Faces Of Foreclosure

More than 200 families are working with Families Fighting Foreclosure to save their homes in Marin County, California. The sponsoring Group Marin Family Action has just been featured in the beginning of a series from Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper, the Pt. Reyes Light.

The Penguin Guide To The United States Constitution: A Fully Annotated Declaration Of Independence U.S. Constitution And Amendments And Selections From The Federalist Papers

One of the strengths of the group is “The Buddy System.” No one goes to court alone when facing opposition from attorneys, lenders, and courtrooms. The group has been shocked at all turns by how sloppy and/or lazy some judges run their courtrooms.

The latest story is of a woman whose husband took out a second on their house without her knowledge. He died shortly thereafter, leaving her confused and about to lose her home from foreclosure. She tried repeatedly to find out what happened, to no avail.

This writer — who has been battling to save her home for 18 months — was in court during one of these legal proceedings (and thinks “illegal proceedings” might be a more appropriate term). The judge pronounced from the bench that “The file is incomplete. I have not reviewed it.” And “It is what it is.” That judge either opened the door for mis-trial, which happened in a round-about way, or she was performing her civic duties in a sloppy manner. It was an appalling view of justice; in fact no justice was going to happen that day if it stayed in the hands of the judge and opposing counsul.

Earlier during the day, that judge told the distressed homeowner that she should prepare to move. She was ready to throw her out of her home of 17 years without knowing any facts and without caring about the facts.

This is being written two weeks after that dreadful Day in Court, and it looks like it is going to have an amazingly happy ending. We’re not at liberty to say yet and the point of this is that you have to be willing to fight or “They” will run over you.

The story about families fighting foreclosure.

If you are here, you may need to Repair Your Credit. If you do not want to take on yet another battle and you are in Marin County, please contact Marin Family Action, a non profit which has been working with housing, financial literacy and credit issues since 1997. If you are not in their area, consider Lexington Law Credit Repair

Editor’s Note: I just received the following . . . Here is the timeline of the ongoing saga of one person’s attempt to be responsible AND keep the family home. It is so close to my own situation, that I decided to publish it (with permission).

The Foreclosure Secrets Guide. I apologize going into this because the link takes you to one of those ugly pitch pages AND because I think this PDF publication is overpriced at $197 (or $67 through mid-November). However, it comes with a money-back guarantee from the writer/publisher and his strategies WORK; I saw a piece in action during a Visit to the Sheriff’s Office and I will let you know next week if this helped save Dennis’ home. If you can get through more battling, this may help you save your house. This was included immediately following a response from a realtor who is trying to save her home and who wrote saying that the bank did not disclose how they applied her late fees. Apparently you have the right to a full disclosure of how fees are applied AND you have the right to ask for ALL of the original documents so that you actually know who owns your house. If we do not fight back. this inept and/or illegal behaviour on the part of lending institutions will continue! Her closing comment: “Even though I am in the industry, I am so soured on mortgages and mortgage lenders, I may never buy another property again.”

This is a large lending institution; it is NOT Bank of America; I repeat, it is NOT Bank of America; they seem to be doing a good job for their clients.
The following can be verified.

THE SAGA OF LOAN MODIFICATION . . .

I preface this with I have NEVER asked anyone for anything. I have worked full time every day for 50 years, including in the corporate finance department of a well-regarded bank. I KNOW how a lending institution is SUPPOSED to run! Although my home has been seriously devalued, that is not a concern to me. I live in the home and would pass it on to family; the price will eventually turn around. The property devaluation has NOTHING to do with restructure and it is actually not the fault of a lending institution; devaluation is part of the ups and downs of real estate (or any investment).

I also would like naysayers to know that I would not ask for anything now were it not for the fact that The President of the United States has given mortgage lenders money to help tax-paying working people restructure home loans. The money is there and the lenders are having a difficult time parting with it . . . they’d rather give themselves bonuses. Because I was an executive assistant for many years, I keep notes on everything. What’s “restructure” look like?

• April-September, 2008: Stage 2 Breast Cancer Treatment (Chemotherapy and Breast Cancer) – Worked full-time throughout. Depleted most of my savings with co-pays.
• December 2008: Laid off from my executive assistant position. Had 2-3 months of savings remaining. Out of work for the first time in my life along with many thousands of other fine, highly skilled people!
• December 2008: Property was devalued by $97,000 by the County Tax Assessor.
• December 2008: Given the employment situation, I contacted my creditors seeking breathing room: By July 2009, I would have two retirement incomes, in addition to income from work. All cooperated immediately except The Lender (who will be named if/when appropriate). The Lender requested paperwork, which was lost repeatedly.
• January 5, 2009: The Lender sent a form letter requesting more paperwork. I sent it via mail and FAX. When I called in, no paperwork could be located. I sent it again. It was lost again, so I contacted a non-profit negotiator seeking help.
• February 8, 2009: Received a form letter from The Lender regarding options, including “loan modification.” Because I was short one month, The Lender stopped applying payments, even after sufficient funds were in my account to make payments. The Lender started charging me substantial late fees.
• March 5, 2009: Letter from The Lender indicating that they would talk with the negotiator.
• April 2009: No word from The Lender. I went through debit counseling/consolidation, “home save” counseling, etc.

