Stop Foreclosure Answer

In July I told you about a community that was rallying behind a Tennessee grandmother who was in the midst of foreclosure. Wells Fargo, her mortgage company, was finalizing the foreclosure on her home.

Her home had been scheduled to be auctioned off at the end of May. The auction was rescheduled for June 26. Her story became known in her community. The people there jumped in to help her. A local church scheduled a car wash to raise cash for her. A local mortgage company took on her case and was trying to get her a reverse mortgage.

Well, the story has a happy outcome. Lorraine Zickefoose, the 72 year old grandmother, has been able to save her home. She got the reverse mortgage and was able to pay off the Wells Fargo mortgage.

She closed on the reverse mortgage on Monday, June 8. Her church raised thousands of dollars through the car wash and collected donations. She used the $106,173 that came from the reverse mortgage and from the church to pay the Wells Fargo mortgage off. That was almost $30,000 short of what Wells Fargo was owed on the mortgage. They wrote off the difference.

This lady had been trying to work out a solution with Wells Fargo for 8 months. She qualified for the reverse mortgage last fall but it was not enough to cover what Wells Fargo was owed on their mortgage. They would not accept it. After months of phone calls and emails from her mortgage company plus the community rallying to support her and the negative publicity they received, Wells Fargo finally gave in.

In my original post on this, I wondered why Wells Fargo took such a hard line on this case. You know – I still do. Why did this case have to reach the point it did before Wells Fargo agreed to settle? Why did the community have to get involved?

Some may say that Wells Fargo did what they did because they didn’t want to lose $30,000. Let’s look at that more closely. If they had foreclosed, they would have had to sell Ms. Zickefoose’s home and probably would have lost much more.

So Ms. Zickefoose keeps her home and Wells Fargo has another black mark against it. It seems that in many of the stories I have read about recently where people suffering from extreme hardship were facing foreclosure, their mortgage company was Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo’s reputation has really gone downhill in this foreclosure crisis. Over and over again the company has looked like the villain.

If you are facing foreclosure and want to save your home, be prepared for what may be a very long battle. Don’t get discouraged. Also I recommend that you get help from a lawyer or an expert in loan modifications. They will help you avoid unnecessary work. You will also have someone guiding you each step in the process.

Much Success,

Mark Elkins