COMING TO LOWELL: Group helps steer needy to better lives

Nov 03, 2008 (The Sun - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- FNM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Lynn Rothemich pieced her life back together one part at a time. Living at a sober house for women in Vermont, commuting to work on her bicycle, she saw a flier for Bonnie Car Loans And Counseling.

"It's beautiful up here, but the ride gets pretty old in March in the rain and snow," Rothemich says by phone from White River Junction, Vt.

Once she got her own apartment, she called Bonnie CLAC. She got a consultant, found financial literacy, repaired her credit. She got a temporary "bridge" car.

Rothemich says she found her comfort zone, and her financial rhythm, thanks to Bonnie CLAC.

On the road to buying a car, some Bonnie CLAC clients learn how to spend for life.

As the New Hampshire-based nonprofit -- which has nine offices in the Granite State -- prepares to open its first out-of-state branch in Lowell, Bonnie CLAC officials tout the program's ability to put low- and moderate-income customers into the driver's seat of fuel-efficient cars even in the toughest of economic times.

The car may be the goal, says Bonnie CLAC CEO Terri Steingrebe, but financial fitness is the key that turns the engine.

The group's office at 144 Merrimack St. isn't yet open, but it's taking calls from local clients.

Since forming in 2001, Bonnie CLAC has helped more than 1,000 clients reach the goal of car ownership. Not for free and not without commitment.

Though it was formed in the spirit of Fannie Mae (even the name was similar) Bonnie CLAC

officials distance themselves from the failed mortgage lender.

"We're a small nonprofit, not a government-backed organization," says Steingrebe. "They got off track. They started to believe they could put everyone in a home, no matter what kind of money they earned, or their financial skills. And then greed took over. We don't do this for people who can't afford it. It's for people who really want to work to change and get their dream through education and financial training."

About 25 percent of those who place a first call end up enrolled in the program. The organization charges a $65 sign-up fee and an $800 consulting fee, which are rolled into car loans.

Once clients prove they are able to become car owners, Bonnie CLAC negotiates car price and warranty with dealers, then guarantees the loans with interest rates as low as 5.2 percent.

Some customers are looking for relief from junkers that keep them off the road, in the red and out of work. Some need temporary transportation solutions.

Robert Chambers and a partner formed the company in 2001 after working for a car dealer. He saw buyers ushered into loans they could not afford.

"He saw people taken advantage of and he did something about it," says Steingrebe.

This is how it works:

A client calls the toll-free number, and a Bonnie CLAC representative does a 15-minute "intake" report. Are they eligible? Do they have enough disposable income?

At a one-on-one meeting with a consultant, they map out the client's best route to buying a car. Once clients enroll, they must get a copy of their credit report.

Four out of five Bonnie CLAC clients take the program's financial fitness class, which meets for 10 hours over five weeks and supplies many "light bulb" moments.

"We help people understand how to better budget. People examine every penny that comes in and how they spend it," says Steingrebe.

The course is "all-encompassing," including shopping and healthy lifestyle tips. Some never learned finance basics, she says. "It can be a total shock and surprise."

Some opt for a temporary "bridge" car. Clients register bridge cars in their name, pay for insurance and repairs, inspections and pay $250 a month to use the cars. Such temporary ownership "gives them a feel for ownership and taking care of the car," says Steingrebe.

About 70 percent of clients opt for new cars. But new or used, Bonnie CLAC negotiates prices and warranties with dealers, then guarantees loans.

"They see our clients as people they usually wouldn't see, people who would buy from a buy-here, pay-here dealer by the side of the road," says Steingrebe.

She says the rates Bonnie CLAC's negotiates are much less than subprime loans, and that fewer than 5 percent of clients have defaulted on loans. "If they do, they're going to make it harder for the next person and they don't want to do that."

Rothemich contacted the organization in July 2007, had a "bridge car" for six months before buying her own car three weeks ago -- a 2005 Honda Accord with 64,000 miles on it.

The bridge car allowed her to find a new job 30 miles from home, in social work, the field she worked in before alcohol abuse sidetracked her life.

She found "my own comfort level. I was paying $250 a month for the bridge car and $60 insurance, and I said, I'm at my comfort level now, I don't want to step beyond that. There was no pressure. It was about what fit me."

Bonnie CLAC is seeking donated cars for its bridge program. Donors can take the vehicle's fair-market value as a tax deduction, says the group. The agency's toll-free number is (866) 455-2522.

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