'When a burglar goes in, they don't take your photos and your husband's ashes,' says alleged victim of wrongful foreclosure
TRUCKEE, Calif. — When Mimi Ash arrived at her mountain chalet here for a weekend ski trip, she discovered that someone had broken into the home and changed the locks.
When she finally got into the house, it was empty. All of her possessions were gone: furniture, her son’s ski medals, winter clothes and family photos.
Also missing was a wooden box, its top inscribed with the words “Together Forever,” that contained the ashes of her late husband, Robert.
The culprit, Ms. Ash soon learned, was not a burglar but her bank. According to a federal lawsuit filed in October by Ms. Ash, Bank of America had wrongfully foreclosed on her house and thrown out her belongings, without alerting Ms. Ash beforehand.
In an era when millions of homes have received foreclosure notices nationwide, lawsuits detailing bank break-ins like the one at Ms. Ash’s house keep surfacing.
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When Mimi ASH (no pun intended) arrived at her MOUNTAIN CHALET for her WEEKEND SKI TRIP...... If she can afford to have a chalet for weekend ski trips, she should be able to pay her bills. If she can't, how does she even have money for transportation to get there, and the cost of the slopes. I don't agree with her stuff being stoled, but is sounds as if her priorities are in the wrong place. Seems like another example of people living beyond their means and expecting everyone else to bail them out. Or suing because something wasn't done exactly by the book. Until these foreclosures and short sales get straight, the housing market will never recover.
ReplyDelete3:24, what part of the words wrongful foreclosure did you miss? This was not about someone living beyond their means, and missing a few payments.
ReplyDeleteDid you even bother to click-thru on the link and read the entire story?
7:09 PM
ReplyDeleteOf course not.
7:09 and 10:25
ReplyDeleteThe article said she was behind on her payments. I had to reread it again because I thought the same thing as you did at first.
"More common are cases like Ms. Ash’s, in which a homeowner was behind on payments, perhaps trying to work out a modification, when bank crews changed the locks."
When I was in college, I had an instructor that advised that if you had "anything on the ball" the place to go for employment was the banking industry, because very few others there did. If you have had any dealings in recent years with large national banks, you have probably concluded before now that that was good advice. There are several facts that either are not emphasized or which are left out of the article. The chalet was owned originally by the now deceased husband, not the wife. The wife had never signed the mortgage and was never obligated. Secondly, the estate now owned the chalet after his death. The wife sent a certified $15,000 check to bring the estate's payments current and as down payment to buy. Obviously the check cleared. Thirdly, this lady did exactly as the lender instructed in order to buy this residence. Fourthly, the lender sent settlement documents, but they were substantially in error. Her counsel rejected them and spoke to the lender. The lender promised to forward corrected documents.
ReplyDeleteDespite his repeated calls and correspondence the lender failed to ever respond with documents. She stopped paying on counsel's advice until she got title in her name. Not bad advice. I suspect just about all of us would have done the same. Given her financial problems, she still did nothing wrong. Also keep in mind that when the lender's contractor cleaned out the premises they disposed of all her personal belongings. They can't be retrieved. Sue their Butts off!