Fannie Mae, you don't have to act like a Wall St. bank! Put people before profit!
Drawing by Vicenta's daughter
Click here to sign the petition. See below for a list of other actions you can take.
News on the case: see update below.
Our neighbor Vicenta Ortiz was foreclosed in 2012 after being unfairly denied a modification on her predatory loan. Fannie Mae now owns the home, and is trying to evict Vicenta and her family (which includes her two young daughters).
In November 2012, a non-profit submitted an offer to purchase this property from Fannie Mae. They planned to allow Ms. Ortiz and her family to stay in their home with affordable payments
Fannie Mae has not accepted the offer or worked in good faith to negotiate an affordable price consistent with the condition of the property. Instead, Fannie Mae is pushing forward with the eviction case.
We demand that Fannie Mae let Vicenta stay in her home. Fannie Mae is majority owned by the people, and we demand they put our community's interests first. We don't want another displaced family, or another vacant home!
What you can do
Timothy Mayopoulos, President and CEO
Fannie Mae
3900 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
- Be sure to mention Vicenta Ortiz at Allen Ave, Lynn, MA
- Send a copy to Lynn United for Change so we can share it with elected officials
Background
Vicenta bought her home on Allen Avenue in Lynn, MA during the housing bubble. She paid an inflated price and was pushed into a predatory, adjustable rate mortgage.
The inflated mortgage payments and a decline in income due to the recession made it difficult to keep up. Vicenta tried to work with the bank. IndyMac/OneWest Bank told her to make what seemed like "trial" modification payments for a total of 11 months, and then denied her request for a modification.
The reason they gave for rejecting her application? First they said her application was incomplete without information about her husband... even though she has never been married and was the only person on the loan. Next, the bank claimed they were denying her because the home was vacant. Vicenta sent documents proving that she has lived in the home continuously, but the bank did not respond. They only sent a letter with a date for a foreclosure auction.
The home was foreclosed and is now owned by Fannie Mae.
Update
The foreclosure of Vicenta's home was declared invalid by a housing court judge. But Fannie Mae rules still prevent the loan servicer from granting a fair modification that would prevent a new foreclosure. Vicenta is ready and willing to make fair payments. But Fannie Mae prohibits servicers from resetting loans to current value (principal reduction), which is proven as the most effective way to prevent foreclosure. Because of Fannie Mae's rules, Vicenta and her family will again be at risk of foreclosure and eviction.
The big picture: we need change at Fannie, Freddie, and all the banks!
Here's a petition demanding change at Fannie and Freddie. By resetting underwater, "bubble era" mortgages to current value (i.e. reducing principal), they could keep families in their homes while also boosting the economy. And of course the big banks and Wall St should be doing the same. We bailed them out!
Notes from Vicenta
"I bought this home for my family, and I do not want to move. My two young daughters, mother, sister, and niece live here with me. I am very involved in my church which is here in Lynn. I also work here in Lynn. My children are in school here, my mother has her doctor here, and my sister works here. Everything is here, and we want to stay in this community."
"Why don’t you work with us to find a resolution? Why do you want to give the opportunity instead to an investor to come and make a profit while throwing our family out? ... We didn’t get behind on our payments because we had money but didn’t want to pay; we were struggling because of the economy and the very high housing prices."