This is Just Sad
Now, I’m not a big fan of antedoctal evidence as proof of a problem, but in the case of the mortgage crisis the evidence is overwhelming, so you may see a story here once in a while showing some of the chaos caused by the Washington/Wall Street Banker ineptitude. This story is one and is reported on CNN:
(CNN) — Fannie Mae said it will set aside the loan of a woman who shot herself as sheriff’s deputies tried to evict her from her foreclosed home.
Fannie Mae foreclosed on the Akron, Ohio, home of Addie Polk, 90, after acquiring the mortgage in 2007.
Addie Polk, 90, of Akron, Ohio, became a symbol of the nation’s home mortgage crisis when she was hospitalized after shooting herself at least twice in the upper body Wednesday afternoon.
On Friday, Fannie Mae spokesman Brian Faith said the mortgage association had decided to halt action against Polk and sign the property “outright” to her.
“We’re going to forgive whatever outstanding balance she had on the loan and give her the house,” Faith said. “Given the circumstances, we think it’s appropriate.”
Residents of Akron have rallied behind Polk, who is being treated at Akron General Medical Center. She was listed in critical condition Friday afternoon, according to Akron City Council President Marco Sommerville.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, mentioned Polk on the House floor Friday during debate over the latest economic rescue proposal.
“This bill does nothing for the Addie Polks of the world,” Kucinich said after telling her story. “This bill fails to address the fact that millions of homeowners are facing foreclosure, are facing the loss of their home. This bill will take care of Wall Street, and the market may go up for a few days, but democracy is going downhill.”
Neighbor Robert Dillon, 62, used a ladder to enter a second-story bathroom window of Polk’s home after he and the deputies heard loud noises inside, Dillon said.
He found her lying on a bed, and he could see she was breathing. He also noticed a long-barreled handgun on the bed, but thought she just had it there for protection. He touched her on the shoulder.
“Then she kind of moved toward me a little and I saw that blood, and I said, ‘Oh, no. Miss Polk musta done shot herself,’ ” Dillon said.
He hurried downstairs and let the deputies in. He said they told him they found Polk’s car keys, pocketbook and life insurance policy laid out neatly where they could be found, suggesting that she intended to kill herself.
“There’s a lot of people like Miss Polk right now. That’s the sad thing about it,” said Sommerville, who had met Polk before and rushed to the scene when contacted by police. “They might not be as old as her, some could be as old as her. This is just a major problem.” Watch Polk’s neighbor describe what he saw »
In 2004, Polk took out a 30-year, 6.375 percent mortgage for $45,620 with a Countrywide Home Loan office in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The same day, she also took out an $11,380 line of credit.
Over the next couple of years, Polk missed payments on the 101-year-old home that she and her late husband purchased in 1970. In 2007, Fannie Mae assumed the mortgage and later filed for foreclosure.
Click here to see the rest.
Now, I have to say. This gets my goat. It makes me mad beyond belief and Bravo Zulu to U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio for bringing this story to light. He gets my first Bravo Zulu Award.
It’s all nice and good that Fannie Mae did right by the lady but that’s not going to be enough. Why didn’t anyone recognise there was a problem here, before hand, and try to do something about it. This mortgage crisis is an atrocity and I want names and I want resignations and I want prison sentences if that’s called for.
Now get this, Congress is going to be conducting investigations into this whole mess and you can be sure I’m going to hold their feet to the fire. You know as well as I do they are going to whitewash it as much as they can. I will be watching and blogging every single step of it. I’m going to need my readers help with that so if you find a good story send it along by making a comment with the details and I’ll take care of the rest.
It’s beyond comprehension that a 90 year old woman would attempt to kill herself because some finance type somewhere wouldn’t modify the terms of her mortgage.
Stories like this irritate me. I’m sympathetic that a 90-year old woman was losing her home, don’t get me wrong, and she obviously suffers from mental/emotional issues to attempt to kill herself over it. But what is not explained is where the $57,000 that she took out went. Why didn’t she use that money to pay her mortgage? Why did she hide from officials instead of trying to actively deal with her financial issues with the mortgage company?
