Elderly Black Women Suffer “Mortgage Hell” in Silence

BAILOUT - 2008 $700 Billion Dollars - BUT FOR WHOM?

Certainly not for Auntie, Bigmama, Mother Dear, Miss Ida Mae, Cousin Vernice or Baby Sister. No, those ladies are an isolated and ignored group, whose numbers are swelling, but are only waiting and praying for a miracle, to save their homes from the Foreclosure Evil known as Sub-Prime Loans.

Meeanwhile, there have been cases where Sub-Prime Mortage holders have been vindicated.

In 2000, for example, the federal government sued Delta Funding Corporation, a subprime mortgage lender based in New York, for allegedly charging African American women higher fees than white males with similar financial profiles.

In another case, the Department of Justice in 1996 sued Long Beach Mortgage Company, a subprime lender in Anaheim, Calif., for allegedly charging single, elderly African American women and other vulnerable groups more for loans than younger, white males with similar financial profiles.

Both companies settled the cases for millions of dollars instead of going to trial.

(HINT: WHERE ARE OUR BLACK AND BEAUTIFUL BRIEFCASE WARRIORS? (aka Lawyers)

“Women especially are getting scammed,” said Robert Brown, owner of Keep My Home Today, a company out of Dunkirk, Md. His clients are mostly women hoping to stave off foreclosure.

New Twist on Credit Bias

Miss Mitchell (not her real name) is 80 years young and purchasing her home down in Hennings, TN - home of “Roots” author, ALex Haley. Now Miss Mitchell was a spry 62-year old when she purchased the home - with NO RUNNING WATER, NO WELL. Luckily, it was an FHA loan - although you have to ask - “How did that get past FHA appraisal in the first place?

Anyway, almost 20 years later, Miss Mitchell was approached by a home-improvement company to get a loan and fix up her place to make it more elderly-friendly. And of course, Miss Mitchell couldn’t resist the new
elderly mobile wheelchair on TV. $30,000 later, Miss Mitchelll owned a mortgage way past her appraisal value on a APR loan. (Yes, a $#%^& Adjustable Loan for a retiree on a fixed income.) And it’s due date came about in two years - whihh was about six months ago. Now Miss Mithchell pays double for her mortgage.

Add to that misery - a young friend “stole Miss Mitchell’s Identity” to the tune of $2500+. And now creditors are calling night and day re: the $2500+ still due even though the court found the “friend” guilty.

The banks? When Miss Mitchell called to try to get the mortgage adjusted, they wasted no time telling her, “No way. You now have no equity in your home.” They say, “File bankruptcy and keep your home.” (but they won’t lower the payments).

And of course one might think, “Scalawags!” Actually, it’s Wells Fargo Bank.
So how did big old Wells Fargo Bank not figure out that Miss Mitchell couldn’t make her payments, eat, stay warm, etc. on her fixed income retirement check? My 8-year old granddaughter certainly could have!

So like I said: what bailout?

The $700,000,000,000 BAILOUT could have saved many a Miss Mitchell from foreclosure - but she’s just an elderly African American female - down on her luck and just about out of time.

To all you BRIEFCASE WARRIORS: Please consider some Pro Bono work for our mothers, aunts, grandmothers out there waiting for a miracle as they wonder when the sheriff is coming to set them out on the streets.

Don’t turn away. It can happen to you, too - or to someone you care about!