#DECOM stands for Decentralized Common Sense. What exactly do we mean by that? Traditional mortgage financing employs a whole set of rules or guidelines that in the mortgage industry are referred to as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac guidelines or Agency guidelines. These guidelines are designed to protect the respective agencies that are purchasing loans. In addition there are other regulatory guidelines that penalize institutions for not having “overlays”, which means if a lending institution is not being more strict than the Agency guidelines they may have to pay severe penalties including losing their lending licenses. This of course does not bode well for many consumers as they are not able to meet these strict requirements which often leads to predatory opportunists that offer very expensive rent to own programs that appeal to the home ownership goals of a consumer.
This is where #DECOM enters the picture. As an example lets suppose that a consumer is paying $1500 a month in rent for a 3 bedroom apartment and has been for the past 2 years, a new home purchase would reduce his payment to $1350, however he does not make enough income to meet the Agency DTI ratio (Debt to Income) so he needs to continue to rent for $1500 a month and build zero equity. Clearly though he can afford the payment and has demonstrated that he can make that payment, and any Landlord would be happy to have him as a Tenant. This consumer is stuck in an endless cycle of remaining a Tenant with no hope of becoming a homeowner and securing his part of the American Dream. So using our philosophy of Decentralized Common Sense (#DECOM), we would be able to offer an affordable rent to own program, saving this customer $150 a month in rent payments, allowing them to acquire a home, whether it’s a single family home with a yard or a Condo with no maintenance. And they would be able to choose participation in the appreciation of the real estate or the appreciation of the IJA token which is given to them as a grant to help them subsidize their rent payment. The IJA token is a utility token that can be traded for such things as a Tesla Solar roof or a Kitchen remodel, etc. or can be sold on the open market as the Tenant wishes and whatever the Tenant decided to do with their IJA token does not affect their purchase of the property.