SWAT Team Evicts Granny From House Because Bank Refused To Take Payments After Her Husband's Death

[meegbear]

When enough people see things like this with their own eyes, I suppose that's when we'll have a democratic revolution in this country:

Last week, a SWAT team forcefully evicted Rochester resident Catherine Lennon from her New York home, arresting at least six protestors and neighbors in the process, according to MSNBC.com.

The federal debate over the foreclosure process has heated up in recent weeks, with the Obama administration backtracking on an earlier, more dramatic proposition that would have required mortgage lenders to reduce monthly payments for millions of homeowners like Lennon.

Lennon, a grandmother living with her children and grandchildren, says she was willing to make mortgage payments to government-sponsored mortgage insurance firm Fannie Mae, but that the bank refused to accept her checks because the property was not in her name. Her husband -- the official homeowner -- died in 2008 without writing a will, leading to a legal battle between Lennon and her bank.

Take Back The Land-Rochester, a group dedicated to defending community housing and now supporting Lennon, staged an eviction in the weeks leading up to the altercation. The day of the confrontation, police arrested protestors for attempting to block entrance to the house.

"This is not America," a neighbor told a local television crew. "This is not what America should be."

Bank of America released a statement in response to the controversy saying Lennon had fallen behind on her payments, becoming delinquent. In turn, TBLT's Ryan Acuff said that while Lennon was delinquent on payments to Countrywide and Bank of America, she had "not only met with the Housing Council, the local HUD approved mortgage counselors, but attempted to engage with Bank of America."

"(T)he fact remains," Acuff continued, "that Bank of America refused her attempts to pay and efforts to negotiate modifications to her mortgage for the reasons stated above."

Rep. Louise Slaughter (NY-28) has reached out to Fannie Mae to re-review Lennon's case. After speaking with high-level representatives, Lennon says she is "very positive" about the prospect of her house being returned to her.

The difference is, during the Great Depression, hundreds of people would have shown up to stop this, not fewer than a dozen.

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/swat-team-evicts-granny-her-house-bec

[trud]

1. odd?

This sounds just a bit odd. Even without a will, the house or a goodly chunk of it should be hers automatically. The kids might own some part of it, depending on NY law.

I just looked this up in NY, with no will, the surviving spouse gets everything unless there are kids, in which case the spouse "gets the first $50,000, plus one-half of the remaining property in the estate."

[Lance_Boyle]

7. that's if it was owned outright - there was a mortgage

I don't think contracts pass to spouses automatically - if they did there would be way more bad to come of it than good as surviving spouses would be on the hook for most debt. If she was recorded on the deed along with the husband then she would have been the mortgage holder of record when the husband passed, but apparently she was not.

[trud]

12. Lance

not contracts, but property.

[dkf]

9. Yeah that doesn't make sense to me.

[barbtries]

2. the SWAT team?

the SWAT team. way too much time on their hands apparently. this shit just makes me feel sick.

[smirkymonkey]

3. Christ, that's like trying to kill a fly with an AK-47. WTF?

Sending a SWAT team after a delinquent granny? I can't take it anymore.

[barbtries]

4. exactly

it makes me want to scream, or cry.

[WinkyDink]

5. Excuse me? A widow gets the property of the deceased.

[Lance_Boyle]

8. but not the debt - the mortgage is a debt

[tuckessee]

6. The real lesson here is about wills. n/t

[trud]

11. wills

Yes, to digress from this obviously bad situation, everyone needs a will and a power of attorney for healthcare/living will. I did that in my 40s as a single woman, and I am still stunned at people who have kids and who have not done that.

[truedelphi]

10. During the Depression (The Other one) over 30 states had

Laws on the books that forbade foreclosures, no matter what.

But now our state legislatures are every bit as owned as the folks in Washington DC.

[flvegan]

13. I'd like to know when that mortgage was taken out.

In many states, a homestead cannot be mortgaged by one spouse. Both must sign. If the other spouse does not sign, good luck. Homestead rights. That and a simple quiet title case and that mortgage is wiped out.

That said, I'm absolutely disgusted that there aren't more lawyers taking shit like this on pro bono.