More bad news at a bad time
Sunday, December 11, 2005By Bill WalshWashington bureau WASHINGTON
-- Even in the best of times, a letter with the heading "notice of default" would be alarming. But for Barbara Smith, 67, the letter came at the worst time of her life.
The floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina had laid waste to the Lower 9th Ward home. She had relocated temporarily to Kentucky and was trying to figure out what to do next when she got the Nov. 14 notice from Green Tree Servicing LLC, her mortgage company. It told her to "cure the default" of $792 within 30 days or the company would foreclose and report her to the credit agencies."
We contacted the company (and a representative) was very hostile and said he didn't care about our situation and we better send in the payment," said Adrienne Dowden, Smith's daughter. "Of course we did. He said we must continue to pay or my mother will lose her home."
While many mortgage lenders are giving flooded-out homeowners as much as 18 months to resume payments, others -- especially subprime lenders who serve low-income and minority borrowers -- are turning up the pressure to get their money. Instead of getting extra time, these borrowers are getting strongly worded letters and phone calls saying their loans are in default and it is time to pay up.
http://www.nola.com/business/t-p/index.ssf?/base/money-...
-- Even in the best of times, a letter with the heading "notice of default" would be alarming. But for Barbara Smith, 67, the letter came at the worst time of her life.
The floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina had laid waste to the Lower 9th Ward home. She had relocated temporarily to Kentucky and was trying to figure out what to do next when she got the Nov. 14 notice from Green Tree Servicing LLC, her mortgage company. It told her to "cure the default" of $792 within 30 days or the company would foreclose and report her to the credit agencies."
We contacted the company (and a representative) was very hostile and said he didn't care about our situation and we better send in the payment," said Adrienne Dowden, Smith's daughter. "Of course we did. He said we must continue to pay or my mother will lose her home."
While many mortgage lenders are giving flooded-out homeowners as much as 18 months to resume payments, others -- especially subprime lenders who serve low-income and minority borrowers -- are turning up the pressure to get their money. Instead of getting extra time, these borrowers are getting strongly worded letters and phone calls saying their loans are in default and it is time to pay up.
http://www.nola.com/business/t-p/index.ssf?/base/money-...
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 5:19 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home