I Failed… and I’m So Very Sorry
Today, another victim of the foreclosure crisis took her own life. She was a disabled American veteran and her family was counting on me to help. And I let them down.
You see, when I returned from a trip to Hawaii earlier this summer to meet with members of the state’s legislature on how the state might better deal with the foreclosure crisis, I received a call and a letter from a couple who’s home was about to be sold by Ocwen. The husband, afflicted by multiple sclerosis, could not be moved from their handicapped home and I couldn’t stand what watching what was about to happen… so I wrote about it… attacking Ocwen for allowing such an injustice to take place.
And Ocwen responded. Within days the trustee sale was cancelled and Ocwen agreed to modify the loan so the family could remain in their home of so many years. It should go without saying that the couple was joyous and thankful, although I couldn’t help but wonder about all the families about whom I would never be able to write about… and perhaps save from the pain of foreclosure.
Soon after that I received another letter and call from a couple’s daughter who lived in Hawaii… her parents were facing foreclosure in California and their lawyer who had been hired to help them had dropped the ball… they were on their way to being evicted. They’re older… in their 70s, and they were caring for a disabled American veteran… a member of the family.
I tried to help… called an attorney friend of mine who stepped in and filed what could be filed, but acknowledged openly that it was a long shot. Maybe some media attention would help, as it had previously, and I said that I would write about their situation.
But, the truth is that I never got around to it. I had other pressing concerns. And I’m only one person fighting a much larger fight. I spent several weeks in Arizona, meeting with lawyers and homeowners… and filming a documentary that I’d come to believe is the most important contribution I can make to the war against the bankers and the foreclosure crisis that is quietly tearing about our country and destroying our middle class and our economy.
I found out today that a few days ago she took her own life. Wells Fargo Bank had allowed the eviction to proceed; they refused to do anything else. Maybe they wouldn’t have changed their mind had I found the time to publicize the couple’s plight… maybe not. But, we’ll never know… I’ll never know.
The couple called me, their daughter called me… many times during the month of August, but I was away in Arizona, I needed the rest… my own health was in question and I felt I needed to rest and recuperate before I‘d be able to continue the fight effectively. I spoke with the husband… and the wife… they sent me their story written out on many pages. It all started when Wells Fargo said they had made a trial payment a couple of days late. The couple said they had made it on time. How petty a thing that could lead to such a tragic end…
I tried to calm them down… told them I would try to help them. But, I never got back to them… never wrote their story. And now it’s too late.
The last phone message I received was from their daughter. I played it today when I got the news. She was literally begging for my help. But I didn’t hear it in time. And now a disabled American veteran is gone.
I don’t know what to say except that I am so very sorry that I let them down. So deeply sorry… and I’ll never forget them… I’ll try never to let something like that happen again.
But the other truth is that I’m angry. I’m angry that I even have such responsibility… such power that my writing about someone’s situation has the potential to save their home from foreclosure. It shouldn’t be the case. The banks should not be allowed to lie to people, the process should be transparent… none of it should be done in secret.
God damn the bankers that continue to treat American homeowners struggling financially as a result of the global financial crisis and our country’s deepening recession that they caused as if they are meaningless souls… as if they are to be disposed of like diseased cattle.
And God damn those who have no compassion for the millions of Americans who continue to receive foreclosure notices every day… their lack of compassion comes from their ignorance of the facts involved, and at this point there is no excuse for that ignorance.
And God damn the Obama Administration for ignoring and abandoning the American middle class in favor of the banking billionaires to whom he has given a blank check as reward for their crimes. None of this should be happening in my country.
But, again… I’m just so sorry that I let them down. Please join in this prayer for a fallen soldier… its author is unknown…
I saw a soldier kneeling down,
for this was the first quiet place he had found.
He had traveled through jungles, rivers and mud.
His hands were scared and toil-warned.
He folded his hands and looked to the sky…
I saw his tears, as they welled in his eyes.
He spoke to God, and this is what he said.
God Bless my men, who now lie dead;
I know not what You have in mind,
but when You judge, please be kind….
when they come before You, they will be poorly dressed
but will walk proudly, for they have done their best.
Their boots will be muddy and their clothes all torn…
but these clothes they have so proudly worn.
Their hearts will be still and cold inside,
for they have fought their best and did so with pride.
So please take care of them as they pass Your way…
the price of freedom they’ve already paid.
AMEN.
Mandelman out.
Comments
I know from personal experience you do everything you can to assist the homeowners who have lost or are losing their homes. We have talked at length by phone about my husband and my own plight. You even called Phillip Kramer to see if we had a case in the Mass Joinder, not once but twice. That came to nothing, he never had anyone contact me and I don't think there will ever be a lawsuit, but really that does not matter anymore.
We are all bloodied by this battle to save this country, our homes and the Middle Class itself. At every turn we have been raped and pillaged by our own Government and incredible Corp. Greed. Surely, I thought once the Robo signing was found out the foreclosers had to stop but it didn't and it doesn't.
You have done so much to assist so many of us. Many times when I am reading your blog I am laughing at your wicked wit and crying at the crisis the Bankers and our Govt. continue to perpetrator on us all. The mortgage mess is just the tip of the iceberg I am afraid, the underbelly is so corrupt, and fraught with financial stench that I don't know if many people will survive the full onslaught when the dollar takes us into hyper inflation. I use to be a financial consultant that saw long ago that the Stock Market is a crooked game. I sure wish I had understood that they were securitizing our loans, I would have never bet my house on it with a refinance.
Martin, I totally understand the pain and suffering this family is going through and how you now seem to feel responsible for this. But, honestly there is probably not much you could have done anyway. It is shocking to think that this woman took her life over this, but you can not take on this burden. I also know that I too came to a point of pure exhaustion after fighting for over 3 years with the Banksters who destroyed our family on purpose. I am the one that lost sleep, they didn't, I am the one that cried; they didn't. Emotionally and physically it comes to a point where you just cannot take any more.
My husband and I let 30 years of home-ownership go. It is painful, we went to our home on Sunday, the doors have been taken that we spent 100's of hours finishing. The hardwood floors were stripped out. My husband looked in the bathroom window and could see even the toilet was taken. Now it will just sit there and mold, it is criminal and the Bank has more than gotten their share, since they didn't own it anyway and they received full mortgage insurance on it. They could have just given us the house after they took "their money", but instead it has been destroyed for the value of the materials we so lovingly put into it.
Martin, I am one of the many who believes in what you are doing. I have contributed a small amount to your Documentary and I do hope that it at least opens people's eyes to what is really happening here in America. I tell people, go watch "Too Big to Fail" and you will get in 2 hours what took me 3 years of researching to understand.
I have past clients still who only want to live in retirement and get their social security for the next 20 years, they want to garden, do their hobbies and enjoy the reward from their hard work, but I don't really think that is going to be there for them in 20 years. My husband and I have already lost it all and gone through the emotional turmoil from this. As more and more Americans are defrauded of their assets it is hard to say what is going to happen. I mourn for them just as you do.
This message is to just say to you, what I am sure you already know under your pain. You are not responsible for this woman's death. You are one man fighting the good fight and spend each day rolling the peanut up the mountain with your nose with your hands handcuffed behind your back. You are the person who speaks out, gets on airplanes, spends hours each day researching and writing this free blog. Your compassion comes through as you talk with each person. What more can you possibly do?
Through thick or thin Martin, I want you on my Team. No matter what, you will fight for what is right. It is in your strong moral values and your big heart. Please take care of yourself and allow yourself the grace to stumble along the way.
Peace and blessings,
SH
Also, kudos to Sheryl H for an extremely well written response. I agree 100%!