As ThinkProgress Economics Editor Pat Garofalo noted today, millions of Americans are still living in fear of having their homes foreclosed on as the nation’s housing crisis continues unabated, and federal efforts to stem the flow of foreclosures have thus far been too little and too late.
One particularly shocking foreclosure story revolves around father and son Tim and Aaron Collette. In 2006, in more prosperous times, Tim Collette purchased a new home in his state of Oregon and was able to pay more than $100,000 in a down payment. But when the recession hit, his construction business suffered and he was soon unable to make mortgage payments through no fault of his own.
His mortgage servicer, Chase, refused to work with him to renegotiate the terms of his mortgage to adapt to the hard economic times. While this was occurring, his son Aaron was serving in Iraq. He is soon scheduled to come home for a brief period of leave, but Chase is taking away his family’s home. In ten days — the family has set up a countdown clock to the actual time — the bank is set to foreclose on house, essentially meaning that Aaron is going to be coming home to a home that doesn’t exist.
This afternoon, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) appeared on the floor of the Senate to relay the tale of the Collette family. He read a letter from Tim Collette and concluded that for this family and “countless others, it didn’t need to be this bad”:
One particularly shocking foreclosure story revolves around father and son Tim and Aaron Collette. In 2006, in more prosperous times, Tim Collette purchased a new home in his state of Oregon and was able to pay more than $100,000 in a down payment. But when the recession hit, his construction business suffered and he was soon unable to make mortgage payments through no fault of his own.
His mortgage servicer, Chase, refused to work with him to renegotiate the terms of his mortgage to adapt to the hard economic times. While this was occurring, his son Aaron was serving in Iraq. He is soon scheduled to come home for a brief period of leave, but Chase is taking away his family’s home. In ten days — the family has set up a countdown clock to the actual time — the bank is set to foreclose on house, essentially meaning that Aaron is going to be coming home to a home that doesn’t exist.
This afternoon, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) appeared on the floor of the Senate to relay the tale of the Collette family. He read a letter from Tim Collette and concluded that for this family and “countless others, it didn’t need to be this bad”:
MERKELEY: I’d like to share with you today a story, a story about Tim Collette and his son in my state of Oregon. [...] Mr. Collette says, my biggest problem now is my some comes from the military in August, and my home is being foreclosed on in 18 days. He’s been hit by an I.E.D., people shooting at him, and he just wanted to come home and sleep in his room, in his bed, and be safe for 15 days. And I told him I’d make that happen. I don’t know how yet. [...] And for Tim and countless others, it didn’t need to be this bad.
Watch it:
The Collette family is campaigning for legislation in Oregon that would give homeowners more leverage to negotiate with banks to modify their mortagages. If you want to help this father and his military son, you can go here to sign a petition by Economic Fairness Oregon to demand that Chase work with the family rather than foreclose on their home.
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