Discouraged homeowners: 'You can't really make it any more'
SEATTLE - Across the nation, the housing numbers are getting worse. Foreclosures are 54 percent higher than a year ago, and completed foreclosures have risen 7 percent since March.
At the same time, an incredible 23 percent of all mortgage payers are behind in their payments. People are seeking relief.
In Washington state, 30,000 people lost their homes in a foreclosure last year, and it's projected that 41,000 will lose their homes in foreclosure this year.
But at South Seattle Community College on Saturday, people who are in trouble with their mortgages had a rare opportunity to sit down and tell their stories to housing counselors - and in many cases, to the very bank that lent them their money.
The event was sponsored by the Statewide Poverty Action Network.
"It's a crisis. It's a national crisis. We mustn't think it's an individual homeowners crisis," says Bev Spears, the network's executive director.
Banks sent more than two dozen counselors to assist in loan modifications at the event. The advice also included guidance from speakers on how not to deal with the banks.
Mary Taylor was one of those who came in hopes of getting her loan modified.
Her home is not in foreclosure just yet - but like so many, she has experienced a drop in her income and doesn't want to lose her home.
"I started sending them $200 more a month to try and catch up," she says. "I'm to the point where you can't really make it anymore."
Carnisha Rodgers came to the event for legal advice on how to fight a predatory lender.
"I'm so very frustrated," she says. "I don't have the help yet; I don't have a modification in place. But I'm not giving up so - fight, you know."
There was a common theme with many on hand - they want to pay off their debt, but banks and the federal loan modification programs are not making it easy.
Matthew Hughes got a loan modification - but his bank hasn't been taking his payments.
"They won't take payments," he says. "They say if I make a payment I don't qualify for the loan modification."
He says he doesn't under the logic or the procedures - it doesn't seem to make any sense.
And then there was Karen Pooley, who stood outside wearing a jail jumpsuit to protest bank practices.
She says she's worked in the banking industry and is fighting her own foreclosure - but claims there is widespread fraud going on.
"They have filed fraudulent documentation in the King County Recorder's Office, and they are trying to steal my home, and they've slandered my title. And I have proof," Pooley says.
This was a one-day event by the Statewide Poverty Action Network - but there will be similar events like this in the future.
At the same time, an incredible 23 percent of all mortgage payers are behind in their payments. People are seeking relief.
In Washington state, 30,000 people lost their homes in a foreclosure last year, and it's projected that 41,000 will lose their homes in foreclosure this year.
But at South Seattle Community College on Saturday, people who are in trouble with their mortgages had a rare opportunity to sit down and tell their stories to housing counselors - and in many cases, to the very bank that lent them their money.
The event was sponsored by the Statewide Poverty Action Network.
"It's a crisis. It's a national crisis. We mustn't think it's an individual homeowners crisis," says Bev Spears, the network's executive director.
Banks sent more than two dozen counselors to assist in loan modifications at the event. The advice also included guidance from speakers on how not to deal with the banks.
Mary Taylor was one of those who came in hopes of getting her loan modified.
Her home is not in foreclosure just yet - but like so many, she has experienced a drop in her income and doesn't want to lose her home.
"I started sending them $200 more a month to try and catch up," she says. "I'm to the point where you can't really make it anymore."
Carnisha Rodgers came to the event for legal advice on how to fight a predatory lender.
"I'm so very frustrated," she says. "I don't have the help yet; I don't have a modification in place. But I'm not giving up so - fight, you know."
There was a common theme with many on hand - they want to pay off their debt, but banks and the federal loan modification programs are not making it easy.
Matthew Hughes got a loan modification - but his bank hasn't been taking his payments.
"They won't take payments," he says. "They say if I make a payment I don't qualify for the loan modification."
He says he doesn't under the logic or the procedures - it doesn't seem to make any sense.
And then there was Karen Pooley, who stood outside wearing a jail jumpsuit to protest bank practices.
She says she's worked in the banking industry and is fighting her own foreclosure - but claims there is widespread fraud going on.
"They have filed fraudulent documentation in the King County Recorder's Office, and they are trying to steal my home, and they've slandered my title. And I have proof," Pooley says.
This was a one-day event by the Statewide Poverty Action Network - but there will be similar events like this in the future.
