Public Employee Press

"I felt I could trust the process"


LOCAL 372 COMMUNITY Associate Susana Tam recently purchased a home in College Point, Queens, through the Municipal Employees Housing Program.

"I learned about the housing program through PEP, the union newspaper. I read the housing stories and said to my husband, ‘Maybe the union can help us.'"

Tam spent years looking for a house but found nothing.

"The delay allowed me to save more money," she said. "I'm Chinese, saving money is part of our culture. I am not rich and I'm not young anymore, but it has always been my dream to own my own home."

An inspection of one house they liked revealed foundation problems. Tam said, "The price was right, neighborhood was right, but we had no extra money to fix a foundation."

Tam attended several housing fairs and seminars at the union hall before eventually purchasing a three-bedroom College Point home.

"Al Pico from Wells Fargo bank helped guide me through the entire process. We used the free MELS service; our lawyer, Regina Herring, really fought for us at the closing. The union saved us legal fees," she said.

Tam went from renting a cramped apartment in a three-family walkup to owning a home with room for her family of five to spread out. "I put my three children through college," Tam said. "Even though they have decent jobs, they still cannot afford rents in New York - things are so expensive, so we stay together."

"Members should take advantage of their DC 37 benefits," Tam said. "Since it was through the union, I felt I could trust the bank and the lawyers, the whole process."

DC 37 will hold an affordable housing seminar on Sept 22 at 5:30 p.m. at its lower Manhattan headquarters.