house surveying the shattered glass inside his SUV — and the rock that had caused the damage. Scrawled in a dirty side window were the words: “Stop stealing my money.” He felt angry but not surprised.
    For weeks, Haskin, also known as the Mortgage Police, had been receiving anonymous calls from angry mortgage brokers who accused him of “taking their money” and meddling with their clients. Since 2007, Haskin has assisted more than 350 people with their mortgage paperwork, checking for such things as hidden costs, missing data, prepayment penalties, and inflated interest rates.
    Brokers typically lose $4,000 to $8,000 as a result of Haskin poring over a client’s loan paperwork. The average client saves at least $3,000 by using his service, he said.
    Haskin does the work as a ministry ... for free. At his own expense, he has driven to help people living as far away as Eugene and Gearhart in Oregon and Cougar, Wash. He said the most “payment” anyone has ever offered him was a cup of coffee. Most often, though, he buys coffee for the client. His wife, Paula, often accompanies him when he has coffee with clients.
    To support himself and his wife (their three children are grown), Haskin runs his own advertising agency, George Howard Media, Inc.
    Haskin, a former nursing home chaplain, said he also has a heart for senior citizens. Every month, he drives to Molalla to help an older blind man pay his bills. He is developing a web site, atwn.net, to help seniors in Oregon and Washington find affordable, appropriate housing in assisted living and independent living facilities.
    He also said he has a heart for men with sexual addictions. In July, Haskin completed a weeklong training course in Genesis Process counseling that helps people recovering from addictions avoid relapses. He is starting a group for recovering men at his church, Hillside Christian Fellowship in Clackamas.
    This summer, he will become the host of a one-hour call-in show on Salem’s Christian radio station, KPJC 1220 AM. He will answer callers’ questions about the Bible and about the Christian life.
    Haskin attended Multnomah Bible College for a year in the early 1980s. Severely dyslexic, he didn’t learn to read until he was 21. But his quick memory helped him learn Greek at the college and recently complete the 20-hour training the state requires for an individual to become a mortgage broker.
    Haskin is not a broker; he took the training to prepare for the Mortgage Police ministry. He said his web site, mortgagepolice.net, is unaffiliated with Mortgagepolice.com — a group of brokers, “I don’t do mortgages,” he said. “I’m an adviser.” He spends seven to eight hours a week helping clients.
    Although Haskin takes great pleasure in helping people save money on their mortgages, the opportunities for sharing Christ as he meets people is one of the ministry aspects he values most. He always carries his Bible with him. Sometimes he prays with clients on the phone.
    Haskin is in the process of applying for 501c3 non-profit status from the Internal Revenue Service for the Mortgage Police. Once he receives his non-profit number, he can receive donations to support the ministry. In the past, donors have paid for Mortgage Police expenses such as advertising on KPDQ radio rather than giving money directly to the ministry. He also is on track for receiving a government grant that U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith is spearheading.
    The Mortgage Police ministry resulted from a need … people don’t understand their mortgages, he said. Brokers often add 1 percent onto the qualifying interest rate, lining their own pockets with $4,000 or more, he said. He makes sure clients know what interest rate they qualify for, insisting that mortgage brokers give their clients paperwork from the lender. He checks for hidden closing costs. One woman told him she was paying $3,700 in closing costs. After checking her paperwork, he found an additional $6,100 in closing costs.
    Lynn Burgess, a Christian psychologist, was in the process of buying a home in June. As she looked over her loan paperwork from a large bank, she said she felt misgivings. She was unfamiliar with the mortgage lingo, she said, and her husband was out of town and couldn’t help her.
    She remembered hearing Haskin’s ad on KPDQ and phoned him. After studying her paperwork, Haskin confronted the loan officer, pointing out that in spite of Burgess’ good credit, the bank was charging her 1 percent more than was necessary on her loan. Burgess said she saved $4,700 because of Haskin’s intervention and used the savings to air condition her new house.
    James McCusker and his wife, Christina, asked Haskin to review their paperwork before they bought their house. McCusker said Haskin didn’t save them any money, but they had peace of mind because Haskin found no discrepancies or hidden costs in their loan paperwork. He clarified mortgage terminology and answered the couple’s questions. “He said I got a good deal,” McCusker said.
    Haskin has developed a “preferred broker” list of mortgage brokers who subscribe to stringent ethics and practices he has outlined. He’s trained two other men to assist in the ministry: Carlos Manzano, who speaks Spanish, helps Hispanics with their mortgages. Robbe Hardnette, an African-American, is focusing on Portland’s black community.
    Haskin created a 15-minute Powerpoint presentation for churches about mortgages, but so far no one has taken him up on it. He said the church personnel he has contacted have said that the brokers attending their churches might not appreciate Haskin’s presentation.
    Haskin said he would like to see the Mortgage Police become a full-time job. He would like to have a building where Mortgage Police personnel could answer phone questions. He would like to expand into Seattle and eventually go nationwide. Also, he would like to teach seminars about mortgages.
   “I want people to make an informed decision on their mortgage,” he said, “because we’re talking about 30 years.”
    The Mortgage Police web site is www.mortgagepolice.net. Phone is 503-309-8331.

Writer Ann Staatz teaches journalism at Multnomah University in Portland.

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