Interesting little tidbit from Brittney Gordon from ABC news… Apparently that beloved Obama community organization/get-out-the-vote group, ACORN, has decided to make themselves *unquestionably* – (as opposed to under investigation) – criminals for breaking and entering the former residence of Donna Hanks in the 300 block of Ellwood (near Ellwood Park) in Baltimore, MD.
Police were at the home Thursday night looking for fingerprints and other evidence.
The activists who staged the break-in belong to the Association of Community Organizations For Reform Now or ACORN.
After snapping a lock with bolt cutters, ACORN member Louis Beverly told supporters “this is our house now.”
ACORN staged the demonstration to protest the foreclosure crisis sweeping the nation.
The home in the 300 block of Ellwood Avenue used to be owned by Donna Hanks. She lost this home in September, after owning it since 2001. When things got tough she struggled to make her payments. Her mortgage? $1995 a month. Her income? $2200. Donna’s story is one that ACORN is taking a stand against.
“We feel that it was unjust, we feel as though she was strong armed robbed, we feel that Wells Fargo could have modified her loan and that is what we are asking for right now,” says Beverly.
Acorn chapters across the country are staging similar scenes to drive their point home. They want state governments to enact moratoriums on foreclosures until this crisis can be worked out.
So now ACORN has taken to abusing other US citizen homeowners’ rights as part of their affirmative action civil disobedience protests. The home is now, allegedly, owned by one William Lane who told ABC News that he plans to sue ACORN.
Go for it, guy… you should put up a website for contributions to your legal cause, along with the others ACORN is now abusing (as they state in the article above with other chapters engaging in similar crimes) as part of their antics.
But something truly smells about this… Ms. Hanks purchased this home in 2001 with a mortgage monthly of $1995, and an income of $2200??
First, let’s adjust the payment for reality, as this payment may be what we call a PITI payment… in other words, a mortgage loan with payment that includes the estimated property taxes and homeowners insurance monthly.
Now I’m not sure what southeast Baltimore’s property tax mil rate is, but lets play a few numbers games, shall we?
Let’s play that her taxes on the home are $3000 annually (which is based on the assessment value of the home), which would translate to $250 monthly. And let’s assume her homeowner’s policy is $1200 annually, and $100 monthly. That takes her principle and interest mortgage payment down to $1645.
Now let’s assume that she got a very high rate (ala subprime?) for 2001 of 7.5%, when rates were low following 911. (thank you so much, Greenspan… sarcasm/off)
Using mortgage calculator now…. With a $1645 monthly mortgage at 7.5% for 30 years, that’s financing $235,264 for the loan.
Now I don’t know what Ms. Hank’s used to own. And I’m not privvy to the more detailed Baltimore market history. But I can use Trulia’s market trends for her zipcode of 21224 back to 2001.
If you’ll notice, that area’s median price back in 2001 was $50K-60K. How did she end up with an astronomical mortgage of $1645 on a $50-60K loan? (or even a $100K loan, being generous for overpricing….) And of course, that also means if the home was assessed for this lower amount, my tax allocation of her PITI payment is likely high.
Sorry… don’t buy this BS. I repeat, something is rotten in ACORN’s Baltimore, and we’re missing a huge chunk of the truth.
If Ms. Hanks had that high of a mortgage, what ACORN may not be telling us is if Ms. Hanks *refinanced* that home and pulled out cash equity *after* her original purchase… then defaulted. Naturally, there is still the head scratcher as to why any lender would do so, since none of median market trends supported a 100% LTV loan for a price as high as $235K on a 7.5% mortgage rate… UNLESS she did this as at least a 100% LTV refi at the peak market late 2007 in her area.
UPDATE 2-21-09: Big thanks to commenter Sherry below for confirming that my speculation about Ms. Hanks irreponsible use of her real estate and equity is correct. Ms. Hanks purchased for $87K, refi’d for $270K which, after closing costs, gave her a rough estimate of $175K cash equity.
Considering that Sherry has informed us Ms. Hanks declared bankruptcy in June of 2006, we are safe to assume that $175K is gone somewhere. And unless it was for medical emergencies, irresponsibly obtained, and even more irresponsibly spent.
Make sure you read Sherry’s comment, as it’s rich with more public record information about this ACORN “victim”…. And again, many thanks for doing the local public records legwork, girl!
In which case, Ms. Hanks no more deserves to have ACORN committing crimes to support her irresponsible lunacy to take on such a mortgage payment anymore than the idiot institution that *gave* her that loan (with or without documentation?) deserves to be bailed out.
But it all makes for heart tugging fodder until you look at the local facts, eh?
But guess who was one of the general contractors for that area? ACORN Housing Corporation, of course. And coincidently, ACORN Housing Group was very busy in the area doing first time homeowner seminars in late 2007… perhaps about the same time that Ms. Hank’s possibly upped her ante on her Ellwood Park home.
Like I said, I don’t know the details on Ms. Hanks and her default on her home. But I do know that if she bought a $78,000 to $100,000 home in 2001, and ended up with a $1995 PITI payment, she has a seriously good legal case for Obama’s lawyer friends for discrimination.
But then, that’s not what ACORN is protesting with their criminal acts against US homeowners, is it? They are annoyed they didn’t give her a loan modification… not that they shafted her on her purchase loan.
So what’s the truth? Is Ms. Hank’s defaulting on a refi after pulling out cash equity? Or is it on an original purchase that she bought for a price 66% over market value?
Forgive me, but I can’t imagine *anyone*… including a first time homebuyer… being so absolutely stupid to voluntarily take out a $235K mortgage for a $78K-$100K home.
As far as ACORN goes? Hang… they’ve been criminals in my mind for quite some time. Glad to see that law enforcment will also view them that way. But I’d beware about giving them, and their “victims” too much sympathy.
Vietnam era Navy wife, indy/conservative, and an official California escapee now residing as a red speck in the sea of Oregon blue.