Attempts to avoid foreclosure could cost you more
How far would you go to save your home?
The people you're about to meet thought they'd found the answer to avoiding foreclosure and protecting their dream.
August 2007: Betsy Bolt and husband Robert Joyce were frantic.
"It's really hard, because all my memories are here. All of them," Bolt said. "I'm getting to the point where I'm panicking."
They'd just been evicted.
October 2007: David Israel packed his belongings. He'd been evicted too.
"It's the worst thing that's happened to me in my life," he said. "And I have to leave here by November 1st."
The tenants were evicted from homes they owned for more than 25 years.
Their downward spiral started in 2004 when financial setbacks found them facing foreclosure. A local company offered to help.
"I noticed there was a knock on the door," Israel said.
"They sent a letter to us saying that they could help," said Bolt.
The company was Godsend Security Funding. And it proposed a plan to the homeowners -- sell their homes to Godsend and stay on as renters. Then after three years, get new financing and buy the homes back at a new price.
"I was going to lose my home. And I was going to do anything I had to to save it," said Bolt.
"In the back of my mind I'm thinking, '3 years from now I'm going to be making a little more money. I could afford my house, so I can buy my house back,'" said Israel.
"It just sounded so easy," said Bolt.
They signed a flurry of legal documents supplied by Godsend Security Funding President April Lane.
"It was all very fast," said Joyce.
The paperwork transferred the titles of their homes to third-party investors who became the landlords.
But Bolt and Joyce said their rent payments were higher than the mortgage payments they couldn't handle.
Israel was disabled and living on Social Security.
When the 3-year deadline came, they couldn't afford to buy back their homes. They were evicted.
When asked whether he had read the documents he had signed, Israel said, "I read, but I didn't fully understand what I was signing because I was so nervous."
Attorney Melissa Huelsman stepped in to help.
"He had no real understanding of where money went and how it was all going to play out," she said. "Its the third lawsuit that I personally have filed against Godsend."
When their homes were sold, the proceeds that should have gone to the sellers. But records show that more than $63,000 of Israel's money and more than $65,000 of Bolt and Joyce's were directed to Godsend Security Funding.
What happened to the money?
"I never knew that Godsend got that money," said Joyce.
Joyce and Bolt claim Godsend also supplied the investor who bought their home and became their landlord.
We've learned buyer Karen Blackburn was a licensed real estate agent at the time. Joyce and Bolt said they didn't know that until later. State law says that information must be disclosed in writing, upfront.
"I didn't know how they made their money," said Bolt.
"And because there are people involved who are licensed real estate agents, we would have some jurisdiction to look for wrongdoing, such as unprofessional conduct, and so there may be action we can take," said Brad Benfield with the Department of Labor.
I made multiple attempts to contact Karen Blackburn. My requests for interviews or comment were repeatedly denied.
As for April Lane, I finally got this written statement from Lane and her former business partner Joel Severson this week. Both claim their customers knew what they were signing.
"From the beginning we made genuine efforts to help our lease option tenants succeed," the statement read.
After I started asking questions, Lane, Godsend and their associates reached a private settlement with Israel. And he found another place to live.
With the help of their attorney, Bolt and Joyce were able to stop the eviction proceedings. Blackburn, Godsend and their associates are currently negotiating to reach a settlement in their case.
"We'd given everything we had to this house to keep it," Joyce said. "We can't even afford to buy another home. This is the only home we'll probably be able to afford."
Lane said Godsend Security Funding stopped doing transactions with foreclosed homeowners in early 2005. They insist three of their lease option tenants did repurchase their homes.
The state Attorney General's Office has concerns about Godsend's transactions.
"The documents raise serious questions as to the fairness of the transaction and as to the understanding of the people that entered into the transaction," said Assistant Attorney General David Huey.
State regulators told KOMO 4 News they're dealing with a number of foreclosure rescue cases.
The increase in foreclosure rescue complaints is the reason state lawmakers are pushing for new legislation to regulate foreclosure rescue promoters and protect vulnerable homeowners like Joyce, Bolt and Israel.
