With the quick stroke of a pen, a family can lose its home — but there should be demonstrations at courthouses in support of these families
(Editor’s note: In the Aug. 7 edition of the American Jewish World, John Ostfield wrote about his struggle to avoid foreclosure, and urged the Jewish community to become more involved in stopping foreclosures locally and nationally.)
By JOHN OSTFIELD
It takes about two minutes for someone to lose their house, and it takes dozens of hours for someone to save their home. I have been fortunate. I was able to postpone the sheriff’s sale on my home to an undetermined future date.
After spending many hours over many days speaking to many people and being told many things, I was finally able to get the multinational bank to actually instruct the local law firm who acts for it here to delay the sale. It then took another few days for the law firm to actually confirm that it had been instructed not to proceed with the sale. I finally got an e-mail confirming that the sale would not take place — less than three days before it was scheduled.
It is highly unusual to get anything in writing. The people one deals with are instructed not to send anything out in writing.
The key to this is the sheriff’s sale. When a bank forecloses on someone they have their attorneys arrange for a “sale” at the county sheriff’s office. Once that happens, the mortgage is extinguished and the homeowner has six months (this varies by state) to redeem the amount bid (usually the balance of the mortgage), plus costs, or he or she loses the title.
The redemption period is a sham. Unless one wins the lottery there is no way to get the money. No other bank will provide a loan.
As long as the sheriff’s sale hasn’t happened, the mortgage still exists, and the possibility to renegotiate it also exists — and the six-month clock to eviction hasn’t started ticking.
When they hold a sheriff’s sale, the banks take more than one property. It is an assembly line. I went to the sale at the time my home had been scheduled to be sold to be sure that there had been no mistake made. I met with the paralegal to verify that my home wasn’t in his pile of around 20 homes to be seized.
It was very enlightening. There was an armed deputy sheriff there (although I don’t see why he needed a gun, since he had a pen), a notary, and paralegals from law firms representing banks. What is interesting is who was not there. There were no officers of the court, no judges, no attorneys, no one representing any homeowner. It was all very friendly.
A paralegal presented a file, only mentioning the address and the legal description (which everyone agreed to dispense with); a bid was offered by the paralegal on behalf of the bank; the deputy verified that the homeowner had been served; he signed the order and it was notarized. The homeowner’s name was never mentioned, and from that point on, he or she was six months away from being homeless. It took less than two minutes. Next!
Housing advocates have to focus on the sheriff’s sale as the point of defense. There is no due process. The absolute power of the banks is clear. No one is lifting a finger to stop them.
Housing advocates should subscribe to the legal publications that list these sales and contact the homeowner, just like the private firms that contact homeowners with offers to help. Every time there is a sale, there should be demonstrations at the courthouse in support of the families who are about to lose their homes. This would be downtown, not in the neighborhoods. Everyone should see that people are losing their homes every day.
Once I knew that my home was safe I left. On my way out the door I mumbled to no one in particular: “There must be a better way to make a living than to steal people’s houses.” I was thinking, “Where is Robin Hood now that we need him?”
We have to stand up for ourselves. I believe that there are a great many families in the Jewish community who are in financial trouble — and silently cowering in shame.
I propose a project called Faces of Foreclosure. Anyone who is facing foreclosure should send an e-mail to me at: facesofforeclosure@yahoo.com. Please provide the following information: number and ages of people in the family, each child’s grade in school, where in the process one is (i.e., behind in payments, a demand letter received from a lawyer, a sheriff’s sale scheduled, a sheriff’s sale held and in the redemption period, or finally evicted). Please include the zip code, so that it can be made clear that this problem is general. Also, note if you are Jewish or not. No names will be made public.
We must come together in solidarity to stop foreclosures and evictions.
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John Ostfield lives in St. Paul.
(American Jewish World, 9.4.09)
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