With foreclosures rising people are being thrown out of homes they once owned

August 5th, 2009 | Tags: Foreclosure Crisis

foreclosed unit

The American economy is going through a tailspin. Unemployment has reached a record high and people are defaulting on mortgage payments. Hence, foreclosures have become very common. People are leaving the homes that they had once owned and setting up residences in rented places. Some are even being thrown out of the homes that they had once owned.

An elderly Chimayo woman — Angelina D. Martinez — for instance had been thrown out of her foreclosed home recently. State Attorney General Gary King took up the case in court. Martinez lives on a meager social security benefit. She has to pay a monthly sum of $1,451 on her mortgage which stood at $175,000.
Martinez’s daughter filed a complaint saying that her signature was forged and false information was given to the bank. The lady had never given the information to her broker although the agent said otherwise.

The loan application that Martinez is supposed to have made says that Martinez had a monthly income of $3,200. It was also stated that she worked in an Espanola agency. Later on, it was determined that she eked out a living on a meager income.

The value of her home was also inflated. She lived in a three bedroom home on a plot which is less than half an acre. However, on the application it was given that her home was a four bedroom one on an acre plot.

The defendants are Deutsche Bank of New York, Saxon Mortgage Brokerage Inc, US Bancorp of Minneapolis, NovaStar Mortgage Services Inc and loan brokers Orlinda Martinez and Angelica Duran. Mountain View Mortgage of Chimayo is also another defendant. The lawsuit has asked for a prevention of the foreclosure of Martinez’s property. In the lawsuit it has also been stipulated that Martinez be paid $8,619 in damages, $5,000 for violation of the Unfair Practices Act and $250,000 in damages. The remaining portion of the loan interest should also be paid to her.

This case is only one of the two lawsuits that was filed for violation of the Mortgage Loan Company and Loan Broker Act, Home Loan Protection Act and Unfair Practices Act.

An elderly couple has also been duped in a similar manner. They were lured into taking a mortgage loan of $42,000. About $10,000 was misappropriated from the couple also.
The Obama administration had come up with the Home Rescue Plan to help those in dire straits. But this is clearly being misused.

Via