Village Green foreclosure fight updates: MSNBC interview; benefit date change

Two quick updates in the ongoing saga of Village Green Perennial Nursery owner Vera Johnson‘s fight against foreclosure, after what she says has been months of getting the runaround from Bank of America: First, WSB commenters had suggested this story deserves national attention – and it looks like some is on the way: Vera tells WSB she has been asked to do a national cable-network interview, tomorrow morning around 8 am with MSNBC, from a downtown Seattle studio. We don’t have an exact time yet when this is likely to air, but we’re working to find out. Second, the date for a community benefit/rally on Vera’s behalf has just changed to August 31st, still at 5 pm at Big Al Brewing in White Center. (If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s our Tuesday story about her trip downtown to get a face-to-face meeting with B of A.)

42 Replies to "Village Green foreclosure fight updates: MSNBC interview; benefit date change"

  • Kelly August 10, 2011 (4:50 pm)

    Who is inviting Dennis Day and Michael Kuehner (and the next BOA up from there) to the benefit? Someone needs to atone and that someone has the deep pockets to do it.

  • The Velvet Bulldog August 10, 2011 (4:51 pm)

    Yes!

  • coffee August 10, 2011 (5:21 pm)

    I would love to see this! If you find out the time please post!
    Also, THANK YOU for all of your hard work on this fight Vera. There are many of us who simply have given up to the giants. I am one of them…

  • MMS August 10, 2011 (5:43 pm)

    But…isn’t that what happens when you don’t pay your mortgage? I know if I don’t pay my rent per my signed lease (a legal agreement) then I can be evicted. Just playing a little Devil’s advocate here…

  • mookie August 10, 2011 (5:48 pm)

    Go Vera! It’s so typical that BOA gave her months of runaround, conflicting answers, “lost” paperwork etc only to finally be forced to meet with her – at which point they palmed the whole thing off to Fannie Mae.
    .
    Thank you for having the energy to keep pushing on this, Vera; I hope things work better for you soon and I’m sure a lot of people who have been dealing with these kinds of callous Stepford Bankers appreciate your leading the charge and are behind you 100%.

  • govera! August 10, 2011 (6:17 pm)

    Wouldn’t it be great if we could side-step the banks and create our own mortgage Co-op? Talk about freedom.

  • RJB August 10, 2011 (6:43 pm)

    You go Vera!!

  • HelperMonkey August 10, 2011 (7:02 pm)

    MMS, she was trying to get a loan modification and BofA gave her the runaround and wouldn’t accept her payments even when she tried. It’s not that she was not trying to pay her mortgage and now expects help. understanding the situation before commenting is key. just playing Devil’s advocate.

  • B August 10, 2011 (7:07 pm)

    MMS, just playing a little Devil’s Advocate here and saying that BoA got money from taxpayers but now they are refusing to help the taxpayers. Shame on them!

  • Mike August 10, 2011 (7:14 pm)

    Right on!

  • DC August 10, 2011 (7:18 pm)

    MMS – I recommend reading WSB’s July 12th story about Vera’s fight to save her home and business. It’s more complicated than not paying the mortgage…

  • Estd1973 August 10, 2011 (7:20 pm)

    I really admire this woman’s courage and strength, but like someone else said, isn’t this what happens when you don’t pay your bills… I know once I forgot to pay my water bill it was 2 weeks late for only $50 and I received an eviction notice from my landlord for violation of my lease. I guess being a renter is a lot tougher. If you get thrown out on the streets as a renter you’re disposable, and circumstances don’t matter, but if it happens to you as a home owner, it’s national news.

  • Deanie Schwarz August 10, 2011 (7:28 pm)

    Michael Kuehner had begun a job search online the week before he met with Vera last week. He was with BoA less than a year, according to his online resume. This is but ONE of the symptoms of BoA’s system – high employee turnover:

    http://jobcircle.com/resumes/michael_kuehner2.html?source=jbs

  • cakeordeath August 10, 2011 (7:56 pm)

    OMG it just gets awesomer and awesomer. Stick it the man, Vera!!!

