Top Mortgage Loan Officer Turns the American Dream into a Reality for Hispanic Immigrants

By: Mauren Silie

Natalya Chacon, the top-ranking mortgage loan officer at Freedom Mortgage shares her story on the obstacles it took to become one of the most experienced professionals in her field. Chacon was born in the Dominican Republic. After college, she got married and had a daughter. She explains, “As time passed, I realized that no matter how much I loved my country I couldn’t have progressed as much as I would in the United States.” With a two-year-old daughter in tow, They made the arduous trek from her home country to New York, where many Dominicans reside.

“When I first moved to New York, I worked three waitressing jobs without knowing a hint of English just to keep my daughter and me at feet”, she explains as she feeds her dog Oreo over the zoom meeting. Ten years later, Mrs. Chacon has closed over twenty million house units and has ranked number one at Freedom Mortgage Company. “The hardest thing about moving to a new country was the language, not just the words, but the language of people as well”, she emphasizes. Through the foundation of her waitressing jobs, Chacon started to understand the American culture. In the Dominican Republic, the culture is very open and joyous where in the United States Chacon found people to be much colder.

“The American culture is so different from any other cultures I have gotten to know; from Europeans to South Americans, many people can agree that it’s hard to get used to”, Chacon responds. When asked if she would ever return to the Dominican Republic, Chacon says, “I have built so much here so I would not move back, but I always visit.”

After waitressing for eight years, Chacon decided she wanted to leave fast-paced New York for a much calmer Georgia. She began working at JP Morgan Chase as a teller and that’s where all her dreams started. “After I became pregnant with my second child, I finally felt like I conquered the English language. I decided to work at Chase bank and through five years I got promoted as a loan officer.” A loan officer meets with loan candidates who are seeking a new home or property. They analyze and verify credentials and applications to approve the house loan. Chacon’s clients are targeted in the Hispanic community. There is a very large Latino community in Georgia that doesn’t speak English. She focuses on helping Latinos get their dream home by explaining and cultivating all the different processes.

“It makes me feel so proud that my job consists of making others’ dreams come true. I know how hard it is to want a home and not being able to understand the logistics”, she explains. Chacon currently lives in her dream home with her family in Marietta, Georgia. She’s now handling business in Miami, Florida as well. Her success was in her determination to achieve her dreams and start a family. It’s possible for any immigrant woman to achieve their goals. It may take resilience and patience, but Natalya Chacon is evidence of success.