If she spent it, wasted it and/or gave it away, then really that’s HER CHOICE. A 30-year fixed mortgage at 6.3% is a good deal by most standards. People have been losing homes for as long as they’ve been buying them. Not every person foreclosed on is a victim of the “mortgage crisis.” Some people just made stupid choices and are now having to deal with them.
Obviously the article doesn’t give us enough information to draw concrete conclusions as to exactly why Ms. Polk was being foreclosed upon (perhaps you’ve read more definitive articles?); however, it sure makes a pretty sob-story for political figures to bandy about.
This story is absurd. It reads like a hoax. A 90 year old woman attempts to shoot herself over losing her home. Come on, NINETY??? Where’d she get the gun, by the way? Gun control? What’s that?
Even if the story IS true, it sets an absurd precedent. Attempt suicide and be forgiven a debt, no more responsibility? Fannie Mae has a heart?
I don’t swallow this one.
I agree with Stephanie. I am not un-sympathetic to Ms. Polks plight, however you must ask, what is an 86 year old woman taking out a 30 year note for. In addition to her plight, there are enough unstable persons out there that if they hear this story, they may assume that if they shoot themselves to, they may get out of their hardship. I’m not saying that this CNN story is irresponsible journalism but it could cause other problems.
WOW! Whatever happened to sympathy? This woman is 90, has lived in this house all of her adult life. I bet the house was paid for when Countrywide gave her this loan that she obviously could not afford. Now, in their wisdom, when the woman is in critical condition, they have decided to “give” her, her home. This woman and her deceased husband paid for this house. I am ashamed of people who cannot find sympathy for her. I am ashamed that this is the nation we have become. I am ashamed of what our Senate and Congress and Wall Street has done to this country. I am sickened by the lack of sympathy people have for others plights. God help us.
What has happened to the system? As I recall, when I have applied for home loans in the past they had to be approved by the lending company. The woman was 90, could be somewhat demented. Why would anyone approve a 30 year mortgage that they were sure she could not pay? Sure, we area all responsible for our own actions, but the oversight and checks and balances are gone. You are on your own buddy. And these loan sharks approve a faulty loan, run off with the money and when the financial institution gets in trouble, guess what, the middle class tax payer gets to pay for it. We need a big change in this country and it starts in November.
I agree there isn’t enough information to know the whole story, but I’m also curious about where the extra money went that she borrowed. I’m not unsympathatic to her plight but it seems to me that she made some bad decisions & was unwilling to accept the consequences. Where was her family when she was in need? I, too am facing foreclosure on my house–after just getting out of a foreclosure with a work-out agreement. I started a restaurant 3 years ago that ended up costing me a lot of money. I closed the restaurant & am now fighting to keep my house (which I bought 11 years ago). My son has helped me tremendously through my battle. Where is this lady’s family?
As with others on this comments section, I’m not completely un-sympathetic to this woman, but she made the bad choice to get this loan. She’s aged enough not to be up-to-date on the most recent mortgage workings. AND- No company should ever give a 30 yr mortgage (fixed or not) to an 86 yr old woman. (That’s how old she was when she got the loan in 2004.) It’s hard to ask ‘Where is this woman’s family’ because a lot of older Americans don’t have family that care about them. Maybe she should have gone to the caring neighbor… anyone who could help her.
Any responsible mortgage banker should have given her a Reverse Mortgage. If you don’t know what that is, Google it. It would have been perfect for her. As long as her home was paid off to begin with, she would get the cash she needed and wouldn’t have to make payments back to the bank.
And I agree with a previous comment, now people are going to think they can attempt suicide or do some other physical harm to themselves and get their house free and clear. What a nice message to send to the general public… because you’re kidding yourself if you think people out there aren’t going to try this now. The article should have said the bank is working with the woman’s estate to work out a solution. That statement would have been safer, by far.
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