More Information:
legalnewsline.com
HB2791
HB2791 sponsors:
Rep. Patricia Lantz
Rep. Jay Rodne
Rep. Troy Kelley
SB6431
SB6431 sponsors:
Sen. Rodney Tom
Sen. Steve Hobbs
Sen. Jerome Delvin
The people you're about to meet thought they'd found the answer to avoiding foreclosure and protecting their dream.
August 2007: Betsy Bolt and husband Robert Joyce were frantic.
"It's really hard, because all my memories are here. All of them," Bolt said. "I'm getting to the point where I'm panicking."
They'd just been evicted.
October 2007: David Israel packed his belongings. He'd been evicted too.
"It's the worst thing that's happened to me in my life," he said. "And I have to leave here by November 1st."
The tenants were evicted from homes they owned for more than 25 years.
Their downward spiral started in 2004 when financial setbacks found them facing foreclosure. A local company offered to help.
"I noticed there was a knock on the door," Israel said.
"They sent a letter to us saying that they could help," said Bolt.
The company was Godsend Security Funding. And it proposed a plan to the homeowners -- sell their homes to Godsend and stay on as renters. Then after three years, get new financing and buy the homes back at a new price.
"I was going to lose my home. And I was going to do anything I had to to save it," said Bolt.
"In the back of my mind I'm thinking, '3 years from now I'm going to be making a little more money. I could afford my house, so I can buy my house back,'" said Israel.
"It just sounded so easy," said Bolt.
They signed a flurry of legal documents supplied by Godsend Security Funding President April Lane.
"It was all very fast," said Joyce.
The paperwork transferred the titles of their homes to third-party investors who became the landlords.
But Bolt and Joyce said their rent payments were higher than the mortgage payments they couldn't handle.
Israel was disabled and living on Social Security.
When the 3-year deadline came, they couldn't afford to buy back their homes. They were evicted.
When asked whether he had read the documents he had signed, Israel said, "I read, but I didn't fully understand what I was signing because I was so nervous."
Attorney Melissa Huelsman stepped in to help.
"He had no real understanding of where money went and how it was all going to play out," she said. "Its the third lawsuit that I personally have filed against Godsend."
When their homes were sold, the proceeds that should have gone to the sellers. But records show that more than $63,000 of Israel's money and more than $65,000 of Bolt and Joyce's were directed to Godsend Security Funding.
What happened to the money?
"I never knew that Godsend got that money," said Joyce.
Joyce and Bolt claim Godsend also supplied the investor who bought their home and became their landlord.
We've learned buyer Karen Blackburn was a licensed real estate agent at the time. Joyce and Bolt said they didn't know that until later. State law says that information must be disclosed in writing, upfront.
"I didn't know how they made their money," said Bolt.
"And because there are people involved who are licensed real estate agents, we would have some jurisdiction to look for wrongdoing, such as unprofessional conduct, and so there may be action we can take," said Brad Benfield with the Department of Labor.
I made multiple attempts to contact Karen Blackburn. My requests for interviews or comment were repeatedly denied.
As for April Lane, I finally got this written statement from Lane and her former business partner Joel Severson this week. Both claim their customers knew what they were signing.
"From the beginning we made genuine efforts to help our lease option tenants succeed," the statement read.
After I started asking questions, Lane, Godsend and their associates reached a private settlement with Israel. And he found another place to live.
With the help of their attorney, Bolt and Joyce were able to stop the eviction proceedings. Blackburn, Godsend and their associates are currently negotiating to reach a settlement in their case.
"We'd given everything we had to this house to keep it," Joyce said. "We can't even afford to buy another home. This is the only home we'll probably be able to afford."
Lane said Godsend Security Funding stopped doing transactions with foreclosed homeowners in early 2005. They insist three of their lease option tenants did repurchase their homes.
The state Attorney General's Office has concerns about Godsend's transactions.
"The documents raise serious questions as to the fairness of the transaction and as to the understanding of the people that entered into the transaction," said Assistant Attorney General David Huey.
State regulators told KOMO 4 News they're dealing with a number of foreclosure rescue cases.
The increase in foreclosure rescue complaints is the reason state lawmakers are pushing for new legislation to regulate foreclosure rescue promoters and protect vulnerable homeowners like Joyce, Bolt and Israel.
More Information:
legalnewsline.com
HB2791
HB2791 sponsors:
SB6431
SB6431 sponsors: