Local Homeowner Stays in Home - For Now
Longtime Malden resident Marie Odestin said she hopes to work with Wells Fargo to keep she and her children in their home, despite a foreclosure auction this morning.
A 23-year Malden resident is claiming victory after Wells Fargo decided to repurchase her house at a foreclosure auction this afternoon, a move she said would give her leverage to re-negotiate her mortgage and keep her children in their home.
Marie Odestin was joined by 30 protesters outside of her home, with members from groups as varied as City Life, Occupy Boston and the Industrial Workers of the World, who said they were trying to send a message to banks like Wells Fargo that they should work with underwater homeowners.
"Overinflated value"
“The Odestin family was mistreated, ignored and stonewalled by Wells Fargo,” City Life Lead Organizer Dominic DeSiata said, accusing the bank of giving the family the runaround as they tried to re-negotiate their loan.
“Wells Fargo has been bailed out by taxpayers, and they should be working with people in our communities (to reach) a fair outcome.”
DeSiata said the home was bought at an overinflated price at the height of the real estate bubble, and argued that lenders should lower the principle of their loans to more accurately reflect the home's true market value post-crash.
“This is an overinflated value, (one) that the house never had,” he said. “And it crashed because of actions on Wall St....and they want working people, and people in our neighborhoods, to pay the price.”
"I'm very Malden"
Odestin, who invited protesters in for coffee and pastries, said she had lived in Malden for 23 years.
Her daughter was born in the now-closed Malden Hospital, her son attends Ferryway School and she said she volunteered for Gary Christenson's mayoral campaign last year.
“I'm very Malden,” she said.
She and her family have lived in the home for four years, though the mortgage has not been paid since she and her husband split up about a year ago. She said she worked with non-profit groups to work with the bank, but found her requests were repeatedly denied by the bank.
Odestin said she hoped Wells Fargo's repurchase of the home at auction would allow her to work with a non-profit bank to purchase the home with a refinanced loan that would allow her to make monthly payments.
“Not everyone can afford to buy their house back, but we know that displacement, eviction, leaving these houses empty is not a solution,” DeSiata said.
A call made to a Wells Fargo spokeswoman late afternoon Monday was not immediately returned.
Newt Penn
11:36 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
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Chris Caesar
11:42 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
You can always upload them onto Patch, too...
Paul Weston
12:19 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
There are a number of things that don't make sense with this article, including the statement that this home was bought in an over inflated housing market at the height of the bubble. I checked the MLS and found that the home was purchased in 2009 for 249K. It was orginally listed for 329K and was on the market for 230 days.
Chris Caesar
12:27 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Thanks Paul, I am indeed confused as well. She said she moved into the home four years ago. I'll be talking to a Wells Fargo rep tomorrow who can hopefully provide more specific information about the mortgage.
paul surette
7:08 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
If the home was indeed purchased for the $249,000, but was appraised for $329,000, wouldn't someone be on the hook for that difference? I'm talking about capital gains here!
paul surette
7:19 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
And don't get me started about Wells Fargo. When I was going through my divorce, my property was being foreclosed on by Wells Fargo. My house in Tewksbury was in foreclosure for over two years. Guess why they never got to take over the property. My closing attorney never cleared the title from the previous mortgage company. So the title was in dispute. Wells Fargo hired the law firm Harmon Law, based in Newton, Mass. Harmon Law was charging ridiculous foreclosure fees.They charged the property to the tune of $109,000. Yes, that's right.....$109,000. My ex wife was soft for even paying it. Harmon Law was then sued in a class-action lawsuit, which I joined in. Guess what MY take was after the settlement.....$100.00, yet the lawyers who sued Harmon, made $2.7 million. To this day, Wells Fargo, just like Bank of America, is getting sued daily for all sorts of fraud. Playing devil's advocate here for a second.....why do people, who are living check-to-check, bury themselves in these high-risk mortgages, only to look to be bailed out when they can't make the mortgage?
Paul Weston
8:00 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
I am beginning to doubt there was even an auction scheduled, and this group CIty Life is using her situation just to get free press coverage. The bank did not even initiated the foreclosure process until 10/27/11. Something is not right here.
Chris Caesar
10:09 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
There was an auctioneer and an auction at the property, I can verify that.
Alicia de la Garza
2:09 pm on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
You don't seem to understand, Paul. This is what City Life does. They exist to help serve families like Marie's. Of course they want their actions to get press coverage. How else are they supposed to bolster their movement?
Cathy
8:52 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
I feel bad for this woman, but you can't just not pay your mortgage for an entire year. It sounds like she and her husband split up. They should have put their house up for sale at that point knowing that one paycheck would not cover the mortgage. I'm not rooting for the bank at all, and I'm not saying anything against this poor woman, but it's obvious that she just can't afford to keep her house. When my husband and I found that we were struggling to pay our mortgage, we knew we had no other choice but to sell our home before it went into foreclosure. Hopefully something can be worked out here for her children's sake.
Paul Weston
9:06 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
I agree with you Cathy. The other thing that I noticed is that her name is not on the Deed, nor is it on the Mortgage, according to the Registry of Deeds. In order to sell the property, only the owner of record would be able to enter into a transaction to sell the property.
Chris Caesar
10:07 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
The property is owned by her husband and they are separated. At least, that is what she told me.
Amy
9:19 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
The reason someone like Marie didn't sell her house is because it's underwater. The bank won't let you sell the house if you owe more than it's worth. It's a huge problem. That is why the federal government was pushing the banks to do more short sales (forcing the bank to let you sell the house even when you will get less for it than you owe). But the banks won't do it because they don't want to take the loss even tho they will have to take the loss when it forecloses anyway. It's a sad situation all around, but one that we can fix, if we push for the the banks to reduce principal and do real loan modifications, let people stay and rent their homes from the bank or buy them back after foreclosure.
Paul Weston
10:36 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
I just a quick check of the real estate market in that area. 2 familes are selling in the 300K range, depending upon lot size and condition of property etc. The original mortgage amount was for 228K.
Chris Caesar
10:42 am on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
I'll be the first to admit that real estate is hardly a strong suit, but I've seen different figures for the property's value ranging from the $400,000 range to the low 200s. I'm not sure what to make of it.
Cathy
3:33 pm on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Amy, I agree with you about the banks renting the property to the owners so they not only can stay, but the banks will at least be making some money. Too many banks are too quick to foreclose and then let the property sits empty and evereyone loses.
paul surette
6:06 am on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Careful now John....I spoke to you before about your sarcastic tone! :) We don't want anyone to label you as someone who hates people who don't pay their mortgage :) This is all just laughable. Where else but in America can you purchase a home you can't really afford, then hold the bank hostage because they won't negotiate with you, even though YOU, Marie, broke the terms of the contract. You're right Marie....those bastard bankers!
Don
10:13 am on Thursday, January 26, 2012
There are a large number of people who really know how to game this system. How many times do people get 3rd, 4th time mortgages and buy and sell their houses like swapping cards? All the time. The problem is that there will be riots in the street if they force these people to work and live like most people do. I think there will be riots very soon, the under water situation is increasing.