Last night, we reported that Village Green Perennial Nursery owner Vera Johnson had been booked for an MSNBC TV interview this morning regarding her foreclosure fight against Bank of America. MSNBC’s Veronica Delacruz interviewed her live a little over an hour ago, and we just found the clip online; it’s embedded above.
what can be done to these banks? and we keep putting our money in them and they are investing our money to make money , there is something wrong here.
Have you considered joining a credit union? Turns out, they are completely awesome (your money stays in your community, your financial institution is owned by yourself and fellow members – not shareholders, the list goes on).
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If you tend to side with George Bailey over Mr. Potter, The Credit Union is where you belong. (In my humble opinion).
Vera, you are an excellent advocate not just for yourself, but for all the people that the banks are not dealing with in a positive, professional manner.
I’ll echo others comments here. If you don’t like how banks operate don’t do business with them. Don’t invest your retirement in stocks or funds that support them. Don’t trust them with your accounts and loans.
Seattle has tons of credit union options and most pretty much rock.
If they don’t regulate them, banks will always be free to do whath they want to. The problem with credit unions is availability.
Vera has REALLY done all the right things, and BofA just keeps slamming the door in her face. And millions of other Americans. This has got to stop. I’m so proud of her for being vocal, and for not giving up. This kind of battle, it is exhausting and so many feel beaten down right now by similar things going on in their own lives… I don’t understand why more Americans are rising up and saying, “NO!” to what BofA and the other mega-corps are doing to people who want to do the right thing, want to make good on their debt, who don’t want to lose their homes, their livelihoods, and are willing to do the work it takes to keep those things intact. They’re spit on. While those who AREN’T willing to do the work get all the breaks. Something is very, very wrong w/ this system. I really wish Vera the best and hopefully, she will prevail!
@Jiggers –
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Common misperception. Credit Unions are actually more accessible nationwide than any single financial institution. Shared Branching allows you to use the full transaction services of virtually Any credit union as if it were your local branch.
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Learn more: http://www.cuservicecenter.com/
Here, here, Cheryl. I was one of those people!! I didn’t want out of my responsibilities…I wanted some understanding and assistance in reorganizing my mortgage debt. In my case, it wasn’t BofA but it’s all the same. I got the runaround for almost 18 months then they set a date to auction off my house. I screamed NO, used the words “not in good faith” and “fraud” a few times, and I got my modification. Deregulation was a very bad idea (thank you Mr. Bush) but we’ve got to keep the faith. Yay Vera! Hang in there!!!!
I’m the last person to defend the greed and ineptitude of the banks, but hello! Real estate is a big, hairy risk. Read your mortgage documents carefully, and if you aren’t at least momentarily terrified, you should be.
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But by all means, let’s remove the risk for people that we like. /sarcasm off
kayleigh, read this
http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/28/real_estate/robosigner/index.htm
There are so many wealthy local residents, can’t someone invest in Vera & the Village Green Perennial Nursery?
Exactly, Kayleigh. Where were the 10,000 signatures for the folks in Detroit (or West Seattle) who lost their homes after being unemployed for two years and who went through real hardship? Sorry, a “reduction in income” does not make my heart bleed. I’m embarrassed for Vera. She epitomizes the “entitled” attitude that we usually save for the younger generation, who blame anyone but themselves and who don’t take responsibility for their actions. Those 10,000 signers need a real cause to rally behind.
There is so much more to the story than that little clip from MSNBC. Would like to see what L would do in a similar situation. It’s not easy trying to run a business, especially a nursery where the plant stock needs constant attention, and try to deal with whatever else life throws in your way. I have watched Vera build Village Green over the years to what it is today, and her efforts should be recognized and applauded – she gives greatly to the community. I wonder if anyone from Bof A has even bothered to visit the nursery and see what she is trying to achieve. She needs help, not a boot out the door! Hang in there Vera!!
“There are so many wealthy local residents, can’t someone invest in Vera & the Village Green Perennial Nursery?”
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You mean the “Job Creators”? Why should they spend their hard-earned job-creating money to save someone’s… oh, wait… Is owning a nursery really a job, anyway?
Thank you to all those who actually understand and validate the fact that I have made every effort to do the right thing.
I’m not trying to skip out on a mortgage payment here, I’m trying to get the banks to use the bailout money for what it was intended for, to help people in financial hardship.
Maybe some on this forum actually benefited in some way from that money, but so many thousands of others have not.
When you get to a place in your life where you need any real meaningful support, you may find you’ve burned your bridges.
The world is full of selfish and unkind actions. If what I’ve done is in anyway helpful to one other person, I can feel good about my efforts to save my own home. Regardless if everyone agrees with what I’m doing.
If you don’t know much about the nursery, you may want to do your research, or volunteer to do some work over here, to help you decide if it’s a job or not.
A short list of our community building efforts..
* create jobs by hiring students and budding gardeners
* buy from local independent growers- supporting our local economy
* Educate on soil-building and natural garden practices
* support local artists/musicians
* donate to community fundraising
* sponsor garden tours
* support local schools in Fundraising… such as
* Alki elementary
* Community School of West Seattle
* West Seattle Montessori
* Donate to White Center CDA,
* Donate to Puget Ridge co-housing, and Duwamish Co-housing
* host interns from South Seattle Community College
* AND donate organic veggie starts to the food banks every year, providing fresh produce for others who need help in this economic crises.
We actually give back to the community. Does your bank do that? If it did, I doubt that there would be so many fundraisers.
I have so much gratitude for the thousands in support of my efforts. I could not do this without all of you encouraging me.
Many, many thanks!
@L,Kayleigh & KBear: Your ignorance is shameful. Vera possesses no more sense of ‘entitlement’ than you do empathy.In fact, she takes full responsibility for her actions and would give the shirt off her back for those in need. You unfortunately have passed judgement based on a gross assumption…which seems to be a mental epidemic in this country right now. @ KBear: Vera is a ‘Job Creator’ and yes, working at a nursery is a job (which she provides to employees WORKING there).
Those 10,000 signatures could have been there for the Detroit people -and for hundreds of thousands of Americans going through the same thing if people would stand up.
This is what we are doing for Vera. The Banks will not suffer if they modify loans. Our society is such that protest to an epic degree is difficult because a majority doesn’t have the same thing to lose. Bravo to those of us who are willing to stand up and fight with Vera.
Shannon, I’m feeling a bit short on funds this week, can I borrow a few bucks? I’ll pay you back fully next week. Honest, trust me…
I switched from BoA to Watermark during the ’08 mess out of spite. The wonderful service and attitude of this credit union was shocking at first. I should have done that a long time before ’08. Banks are for suckers.
Proudpugetrider, if you really need some money, I may be able to lend you a few. We all need to look out for each other. I am by no means rich, but I do give money to some causes and expect nothing in return, except the satisfaction of knowing I helped – it is a very good feeling. The banks… it is set up so that the banks and investors will get their money – while the banks took a risk, our gov’t covered them when the risks failed – not so for homeowners. Entitlement? Vera is not asking for anything to which she is not entitled. The reality is that hardly anyone gets modifications because the banks/investors do not have to give them and they don’t. The risk should be spread out, not borne solely by homeowners. The scary thing is that with the fraud and forgeries, everyone who has a mortgage is at risk for foreclosure, even those current on payments. We should all be outraged, but the banks are counting on us to turn on each other. Vera is speaking for all of us and we need to support her and thank her for putting her neck out.
Sorry, comment time is over.
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