Editor’s Note: News stories continually report numbers of “houses” lost to foreclosure. As I have mentioned elsewhere, “foreclosure” is not about “homes.” Foreclosure is about men, women, children, and pets losing their shelter, and the collapsing of community. The list of pain is endless: About 2 million children had or will have their lives disrupted; they fall behind in school, they have to move away from frirends, they have to live in tent cities under America’s freeways. One of my closest friends just had a heart attack from the stress of lost clientele to her business due to the flagging economy which led her to believe she might be able to restructure. She is with Wachovia and was told — after several months of trying to get an answer — that she would now have to wait to November. It was too much. People have committed suicide. And it gets to the simple things we love: I care for a feral cat. I have tried socializing the cat and can actually pet her, but after a few years it seems that Mrs. Dancer prefers sleeping in my backyard shed and depends on the homeowner (in this instance, me) for food and water. (Mrs. Dancer was caught and neutered for those of you who are rightfully concerned about such things.) Animals like this stand to lose their homes also. Because we are in a rural area, if Mrs. Dancer is left alone with an empty house, she will be subject to dogs, racoons, skunks, and wolves. PLEASE keep in mind that it is less expensive to KEEP someone in housing than to provide services to homeless people and/or to attempt to get them back into a home.

• May 9, 2009: No response from The Lender. Due to the lagging job market, I was unable to get my salary up quickly. Financial counselors recommended bankruptcy.
• June 2009: I called The Lender; they said that the loan had been sold and the holders of the note do not want to negotiate.
• June 18, 2009: The Lender sent a letter asking for information (which had previously been sent), along with information re the bankruptcy. The letter stated: “If your client wishes to retain the home we have programs available . . . extended repayment plans as well as possible modification of repayment terms . . . “ signed by . . .”
• June 2009: Called The Lender to check status. During the conversation The Lender said: “if you didn’t file bankruptcy, we could have helped you.” This struck me as insane given that we were six months into the process and if The Lender had acted in a timely manner, I might have avoided bankruptcy completely.
• On October 20, 2009 an associate recommended checking the County Recorder’s Office to see if my house had been sold out from under me – apparently it happens. The County Recorder’s office had an “Assignment of Deed of Trust” indicating that the Grantor (which was not The Lender I had been working with) had sold the deed to Grantee.” Apparently, according to federal law, both the grantors and grantees are to inform borrowers of such a sale with 15 days. I never received anything on either transfer.
• June-July: More lost paperwork by The Lender.
• July 9, 2009: Court document with inaccurate information provided by/signed by The Lender’s representatives (under penalty of perjury). I checked with my attorney; The Lender did, in fact, perjure itself but he basically said, “too bad ‘cause they have dozens of lawyers and you can’t win.” (Documents can be provided.)
• July 16, 2009: At the recommendation of a U.S. Senators, Congressional Inquiries filed.)
• July 24, 2009 generic update letter from The Lender: “We’re writing to let you know what we’ve received your request for assistance with your mortgage payment challenges . . . reviewing information . . . committed to working with more customers than ever . . .” Signed by . . . . At no time have I talked with or heard from the same person and this person never got back to me.
• July 27, 2009: Documentation sent to The Lender through the negotiator indicating that my income – which now comes from five sources (including SSI beginning mid-2009, and a retirement account) – is close to where it was when I took out the loan in 2006.
• August 2009: NINE MONTHS INTO THIS PROCESS . . . Letter dated 8/9/2009 received Saturday, August 15, 2009 stating that $30,000 needs to be paid by September 9, 2009 or The Lender will accelerate foreclosure.
• September 2009: House again devalued by the Office of the Assessor; the upside of this, of course, is that my taxes go down
• September 27, 2009: Received modification recommendation via mail – not through the negotiator, who has been negotiating on my behalf for several months. “Modification” was at same payment level that I had been and The Lender was requesting full payments for three months, after which time they would review the account again at January 2010. At the negotiator’s request, a copy was sent to them and they continued negotiations.
• September 29, 2009: I called The Lender to make sure they were negotiating with the negotiator and to be sure that they did NOT expect payments to be sent per their September letter. The woman I spoke with said I did not have to sign the agreement, but I should send the payments in. I asked if they would be applied to the loan. I wasn’t clear about her answer and I explained that I was afraid to send them in given that they have not been applying payments to the loan, but had been using all funds for late fees.
• I was also told during this period that I did not quality for ANY of President Obama’s modification plans, which further confused me . . . in that case, why do I have letters suggesting that modification is possible?
• October 10, 2009: The negotiator said The Lender representative had my paperwork and that the representative agreed that the “modification” proposed was “ridiculous” and said to continue working to obtain a better solution. The negotiator said The Lender has changed its mind again and said we would know something in a week or two.
• October 21, 2009: Letter dated October 14, 2009 from one of The Lender’s Mortgage Specialists. The Lender in response to a Congressional Inquiry: Misinformation. Incorrect figures. INACCURACIES ON THE LENDER’s PART:
  

  “The Lender was subsequently notified that you would be unable to afford the payments required to the above-referenced Agreement as your financial situation had changed.” Not true. No one told The Lender that I was “unable to afford the payments.” I told them because we did not/do not have a concrete offer, I was uncomfortable making ANY payments to them given the missing/lost paperwork throughout this process. (I was recently told that current Lender’s tactics is to get as much money out of individuals, then to foreclose anyway.) While I no longer know what is or isn’t true, because of the last ten months, I would not put anything past this Lender.

