Dignity, Respect for All a Family Legacy for Mo Contreras, MCU’s Bilingual Mortgage Rep

Mo with friends

Meet Mo. Mo works on the Marine team as a bilingual mortgage representative. He is an ITIN Certified Lender, which means he is uniquely qualified to help people with Individual Tax Identification Numbers (ITINs) become homeowners. Since joining Marine Credit Union in 2017, he has helped countless people advance their lives by fulfilling their dreams of homeownership. This is Mo’s Marine Credit Union Story.

Hey Mo! So to kick things off, how do you describe what you do at Marine?

We specialize in helping people that other financials can’t by offering a caring, creative and flexible approach, but most importantly, by getting to know the person behind the credit score and learn their story. My goal is to find a solution to the problem and set them on a path of financial success.

Do you have a favorite story of someone you’ve helped?

There was a member named Matthew. I opened a consumer loan for him in 2018. At the time, his credit score was 498. I fought for the loan to be approved and built the credit piece with non-traditional tradelines. He had been in a recorded land contract since 2015 and reached out to me last fall asking if there was any way we could help him to refinance out of the land contract.

His credit score had improved to 556, but with so many collections, there was no way he would ever qualify for a secondary loan. Based on his payment history and relationship with us, I was able to get him approved, pay off all his …. and get him money to do updates on the property.

He never thought the day would come that he could truly call himself a homeowner and that his credit would be completely cleaned up. The plan is to take another look in a year to refinance into a better rate and look to clean up his long-time girlfriend’s credit with the equity of the home.

Wow, that’s a great story – and it sounds like it’s only the beginning. Besides stories like that, what motivates you each day?

It sounds really cliché, but it’s making that phone call and telling someone, “I got you approved.” The ability to help people and make such a positive impact in their lives is what drives me to go to work every day and grind away. I am blessed to have found a career that I adore that allows me to change people’s lives. I can truly say that I love my job.

Let’s go a bit deeper. What person or experience has made the greatest impact on your life?

My parents. They taught me the morals and values that make me the person I am today. The importance of hard work, honest, but most importantly, to be a decent human being and treat others with dignity and respect, no matter what.

They sound like amazing people. Last question, and we’ll stay inward with this one. What’s special about you?

My every day revolves around food and making sure I eat every five hours – that’s what my friends and co-workers would say.

On a more serious note, it would have to be the ability to connect with people regardless of their age or background. I can have a blast with six-year-old kids at Chuck ‘E Cheese and then turn around and have an in-depth conversation about life with an older person. I have a really good ability to adapt to any environment and people who surround me, without having to pretend to be someone I am not. It’s definitely been instrumental in my career with Marine, because I’m able to connect with people on a personal level, where they don’t see me as some corporate person.

We want to thank Mo for sharing his Marine Credit Union story and advancing people’s lives every day. You rock, Mo!

To learn more about what we do at Marine, click below:

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