🏡 Home for the Lost & Unwanted 🐶
💁🏻‍♀️ Life on the farm 🐴
⚜️ GenX / Ohio 🤍

Rayven 🐦‍⬛ Official: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook | Linktree

Dad's final wish was that the homestead he worked so hard for, go to his "girls" (Mom, Me, & Kiddo).  Now that Mom is gone, his girls are fighting with their lives to keep a corrupt bank from stealing it.  Please help us fight!

In 2018 Dad suffered a heart attack driving Mom home from cataract surgery.  It is a miracle that they survived the crash, but he didn't survive the cardiac arrest.  The resulting stress and grief from the loss of her husband pushed Mom's dementia forward with a vengeance.  Her ability to take care of herself, let alone the farm, was immediately at risk.  I packed up all my worldly possessions and moved back in to be her live-in caregiver for the remainder of her days. It was not an easy time; she was not always the nicest patient.  But she was my mom and I did what needed done.  In times of cognitive clarity, we would finish out her Estate plan: Deeds, checking accounts, cars, etc. 



A Veteran's Final Wish

What happened? Storytime...

Mom died at the beginning of 2020 and from Day 1, I continued to make the mortgage payment.  On time.  Every month.  Without fail.  But that whole time I was concerned and knew I needed to get the mortgage in my name somehow, so I visited a local branch and was told all I had to do was file an Assumption.  I followed all instructions, submitted all requested paperwork, and began waiting, for months at a time, to hear back.  It always ended in me reaching out to find out what was going on, and U.S. Bank telling me they needed yet some other piece of information.  They requested things like Death certificates  of both parents, Drivers license, birth certificate, SSC, the TOD affidavit, Survivorship Affidavit, BCs of all children, divorce decrees, Dad's DD214, the deed from prev owners, financial documents, bank histories, tax documents, and more.  I provided everything requested because it seemed like necessary items for a change in mortgage owner.

We thought everything was taken care of...

Eventually, I realized what I was working on was called Successor In Interest (SII), a note that should give me the same access as the mortgage holder. Before learning this, I reached out to the CEO and a few Shareholders, concerned about the process. I asked to be added to the mortgage or at least keep it up to date, suggesting they could write off the balance as goodwill, which wouldn't hurt their profits. I ended by saying I just wanted to continue paying. A week later, the CEO’s assistant replied with clear disdain, saying I had no right to contact them and the loan couldn’t be written off. She claimed the SII was just the first step to Assumption. Wait—so all the documents I sent weren’t for Assumption, but for SII? Only by emailing the CEO did I find out they hadn't even issued the SII. 

Nope.

A few days later, when I sat down to pay bills, I tried to log into my online account (which I'd used for 4+ years) and found it was deleted. Later, during the court battle, they claimed it was because the account was set up for my mom with a POA in 2019, but that's not true. She set it up years earlier, and I was added as a joint account holder, so the login was just as much mine. When I called customer service, they told me to sign up for a new account, but that didn’t work. The mortgage was removed, and I was told auto-pays would be deleted. I mailed a check, but it was never cashed, and the auto-pay processed anyway. I called and was told they couldn’t discuss the mortgage since my name wasn’t on it, but I got NSF fees refunded. That was the last payment they'd accept. When I went to a branch to pay, they said they don’t accept mortgage payments in person. Calls were endless waits, transfers, dropped calls, and excuses.

Did I just kick open a hornet's nest?

So there I was trying to figure out how to get the house payment accepted for the first time in years.  First month was a train wreck, and the next 2-3 months were not any better, and I was constantly getting phone calls (which always resulted in them not speaking to me) or emails "please log on today" or a combination of the above.  I filed complaints with the BBB, CFPB, Governors, Senators, Attorney General, FDIC, FTC, FCC, FBI, CIA, basically anybody I could think of.  I made posts online. I attempted to get the story seen on some local Turn To Us news stations.  No one would help.  Then the bank started threatening Foreclosure and in a weird turn of events they put it on a Forbearance for 12 months that would take us all the way through the end of 2022.  I thought, finally a reprieve.  Maybe I could figure something out in the meantime. So I researched and studied and finally came across a federal law that should have been my saving grace.