• October 21, 2009: County Recorder’s office indicates that the Deed of Trust was reassigned in mid-2009 . . . six months AFTER my initial request for restructure. I was never informed of either transfer. Again, aren’t they legally bound to inform clients within 15 days of the transfer?




If you wish to receive updates on Faces of Foreclosure, please fill in the form below. We will keep you apprised of anything that works (and anything that does not work). Please rest assured that this is confidential; we neither share nor sell information. * Email First Name Last Name City State   * = Required Field

• October 21, 2009: Telephone messages to call The Lender at xxx-xxx-xxxx. I called 5:59 p.m. PST. Initially, no one knew why The Lender called. A rep said that there is “conflicting” information in the file: She said that one statement is that The Lender is considering modification; another is that The Lender is not considering modification. The Lender’s representative offered, “I’m confused.” Then she asked for updated budget information, which I provided. The Lender’ figures indicated that I was a few thousand dollars short each month on my income. Not true. New information has been provided to them throughout this process; The Lender’ files were not updated. She carefully went through my numbers to update their records. And she said I have to submit more paperwork . . . after almost a year of lost paperwork, I don’t see the point.
• October 22, 2009, 4:11 PM: Another message to call The Lender. This time is was a call center. I explained that I spoke with someone the prior day. She found the updated information, but when she repeated it back, some was still incorrect. Unfortunately, I was tired and upset at the insanity of all of this. A few rare tears fell. I told her that in my 50 years of work, I’d never seen anything like this mess. She was typing fast, so while The Lender has lost paperwork and never gotten anything accurate since December 2008, she probably got this right. Sad. I requested that The Lender begin contacting me through the Negotiator as I was exhausted at this process, confused by the inaccuracies and I prefer that a professional stay on top of this.
• October 23, 2009: Updated information sent to the Negotiator (and FAXED) with copy of October 14, 2009 letter from The Lender and updates on conversation(s) with The Lender.
• October 29, 2009, 11:56 a.m.: Call from The Lender in xxx asking for paperwork and before I could respond she said, “oh I see we have the paperwork.” I asked if it had been sent from the Negotiator. She said yes. I asked her who held the note on this property. Ensuing conversation:
  

  The Lender Rep: “In September 2006, XXXXX (The Lender Mortgage Backed Securities) purchased the note.”

  Me: “I was told XX or someone had the note and they would not negotiate. Also, according to the County Recorder’s office, Deed of Trust was reassigned on June 19, 2009.

  Lender’s Rep: “That is incorrect.” (She repeated this twice when I asked about it again.)

  Me: “Then the County Recorder’s Office is wrong? They have the paperwork in their records.”

  Lender’s Rep: She sounded confused and said, “Oh, we have to correct that.”

  Me: “I AM confused. Aren’t you supposed to notify me when the note on my property is transferred or sold?”

  Lender’s Rep: Yes.

  Me: And isn’t whoever purchased the note supposed to notify me also?

  Lender’s Rep:: Yes.

• This type of confusion is indicative of The Lender’s ongoing “management” of my request for loan modification. This, along with the fact that I have NEVER talked with the same person more than once since this started in December 2008, is a perfect example of WHY I did not want to make payments for three months without a firm agreement as to a loan modification. There is NO indication that The Lender knows what it is doing.
• I told several of this Lender’s reps during the past few months that I am afraid of The Lender and I am afraid to talk to The Lender because of their repeated twisting of information.

Am I afraid to send you this? Am I worried about some type of retaliation if the Lender can figure out who this might be? You BET!

Would any of my friends believe that I’m afraid of anything. NO THEY WOULD NOT. This is a first.

What happens when you have to move your children from their school district away from their homes, family and friends? What happens when you do find an apartment to rent but it won’t allow the family dog or cats? Heartbreak on top of heartbreak. (The image on the right is of an actual pup that was caught in that loop. The family could not find an apartment that would accept their dog. It was put in a pound with the hope that a new home could be found.)

What do you tell your children about this great country? What is the new American dream? I agree that we have taken acquisition to an excess, but the average home is not an excess. Excess means renting huge, expensive storage sheds with stuff in it you have not seen in one or two years, and which, by the time you take it out, if you ever take it out, is worth less than the storage fees you paid.

Stories are underway and will be online shortly.