Stop the Eviction of Jennifer Britt in Rosedale Park!

[ridgeabilly]

Join us anytime Thursday, July 19, starting at6am, and sign up for whatever time slot you can manage overthe next week at Jennifer’s home. There will be anopen meeting at 6pm at the house, 15701 Warwick St. atMidland in Rosedale Park, just south of Grand River, firstlight west of Southfield Freeway.Fannie Mae refused the offer of Southwest HousingSolutions to buy the home at its appraised value and keepJennifer’s family in their home. The government willonly accept the full value of the taxpayer-funded bailoutit gifted to Flagstar Bank— $121,000. This is a scandalous disregard of the community’s needs and ablatant double standard: Fannie Mae will sell foreclosedhomes to investors at well below market, but homeownerslike Jennifer are charged a king’s ransom and giventhe boot. Fannie Mae needs to address the needs of the community, not just the banks. Southwest Housing Solutionsis willing to negotiate.
The foreclosure never should have happened in the firstplace, as made clear in the summary below. In a nutshell:Leon and Jennifer Britt have paid more than $100,000 forthe home, Jennifer paying $46,000 since Leon died in 2006,exhausting her savings as Flagstar refused to modify, raised the monthly payment, and loaded her balance with feesand penalties.
We don’t need another empty home in Detroit and Rosedale Park!

[Occurrence]

This is why I encourage everyone who is under on their homes to walk away [[and scrap out all the metal too. That's going to be the banks problem).

[belleislerunner]

If this particular housing siutation bothers you so much, why don't you just drive 15 minutes and protest outside of Flagstar's HQ. The decisions on "loan modifications" are made in Troy. Would seem to be a little more productive.

[DetroitPlanner]

Banks having double standards is hardly scandalous. You should never buy more home than you can afford. That way if the market goes south, you are it is not a burden on community or yourself.

[Bham1982]

It sucks for the homeowner, but the demands from the nonprofit are ridiculous.

Why would the bank give away its holdings for a song, just because some group wants homes to be occupied by their delinquent borrowers?

She should probably just walk away if there's no way she can pay her obligation. Not a great solution for either side, but probably the most reasonable one.

[Lowell]

If this particular housing siutation bothers you so much, why don't you just drive 15 minutes and protest outside of Flagstar's HQ. The decisions on "loan modifications" are made in Troy. Would seem to be a little more productive.

Maybe that is what you should do, but I agree the location of the protest. It invigorates and involves the neighborhood that will be affected. A protest in Troy would merely draw yawns from passerby's who would know nothing of the personal story and guffaws from the banksters who could care less.

Also not sure if you have driven to Troy lately, but from that neighborhood, it is at leaset a half hour to Troy with all the construction and heavy traffic.

[Blueidone]

It's not just "some group" that wants to keep people in there homes. There is a federal program called Neighborhood Stabilization in place. This is probably the program that Southwest Solutions is working through.

However, I don't necessarily agree with the protest thing, unless you are going to protest for each and every homeowner who is in the same situation. There are many, many more of them all over this country. My husband and I had the same situation and lost our home to foreclosure. We had to pick up and move on and start all over again.

[belleislerunner]

Maybe that is what you should do, but I agree the location of the protest. It invigorates and involves the neighborhood that will be affected. A protest in Troy would merely draw yawns from passerby's who would know nothing of the personal story and guffaws from the banksters who could care less.

Also not sure if you have driven to Troy lately, but from that neighborhood, it is at leaset a half hour to Troy with all the construction and heavy traffic.

I don't agree with the protest. Adults signed a legally binding contract. Adults no longer wish to fulfill their end of the contract but wish to be absolved of the consequences of their inaction. I encourage accountability.

[Detroitej72]

Why would the bank give away its holdings for a song, just because some group wants homes to be occupied by their delinquent borrowers?

Because they will now sell it at auction for a much lower price to some broker.

[Bham1982]

Because they will now sell it at auction for a much lower price to some broker.

I don't know if this is true, but if it is, it would still make sense for the bank. They don't want borrowers to walk away from their obligations.

[corktownyuppie]

This is probably the best solution. Let the bank foreclose, then sell it to an investor that will allow the woman to rent it from the owner. She'll be able to continue living there, probably for much less than the original mortgage. The bank can get it off the books. And the new owner will be able to keep the house from going into blight and abandonment.

[Detroitej72]

I don't know if this is true, but if it is, it would still make sense for the bank. They don't want borrowers to walk away from their obligations.

Actually, they don't care about the borrowers walking away. They make money off the sale then write the loss off and get a tax break in the process. An acquaintance I know who works for a large bank told me they usually make more off a foreclosure than a normal sale.

[corktownyuppie]

Um, what does your friend do at the bank? I've been in banking 11 years. Banks don't make more off of foreclosures. They try to avoid them at all costs.

[poobert]

This is probably the best solution. Let the bank foreclose, then sell it to an investor that will allow the woman to rent it from the owner. She'll be able to continue living there, probably for much less than the original mortgage. The bank can get it off the books. And the new owner will be able to keep the house from going into blight and abandonment.

I imagine a rental is Rosedale would go up for anywhere from $800 - $1000. No one will be able to afford it except section 8. I'm going to be extremely frank here, but nine times out of ten they're not fun to live anywhere near, and that is the God honest truth. After this lady moves out they investor - probably somebody from the suburbs or overseas who could give a shit less about the neighborhood, and proabably has never seen it - will rent to anybody. You'll get some good renters but then you'll get some drug-slinging, awful ones who will help themselves to everything in the house when they move out. Neighborhoods need owner-occupancy, desperately.