  • JanS August 10, 2011 (8:20 pm)

    MMS..B of A’s stock line was…you can’t apply for a mortgage loan modification until you have missed two mortgage payments…so she did, taking their advice…and then they turned around and put her into foreclosure. That sucks when you’re doing what you’re told to do. And then gave her the runaround about “lost” paperwork more than once.

  • proudpugetridger August 10, 2011 (8:41 pm)

    I wanted a new car and went to buy a Kia, a few years back. When on the way to the Kia dealer I passed a Chevrolet showroom, which has an awesome Corvette in the window. I learned that all I had to do was promise to pay for the Corvette and I could have it! I bought the snazzy car, and enjoyed it for a full year…it was awesome. Suddenly, I lost my job and couldn’t afford the payments. I tried to sell it, but the depreciation was so great that I couldn’t recover the balance I owed. I decided to simply stop making payments. Get this…those buzzards at Chevy decided to take back their car. The nerve!

  • Kate August 10, 2011 (9:09 pm)

    I think the point isn’t that one should be foreclosed on for not paying one’s mortgage. But rather that the fact that big banks that took taxpayer money during the implosion of the economy are actually making the economy worse by not doing simple loan modifications. Creating more foreclosed inventory right now only digs us deeper into the hole and it really frustrates me that Banks will spend the same money to foreclose as they would to modify. This is the major failing of the current administration – that they could not force banks to work with the average Joe when they get distressed on their mortgage even though the whole country supported banks when THEY were distressed.

  • coffee August 10, 2011 (9:18 pm)

    When you loose your job or your business or have a medical issue and you can’t make a full payment they tell you they will not accept partial payments. Then the circle of bad begins. And the comment earlier is correct. Chase told me I had to be behind 3 payments before I could ask for help. Then they as my attorney said ran me through the extrotion process. Then after 51 hours of calling and faxing and filling out forms and being told to make partial payments, mind you they would not accept partial payments before I got behind I was granted a modification that was higher than my orginal payments were and I had a ballon payment at the end of my loan. And I was put in this spot because of medical from my partner who lost his insurance my business off 80% and my partners mother whom we care for had medical expenses that skyrocketed. Depends cost me 300 a month alone. Medicare does not cover that. So for anyone saying a homeowner is a deadbeat be sure you know the full story first. My out of pocket medical expenses WITH healthcare are over $3,000 a month.

  • proudpugetridger August 10, 2011 (9:30 pm)

    The point of this is, don’t bite off more than you can chew…then blame the chef because you’re choking!

  • J August 10, 2011 (9:32 pm)

    Banks have allowed modifications because they approved so many bad loans! Then, their are the folks who want to pay but have hit major obstacles. Our money is personal – we work hard for it, we raise our families with it and we can’t live without it. So when a bank tries to give me the run around, I get mad! When people are making an effort to be responsible and do the right thing – the bank is suddenly blind. Our money saved them with little to no restrictions. They can help us – be specific with dates, follow thru with answers and realize this is personal.

    Next time – let them fail. They obviously learned nothing.
    I’ve learned, I will never take out a large loan from a bank again!

  • L August 10, 2011 (9:33 pm)

    Who cares if she stopped making payments or not, who cares if we bailed out BofA? All of that is irrelevant. She didn’t pay her debt. BofA does not owe her a re-modification. They don’t owe her anything now that she’s in default. I resent being the BofA customer who struggles to make my mortgage, and now must also pay for those who don’t. Yes it sucks when other issues, particularly medical, compound the difficulties in making ends meet. But they don’t give you a get out of debt free card. You move, you downsize, you lick your wounds and you build yourself back up.

  • Stephanie August 10, 2011 (9:42 pm)

    Thanks for standing up! Power to the people now……

  • miws August 10, 2011 (9:49 pm)

    MMS go ahead and advocate for BoA.

    .

    (Most of) The rest of us will do what’s ethically right and continue to advocate for Vera and other small business owners.

    .

    Mike

  • proudpugetridger August 10, 2011 (10:10 pm)

    It is getting harder and harder to sit back quietly and listen to all these folks who refuse to own up to the consequences of their own bad financial decisions.
    .
    Those of us who work, save, and live within our carefully-watched budgets are apparently suckers. It looks like all we need to do is over extend our borrowing power, then whine about how unfair it is to actually have to make good on our debts.
    .
    It is a good thing that the government is there to catch us when we fall here in 2011. After all, surely our kids will figure out how to make up for our stupidity someday. If not, there’s always our grandkids…

  • L2 August 10, 2011 (10:22 pm)

    Well said, L. Sometimes life beats you up–debt just magnifies the problem.

  • Justin August 10, 2011 (10:57 pm)

    “I bought the snazzy car, and enjoyed it for a full year…it was awesome”
    No you didn’t. No one has bought a POS chevy in years, and that is why they had to get bailed out by the Feds. If you had though, and fell behind your payments, they would of worked with you to pay it off. Just like BofA should be doing with Vera. Not because it is the touchy feely thing to do, but because it makes financial sense to have you pay off the hump of crap slowly, then to take a larger loss when they try to sell it at auction.

    If you wanted a better resale value you should have bought a Toyota, or a Volkswagen. Anything by a car company that still knows how to make a decent car. Hell even the Kia holds its value better than a chevy.

  • Justin August 10, 2011 (11:07 pm)

    “It is getting harder and harder to sit back quietly and listen to all these folks who refuse to own up to the consequences of their own bad financial decisions.”

    I know right?!?! We should have let BofA circle down the toilet with JP Morgan and Bears Stern.

    “It looks like all we need to do is over extend our borrowing power, then whine about how unfair it is to actually have to make good on our debts.”
    I know right?!?! We should have let Chevy circle down the drain like… Oh no wait we bailed out the car companies. All of em. SO how are you paying for the problems of peoples foreclosed homes again? Or your grandkids? Yeah your not. What you are going to be paying for, and paying for generations, is the bail out of the banks, wall street, America’s for sh*t auto makers, Boeing, the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, several fronts in Africa, and the Philippines, the steel industry, big oil companies, Amtrack, and the dairy industry. But just keep bitching about people trying to adjust their loans on their homes and business, that is going to fix everything in the world.

  • Justin August 10, 2011 (11:09 pm)

    “The point of this is, don’t bite off more than you can chew…then blame the chef because you’re choking!”

    I was thinking the same thing with the Afgan war this week.

  • sean August 11, 2011 (5:48 am)

    Fine don’t blame the chef but if the food is served with a bunch of roaches in it I should not be expected to pay for it just cause they served it to me.

  • Tony August 11, 2011 (6:21 am)

    I get that for some people any message board is an opportunity to push a political agenda but it’s seriously disheartening to see that opportuniy being taken here. I understand that not everyone in West Seattle thinks that BofA has acted shamefully or that Vera deserves help but do you really need to go on the attack here? I just don’t get it. No matter what the particulars are, you are kicking a woman while she’s down and chastising the people who are reaching out to support her. Even if you are right (which I emphatically do not believe you are) it’s just completely inappropriate and crappy. We are a community for gods sake let’s start acting like one.

  • AJP August 11, 2011 (8:09 am)

    It makes sense for banks to work with people who are about to default instead of instantly foreclosing on them. Accepting a smaller payment for a time will ensure that they are still getting a return on their investment. People staying in their homes makes for greater stability and keeps the economy from going haywire.

    Do you really want to see millions more foreclosures?

  • banker in ws August 11, 2011 (8:20 am)

    I have worked for BofA my whole life. I am truly sorry for all the problems Vera has encountered here, and I am confident a satisfactory resolution will be found. BofA repaid all of the government bailout money, with interest.

  • Al August 11, 2011 (8:57 am)

    My inlaws went through some crazy dealings with their bank in Michigan. 4 years ago they put their house up for sale due to increasing medical problems and thier need to relocate here to be closer to us so we could assist them. Three years later they had zero offers and three lookie-loos. And the house was not priced high, in fact, it was at that time below market rate (people were trying to sell homes for as little as $1.00!).

    The bank refused to make any loan modifications after my FIL was laid off (by a car company!) and his pension/medical benefits slashed, even though their income had been severely reduced. And the medical problems continued to increase. The bank refused a short sale. They refused a deed-in-lieu. In order to get out of the area last year they had to decide the worst thing, and it was very, very difficult…to give up the house and walk away. They didn’t want to die in it yet the bank refused all options. Yes, paperwork was lost, they talked with a number of people at the bank, never the same one, etc., etc. the familiar story.

