Sunday, July 3, 2011

NOT... Just another Foreclosure Story

NOT ..an America Birthday or 4th of July Celebration

JULY 20th - UPDATE at bottom of page...UPDATE at bottom of page
WHAT'S NEXT FOR SOMERTON FAMILY ???
picture courtesy of 4closurefraud.org
Sadly - it's another Bank of America foreclosure story.........OR IS IT ???
Over the last few days everyone had emailed or linked me the below insane HEADLINES

Craigslist Couple to give away contents of entire home....or
Couple to deploy Dueling Dozers in demo of own home
 As it was, the only reason their story came out...was in trying to give away the contents of their home as "Free Stuff" on Craigslist... What! ..Can you believe it? Someone trying to give away ALL the contents of their home!...Well no...and neither could Craigslist...so the ad was quickly flagged and taken down. Surely it was some type of fraudulent posting or someone “pranking” this couple...you know..trying to give away all their stuff. Frustrated - homeowner Robert posted again.....this time under Craigslist "Real Estate" Once again the ad was flagged and taken down.  So Robert tried posting it - a third time. Yet again it was removed. By this time ...Robert was so frustrated  he attached "an explanation" to assure any Craigslist monitors....they were giving away...everything ….adding.....We (Ana & Rob) are going to bulldoze the house! Finally - Craigslist allowed his posting…..but only in the "Politics" category with the bizarre explanation of dueling dozers.
So we (OHIO FRAUDclosure) had to find out....Who was this "Insane Guy" and what kind of  "Crazy People"...give everything away and then plan - to bulldoze their home.

Behind the sensational headlines - I found a real couple - suffering real pain. And no matter how the Bank of America spokesperson tries to spin this story....it stops HERE and NOW. This is NOT another California family looking for a "Free Home." This is NOT some crazy couple that "overbought" during the real estate boom. And NO... they didn't refinance 2 or 3 times to buy boats and cars so they could live it up somewhere near the California Coastline.
This is…the story ......of Ana and Robert Somerton…..real people & real victims - first suffering through a Counrtywide FRAUDulent loan, then with all Bank of Americas (BOA) failures with  phony servicing attempts to implement ...any of the Goverments' failed "FRAUDclosure prevention" programs.
Ana & Robert Somerton

In 1990 Robert’s father (Ronald) bought a 1.3 acre parcel of land, on which he planned to build a small 820 sq foot 1 bedroom 1 bath retirement cabin. Robert was excited for his father, who slowly, was building the home "out of pocket" (no loans) on weekends. Some six years later, and nearing completion of his dream home ..sadly.. Ronald passed away. Robert could not bear to have the home and property...slip away. He was determined to finish the home that his dad had so wanted. But, in order to buy out his sisters half of the estate and finish the home ...Robert took out a loan against the value the property.
It was at this same time that he decided he should slightly increase the size … to a more usable 1275 sq. ft. He and his wife  - Ana - eventually decided they would finish "Ronald's dream". Robert told me "We first painted the place, then we fenced in the yard for our dogs Magic and Pascual. We also converted the garage into our master bedroom, and added a new walk-thru closet and master bath to the end of house. I did all the drawings and most of the construction ...with Ana helping out... on her days off."


In Early 2009, like many couples, they suffered during the U.S. economic downturn (recession) and Robert was forced to close his business. But, before they'd missed a single payment or had even "fallen behind"…they informed Bank of America of the temporary income set-back and wanted to know about the new announced loan modification programs and maybe one with the lower interest rate adjustment. NO free house - No reductions - No write-downs...all they wanted to know...was how to qualify!
…from Robert’s post with craigslist:  "I won't go into great depth or detail here, suffice to say we've been run through the Bank of America Hope/Harp/Hamp wringer and hung out to dry. If you've been through this …you already know what it mean… if not... do us all a favor and educate yourself."
The phone was silent for a minute, I asked Robert....”Are you still there?”...His voice now shaky and trembling…"Yes, I’m sorry"....he responded....then another pause…..”I’m sitting here looking at the blue-prints …right now….and I’m actually writing down the names of the people that will get my doors, windows, and some frame-work.  There are even some that just want a single piece of floorboard … something…anything….to keep Bank of America from getting it"
TWO YEARS OF INSANITY !!!!
Robert said to me "You know - two years is a long time to suffer and to try to explain the insanity of the situation. I finally said to them (BOA)…why should we do the same thing over and over….and expect to get a response or different outcome?  We had been repeatedly asked to fill out the exact same paperwork and to fax it to them…There were a couple times the representative said - you seem to know more about this programs - then we do! But we relented and faxed in our paperwork one more time…..and guess what! …. they never received it!…..yet they were able to tell us we had been turned down for a modification…because we didn’t qualify”   Now that’s insanity!! 
"You know, we're in California were somewhere between 25% - 40% of the homeowners are underwater…..we didn’t ask them for anything other than a MODIFICATION...we didn’t say wipe out our mortgage!...What’s wrong with reducing our interest rate and  keeping our principal balance …is that so much to ask?…isn’t there some common sense involved here?"

