Education

Gift of Home

In the midst of Covid 19, Envoy Mortgage decided to ‘gift’ 50 homeowners across the U.S. with up to $150,000 in mortgage payments assistance including tax.

It’s not often that you hear “good” news coming from home-lending companies. Yet, that’s just what’s coming out of Houston-based Envoy Mortgage these days.

Envoy Mortgage’s Gift of Home program is gifting 50 homeowners across the U.S. up to $150,000 in mortgage assistance including tax as part of its novel program. The motivation? To show gratitude for its customers during a challenging time.

“To say the coronavirus pandemic has made life difficult for many people across the country is an understatement. We had to do something to help lift people up. It’s just part of the Envoy DNA,” says Ron Millard, the chief executive officer of Envoy Mortgage.

“We understand the important role and positive impact a home plays in a person’s life – it’s truly a gift. We feel blessed to be able to offer this gift to our customers, and I can’t wait for us to deliver more surprise moments in the markets we serve across the country.”

Through June 2021, Envoy will select 50 of its customers from across the country to receive at least one month’s mortgage payment and tax assistance. Customers who receive the gift play essential roles in their communities and have been some of the hardest hit during the coronavirus pandemic, including military veterans, first responders, nurses, educators and small business owners and their employees. From there, Gift-of-Home recipients are chosen through a lottery system.

Orlando Gutierrez, Envoy Mortgage regional vice president

“The mortgage industry is perceived as as bad guys, but that is not the case for Envoy Mortgage; we are all individuals who work for a great company, care for our customers and communities” says Orlando Gutierrez, an Envoy Mortgage regional vice president who is based in Monterey County. “I’m honored to work for Envoy and we believe in our mission because buying a home is one of the biggest financial commitments and to be part of this special program is amazing.”

The program officially launched in Envoy Mortgage’s hometown of Houston, where the company surprised Josué Rios, a firefighter who contracted COVID-19 while working on the frontlines with the Gift of Home. Envoy Mortgage is making all of Mr. Rios’ mortgage payments, January through December 2021.

“2020 was a challenging year, not only for my family, but also for so many others in our community. I’m overwhelmed and so grateful to be receiving the Gift of Home from Envoy Mortgage,” Rios says. “This is life changing and means the world to me and my family.”

Mortgage companies do well when rates drop and the Gift of Home initiative is a way of giving back to our customers and communities.

“We live in the neighborhoods we serve,” Gutierrez says. “We are embedded in them.”

Envoy isn’t a company that just offers loan products, he insists. That’s one reasons the company has 125 brick-and-mortar offices across the country.

“Envoy Mortgage has branches in Northern and Southern California, as well as Central Coast and Central Valley. We are in Walnut Creek, Sacramento, Fresno, Morro Bay, Glendale, Salinas, among fourteen more and growing locations in California….and in all of these communities our customers can walk into the office and shake hands with a lender and talk about finances,” he says. “It’s very different from working with an online lender.”

Gutierrez explains how much he values being able to meet face-to-face with his tax advisor and choose his own produce at the local farmer’s market.

“I feel the same way about financial and mortgage advice, I want to know the person I’m working with,” he says.

Gift of Home isn’t Envoy’s only community-building effort, either. Shortly after he joined Envoy 16 months ago, Gutierrez attended a corporate conference where he found himself building bikes for a local boys and girls club.

“Then we gifted the bikes and watched 12 kids ride off on their new bikes,” he says, clearly so proud to be part of the broader Envoy team.

“This program is important because it lifts others and it comes from the heart,” Gutierrez concludes. “Gift of Home has been so well received it will likely extend into the fall and then become an annual initiative.”

Visit https://www.envoymortgage.com for more information.

Dana Sullivan Kilroy, Staff Writer, California Business Journal

Dana Sullivan Kilroy has written for such prestigious publications as Fast Company, The New York Times, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, O/The Oprah Magazine, ESPN and The Wall Street Journal. A graduate of UCLA with a degree in English Literature, Dana also works with the Nevada Museum of Art and the Reno Philharmonic on social media strategies. She is also a Director The Ferraro Group.