    They did move here. They ended up finding a lawyer (via ex-car company) who would help them with the bank gratis and they eventually signed a deed-in-lieu this last December after months of discussion and threats from the bank (take exactly what possesions and income? There was nothing!). They were also told to stop paying their mortgage to get the process going. They still aren’t sure what happened as the bank has never sent any final paperwork or notice to them or the lawyer. No one knows what the bank did. They ended up filing bankruptcy.

    It’s much, much more complicated for some people than just saying they up and stopped paying. They weren’t in over their heads until the layoff and medical problems started. None of it was predicted. They owned that home since the 1970s. It was not remotely luxurious or in a great neighborhood. If you haven’t gone through it or helped someone through it you really don’t know what you are talking about.

  • Ivan Weiss August 11, 2011 (9:08 am)

    To proudpugetridger and L:

    You are missing an essential point here. We, the taxpayers of this nation, bailed out Bank of America from the consequences of its own poor business decisions, after BofA came pleading to our elected Congress, which was their RIGHT under the law, to help it “modify” its own precarious situation.

    Now Vera, as is her RIGHT under the law, is asking BofA to modify her situation. BofA is telling us that “modification” is fine for them, but not for Vera. Well, eff that! I stand with Vera.

  • Noah August 11, 2011 (9:21 am)

    You can support someone in their personal/economic struggle and support a bank’s right to deny a loan modification.
    It sucks when life’s circumstances change for the worse, but when that happens we all need to make sacrifices and I don’t think it’s inappropriate (or spouting a political agenda) to point out that sometimes that sacrifice includes giving up on some aspects of life you love. Yes it’s awful, but people are forced to make these concessions every day.
    Also keep in mind this is only one side of the story, it’s obviously going to be slanted in her direction (as it should be). Unless I missed it somewhere (very possible) it doesn’t even look like BofA was offered a chance for a no comment.

  • Noah August 11, 2011 (9:28 am)

    Ivan, but Congress had a right to deny the BofA loan, right? In fact the US denied many, many loans to smaller banks/corps and allowed them to fail. Should BofA have accepted the loan modification? Probably, but since we don’t know the details of what was offered we really don’t know if it made economic sense for BofA to accept the modification.

  • KBear August 11, 2011 (10:34 am)

    Noah, the details you are missing are in the stories you didn’t read before offering your ill-informed comments.

  • Chris August 11, 2011 (12:58 pm)

    My brother is going through the same thing as Vera. He was looking to get a loan modification and was told to stop making payments was the first step. He did and is now in foreclosure as they have “lost” his paperwork and records of all his phonecalls. It’s BS.
    My wife lost her job and we were fine but I called my bank to see what my options were for if she was out of work for a long time we would run through our savings. Within 2 weeks I was signing paperwork on a modication. The difference was I bank with Homestreet which is local and has integrity. I see it as a win-win, the bank still has a paying customer instead of an empty house and I have peace of mind and loyalty to them. I pulled everything from Chase and now bank with Homestreet!

  • Noah August 11, 2011 (1:20 pm)

    Thanks for your opinion KB. I said, I might have missed a “no comment” from BofA, so I’m not sure why you had to add “ill-informed” to your comment. Seems needlessly harsh.
    Let me be clear: I am not insinuating at all that Vera’s lying, I’m sure what she says BofA said is true, but it would be nice to actually have Michael Kuehner, Dennis Day, Crystal Nguyen or any BofA/bank foreclosure expert to weigh in with the other side of the story.
    I went back and read all of the stories carefully. Technically there might have been a no comment from Dennis Day who said the meeting couldn’t be recorded (which seems not only standard, but proper considering the personal details being discussed). However, none of the printed reports (I haven’t watched any of video) have any mention of the people Vera quotes being specifically contacted.

  • Cheryl August 11, 2011 (1:49 pm)

    Here is a link to the MSNBC piece (warning, it’s short and woefully lacking in back story or meat-y content):
    .
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44106450#44106450

    • WSB August 11, 2011 (1:56 pm)

      Thanks – I embedded it in a newer story this morning – it really was just the interview clip.

Sorry, comment time is over.