[Shollin]

I work at Flagstar in Troy in the mortgage department. The misinformation in this thread is hilarious. Go ahead and protest. The HQ is on a road seldom traveled by the public and so far removed from the building. The homeowner should borrow the money for her home from relatives, or maybe the protesters can lend her a couple hundred thousand.

[corktownyuppie]

I imagine a rental is Rosedale would go up for anywhere from $800 - $1000. No one will be able to afford it except section 8. I'm going to be extremely frank here, but nine times out of ten they're not fun to live anywhere near, and that is the God honest truth. After this lady moves out they investor - probably somebody from the suburbs or overseas who could give a shit less about the neighborhood, and proabably has never seen it - will rent to anybody. You'll get some good renters but then you'll get some drug-slinging, awful ones who will help themselves to everything in the house when they move out. Neighborhoods need owner-occupancy, desperately.

So if what you're saying is that this woman can't afford the mortgage payment, she can't afford the rent, and she's probably not any fun to live anywhere near...then WTF?! She should be evicted.

[corktownyuppie]

After this lady moves out they investor - probably somebody from the suburbs or overseas who could give a shit less about the neighborhood, and proabably has never seen it - will rent to anybody.

p.s. All the more reason we should be glad that people with money are moving into the city. I'm starting to look at investment properties to purchase that most suburbanites have foresaken. When you bring the investor class back into the city, you'll have much better landlords, too.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

I work at Flagstar in Troy in the mortgage department. The misinformation in this thread is hilarious. Go ahead and protest. The HQ is on a road seldom traveled by the public and so far removed from the building. The homeowner should borrow the money for her home from relatives, or maybe the protesters can lend her a couple hundred thousand.

With an attitude like that, I would say you have found an appropriate line of work.

[Shollin]

With an attitude like that, I would say you have found an appropriate line of work.

What attitude?

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

What attitude?

The attitude that the homeowner should, or even could, borrow the money from relatives, or that the protesters should lend her "a couple hundred thousand" [[btw, what house in Rosedale is worth a couple of hundred thousand these days?)

I fail to see how a quick sale to SWS, a very reputable organization, at the appraised value of the house would not be a good solution for the bank as well. Nobody is going to pay more than that, and it would get a "bad loan" off the books. But it would require some creative thinking, which is not a strong point of the banks.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I don't agree with the protest. Adults signed a legally binding contract. Adults no longer wish to fulfill their end of the contract but wish to be absolved of the consequences of their inaction. I encourage accountability.

Did you READ the story? Her Husband died in 06, she exhausted her benefits trying to keep up with the payments. Flagstar surely knew her dilemma, but they refused to work with her. This movie gets played over and over in this country by callous, cold-hearted and greedy banks and mortgage companies, that only see a $$ sign. Now if she were able to control her situation, that's one thing. It's just wrong for people to lose their homes over unforseen tragedies like health problems, job loss or death of a spouse.

[Shollin]

Did you READ the story? Her Husband died in 06, she exhausted her benefits trying to keep up with the payments. Flagstar surely knew her dilemma, but they refused to work with her. This movie gets played over and over in this country by callous, cold-hearted and greedy banks and mortgage companies, that only see a $$ sign. Now if she were able to control her situation, that's one thing. It's just wrong for people to lose their homes over unforseen tragedies like health problems, job loss or death of a spouse.

Her spouse could've had a credit life policy added to the account at any time. Her documents state she is responsible for the loan. Flagstar is a servicer. They are still bound by the investor requirements of Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, FHA etc. If companies can just wipe away debt because someone passed, there would be no need for life insurance policies.

[9mile&seneca]

[QUOTE=Shollin;331242]Her spouse could've had a credit life policy added to the account at any time. Her documents state she is responsible for the loan. Flagstar is a servicer. They are still bound by the investor requirements of Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, FHA etc. If companies can just wipe away debt because someone passed, there would be no need for life insurance policies.[/QUOTE) You might as well try explaining quantum physics...

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Her spouse could've had a credit life policy added to the account at any time. Her documents state she is responsible for the loan. Flagstar is a servicer. They are still bound by the investor requirements of Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, FHA etc. If companies can just wipe away debt because someone passed, there would be no need for life insurance policies.

Won't the debt be wiped away when Flagstar forecloses and sells the house for less than SWS is offering, after the house sits vacant and might be scrapped? ? If SWS is offering the appraised value, who will pay more than that? Won't the bank be responsible for the taxes after foreclosure? Despite the "bankerspeak" blaming the victim for not having a credit life policy, how is the foreclosure in ANYONE'S interest?

[Shollin]

Won't the debt be wiped away when Flagstar forecloses and sells the house for less than SWS is offering, after the house sits vacant and might be scrapped? ? If SWS is offering the appraised value, who will pay more than that? Won't the bank be responsible for the taxes after foreclosure? Despite the "bankerspeak" blaming the victim for not having a credit life policy, how is the foreclosure in ANYONE'S interest?

What they're proposing is a short sale. There is a process to do a short sale. Again, the bank is a servicer. The bank can't just say ok and wipe it away. The investor needs to agree to the terms as well. Also with a short sale, she would need to file a 1099 and pay taxes on the difference. Now it depends what kind of mortgage it is. If it's FHA, the bank will file a claim and recoup the loses and the title will be transfered to HUD and the government will be responsible. The debt isn't always wiped away when the home sells. They can still look to collect on the remainder which rarely happens. Bottom line is, you can't offer your own apprasail and protest until the bank agrees. There is a process. It's a long one due to government and investor regulations.