Help Gary, Disabled Vet, Fix His Home

Hello! My name is Kimberly, the proud daughter of Gary Whitehead. We reside in Fresno, CA. My father is a 81 year old disabled Vietnam veteran, a cancer survivor, and was a first time home owner at the young age of 77 years. This request is a result of that homeownership and the headaches and issues that come a long with it. My father was able to obtain a VA loan to purchase the home and was in the midst of refinancing that loan with a VA refinance loan. He was attempting to refinance in order to get some upgraded windows in hopes of lowering his outrageous PG&E bills and to consolidate his debt.

As part of the refinance process the lender requires an appraisal per VA guidelines and to our surprise that unwrapped some major issues that we have to fix prior to obtaining the loan. The most urgent and most costly issue is the leaking and broken sewage lines underneath the house. They stated that there is about 20 feet of pipe that needs to be replaced. The estimate is about $6,800, but that does not include the cost of the clean up and drying process in order for the repair to pass the appraisers follow-up "exam". In addition, they found rodent droppings in the water heater closet, curling and chipping paint in multiple areas, dry rot and eaves that need to be replaced, some electrical work that is needed, among a few other smaller items.

My concern is the backward way we are having to go about utilizing the equity in the home to do any upgrades, let alone complete all of the repairs we recently were made aware of. We can not access the equity until it passes the appraisal inspection, however we can not get the repairs done to pass the inspection without being able to access the equity. My dad does not have great credit and was unable to qualify for the financing options the plumbing company offered, or other regular funding options through his bank. He has had to take on extra credit card debt since buying the home due to previous repairs that were needed, not to mention taking care of his current wife, ex-wife (my mother), my sister and her son (my dad's grandson) all living in his home. In addition, he is taking care of seven dogs due to all the shelters being full in town, as well as three cats. He is so generous and loving and always wants to make sure everyone around him is taken care of, however that has not left him much of any leftover money for these unexpected repairs. He has tried reaching out to the VA to see if they have any available programs to help, but no one will return his call and he has left several messages. He makes too much to qualify for other senior repair programs in the area and unfortunately I am currently out on leave for a workman's comp injury so I am not of much help. I know times are tough for most everyone and living in this state makes it difficult to stay afloat most days, but if there is anything that you are able to give to help my dad out, we would all be extremely thankful. I will continue to search and look for other funding options, so even suggestions are helpful if you know of anything, but since this is a health and safety matter I am hopeful something will come along soon.

Thank you!!