"We were finally forced to file bankruptcy last year which at least put a temporary stop to the insanity…..Ana has worked full time, commuting two hours a day to the Napa Valley winery she's worked at for nearly 10 years. It's mainly her income we've gotten by on over the past couple years. We have two dogs, and don't know what we'd do with them if we lost our place because our home is 100% dog friendly... but the rental market’s acceptance for dogs…is a different story."

"All we want from them now….is to wipe out the past due amount (24k) they created - by ignoring their own modification programs! …it was what we qualified for, at the time,  but they’ve always lost our paperwork and then eventually...... refused.  Now unless we pay - upfront - all past due fees….well...July 20th ...is the date....for the..My dad's home...My Home...it will be..."…his voice trailed off…  he never finished the sentence
This week Bank of America announced $8 Billion in settlements with investors and bond holders....yes....$8 BILLION dollars.....In part:
....The deal, announced Wednesday, comes after a group of 22 investors demanded that the Charlotte, N.C. bank repurchase $47 billion in mortgages that its Countrywide unit sold to them in .....The group, which includes the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Pimco Investment Management, and Blackrock Financial Management, argued that Countrywide enriched itself at the expense of investors by continuing to service bad loans while running up servicing fees.
Are you Serious, You'll settle with everyone else, and throw this couple out!! Really!!
I simply have to ask....BANK of AMERICA....are you listening?? Do you really want to throw this couple out of their family home?? A home started from the ground up over  20 years ago?

Is this just another "Foreclosure Starfish" on BOA's FORECLOSURE BEACH???.
It all reminds me of the story from "A Star Thrower "...about the boy who is walking along the beach and finding thousands of starfish washed up and dying….he grabs one and throws it back....his act seemed so futile to an old man watching….the old man approaches him and says, “boy, there are so many here, you cannot possibly save them or make a difference.” 
The boy grabs another starfish … throws it back into the sea… and responds to the old man...
“I just made a difference.... to that one.”

I urge EVERYONE of my readers to 'help just one" and link, tweet, face-book, and pass along this story. Call Bank of America!...Ask them to resolve and modify the Somerton Family's loan. Email BOA, call them, leave a message, go to a branch, call the newspaper...anything.
Oh yea...they're all closed until Tuesday, enjoying the long July 4th celebration.


Bank Of America Contact (Click Here)
July 20th is looming...Let us know...how you helped or what you did ...on behalf of the Somerton family: ohiofraudclosure@gmail.com

Ana & Robert Somerton ..maybe.. their last Christmas in their home





Why is OHIO FRAUDclosure so interested in a California FRAUDclosure?  Well we had seen this exact same thing just 1 year ago near Cincinnati Ohio. TERRY HOSKINS "surprised his bank" by bull-dozing his home. He too - like the Somerton's had built his home from ground up. Now he owns and has - Nothing! 
The OHIO man used a bulldozer to level the home he'd built, now the sprawling country home is rubble. Hoskin said: "As far as what the bank is going to get...I plan on giving them back what was on this hill!..  I brought it out of the ground ...and I plan on putting it back in the ground."


JULY 20th - UPDATE BELOW 
WHAT'S NEXT FOR SOMERTON FAMILY ???

1) GOING UP…The Rising Bar of Homeowner Rage
Or
will they be one of the compensated...as below 
2) 450,000 to Get Payments in Countrywide Settlement

4 comments:

  1. One thing people seem to overlook, speaking as one who personally built his own home without bank financing, is that the city in which the house resides will also lose the tax revenue from that house typically $2K and up per year forever if the house is demolished. That's a lot of money for the city to throw away.

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  2. https://www.bankofamerica.com/contactus/contactus.go?HTTP_REFERER=&SOURCE_URL=http://www.bankofamerica.com/contact/

    I notice that there is not a clear way to communicate to whom complaints and issues of this type can depositors and the general public can remind B of A how they have been "rescued" by the American Taxpayer. I would suggest sending to their corporate philanthropy department as they are mostly set up for a way to "secure" community "love." Getting money to deserving charities is really secondary to the image of how tied they are to the community by the money they throw around.

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  3. We were instructed by our attorney and Bank of America (in writing) to make this payment on Feb 1st 2012. Had no idea walking into the BofA branch last Friday, that they would reject cash, now been told by BofA they have no problem taking cash! Still trying to get to the bottom of this... http://youtu.be/Smnf6XmzzMA

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  4. Hello!

    My name is Jessica, I am a senior studying towards a fine arts degree at alfred university and in 6 months I will be displaying my final Art Show. I have had several friends who have gone through this process but were unable to help me due to personal situations. i want to express the impact that foreclosure has had on middle class american citizens. I read your story and I just had to contact you to see if you would aid me in completing my assignment. For my final assignment I am doing these large scale charcoal drawings of the said homes and pairing them with the real stories of what people have gone through during the foreclosure process. If you would be willing to help all I would need is the permission to use your story and a photograph of the home. the only information that will be divulged is the first name of the person and the town and state of the home. no other personal information is needed. If you would like to help, I would much appreciate it thank you for taking the time to read this.

    ReplyDelete