Several years back, at the tail end of the Bush era, before the economy collapsed, we suspected things were screwed up because of what was happening in our neighborhood.
The house directly across the street from us had been turned over to the previous owners’ so the place became a revolving door for – well, we weren’t sure who these people were. One week, a family would be living in the house, kids and dogs and volleyball nets. The next week, the family would be gone and two guys would be sitting in the open garage with their computers, and new tenants would show up.
We had them all, every skin color, every type of family unit, every family pet. We discovered the guys in the garage were using the neighbors’ internet, that the house was being rented out to the homeless, the disenfranchised, that it was sold in a deal where no one could prove ownership, not even the bank. Then, of course, came the big collapse, 2008 and the foreclosure mess. We all know how that shook out.
So the other day we found this wonderful trickster story that turns the tables on banks:
Patrick Rodgers bought his home for $186,000. But when he started receiving notices that he owed a home insurance premium for a $1 million dollar house, he wrote his bank three times about it. The bank didn’t answers. A Philadelphia homeowner started foreclosure proceedings on a Wells Fargo mortgage office after winning a rather strange legal judgement against the bank. So he decided to force his mortgage company to pay attention, ABC News reported.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Rodgers discovered the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, which requires mortgage companies to acknowledge written requests within 20 business days or face penalties. He took Wells Fargo to court and won a default judgment of $1,173 because the bank didn’t show up in court. When the bank still failed to reply to his letters, he started foreclosure proceedings.
The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, passed in 1974 to protect borrowers, stipulates a standard complaint letter that can be sent to lenders. (For more information on RESPA, check out the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s website here.)
The contents of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage’s offices at 1341 North Delaware Avenue were scheduled for a March 4 sheriff’s sale. We’ll have to check for an update!
Interesting how things can turn around.
Ok so now what is up with the blog? I kee getting posting updates ( feeds) on gmail from ofscarabs ( i have now deleted myself from that subscription)
I also tried to contact you on that other email that you sent me but it comes back saying nonavailable>
What is up let me know
Love
healing – will try again on the other email.
Did you guys pull the old site, or is this another act of cyber-terrorism ?
I’ll drop you note, Daz.
Good to hear, guys. Hang in. We’re all with you.
This may not go through. Rob and Trish are off-line. May be well to not comment until they come back to give all-clear.
We’re online, math, and open for comments and discussions. We’re just not broadcasting it over the microphone yet. We’ve got a post coming up on this.
Thank you..really informative!!
Wonderful to see. A synchro for me too. We were looking at properties to buy yesterday in Delaware Drive. 🙂
Time for the worm to turn.
ah, sweet balancing in the universe! neat story!
Great information….weird…the photo of the house in this post is identical to mine… both the color and style, and that sign looks scary in front of it. My neighborhood is full of homes that sit empty. Where good families have lost their homes, their pride, and the hope of what was once the American dream. Chicagoland’s turning into wastelands of homes let go and empty. I like your turn of the tables…and will be bookmarking this information hoping I won’t ever have to use it…but then one never knows. Thanks .