"You should have handled your mother's business before she died." ~ US BANK Rep

This federal law covers loans, interest, and banks, but one provision directly applies to my situation—and others in a similar boat. Before this act, a bank could demand full payment upon the death of a mortgage holder with the due-on-sale clause. The law prevents that for properties being inherited or passed on, allowing heirs or spouses not to face the full note. It sets up provisions for Assumption, which means banks can’t enforce the due-on-sale clause in certain cases. I thought this law gave me a solid case, so I spent months reaching out to lawyers, but it was a constant runaround. Most didn’t return calls, some said they couldn’t help but would take my money, and others referred me to different types of attorneys—real estate, consumer, family, etc. When the Forbearance ended, and I was to make payments again, I was terrified the bank would refuse to speak to me again and refuse my payments. I was right.

The Garn St. Germain Act of 1982

The bank filed foreclosure—in my name—despite the mortgage not being in my name and their legal obligation via the SII. Finally, lawyers were interested. I received emails, calls, texts, letters, and even home visits. It was overwhelming. I hired a local attorney who specialized in foreclosures. He was a real nice guy, but I don't think he was prepared for the amount of unethical behavior, manipulative tactics, and egregious actions the bank would take to keep this Foreclosure moving forward. He tried to get the Assumption paperwork, but it took weeks for the bank to respond, and when we got it, it was wrong. At one point, the court issued a final decree with a telecon scheduled for later that week, and when the he pointed that out, the court vacated it. He struggled for nearly a year to get the bank to comply, and I feared he couldn’t handle it, so I searched for a more aggressive lawyer. I found one who seemed perfect—someone with the right experience to fight the bank.

NOW the lawyers wanted to talk!

They literally wrote the book on consumer protection, specifically homeowners facing foreclosure.  They were recognized as national leaders in efforts to hold banks accountable for victimizing homeowners.  The managing partner was even an AG for my state, and his law firm was founded specifically for this purpose.  But they came at a high cost, and fighting this battle so far has literally drained the life out of me.  Yet somehow, through the goodness of friends' and strangers' hearts alike, I was able to gather up enough money to get them started. We were already a year into this battle so they needed to get up to speed and come out of the gate full tilt.

I finally had hope.

Because here we are, almost a year later, and with all my evidence, and all the proof, the Bank still lied and manipulated their way through this case.  It's almost as if the Court had no idea what kind of REAL situation was going on and the Bank painted a picture of someone just abandoning a property.  I can assure you, it is ANYTHING but abandoned.  It is a work in progress, sure, and there is a lot to do out here, but I am doing it by myself, a single mother, raising her young child, homeschooling, homesteading, rescuing animals, and running a business all by myself.  Everything that Dad wanted for his little girl.

But maybe I shouldn't have had too much hope...

So I have until January 14, 2025 to come up with an amount they still can't determine.  The remaining principal from the last time I was able to successfully have a payment processed was around $140,000 and the interest was about 5.5% which should be about $147,000. But the bank insists I pay fees, late charges, court costs, expenses, taxes and insurance (when the property was never escrowed and I paid all that on my own and have receipts), and who knows what else.  At this point they are making up whatever numbers they want.  I have to come up with about $220,000 or I will be homeless. What if everyone shared this with their network, and each person passed it along to theirs? Together, we could create a powerful chain of support, where just $1 from each person would make a world of difference. Your small contribution can help save a family's legacy, protect a veteran’s hard-earned homestead, and ensure a future for the next generation.

Please help save a Veteran’s Homestead!

Mom & Dad Died... Storytime

Please help us save our home!

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Rayven 🐦‍⬛

🏡 Home for the Lost & Unwanted 🐶 💁🏻‍♀️ Life on the farm 🐴 ⚜️ GenX / Ohio 🤍

What happened? Storytime...

Please help us save our home!

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