No One Leaves Campaign to Protest Foreclosure Auction of Diaz Family Home
SPRINGFIELD, MA On Monday February 7th at 10am, Wells Fargo National Bank, as trustee for an asset-back securitized loan pool, will foreclose on the home of Maribel Diaz, who lives with her three children, Josue, Maribel and Freddie, at 129 Champlain Avenue in Springfield. At 9:30 am, Springfield residents will gather to protest the auction, demand that the bank work with Ms. Diaz to give her a fair and non-predatory loan, and make clear that we will oppose anyone whose business plan is to foreclose and evict the Diaz family from their home.
The Diaz family has lived in their home since 2006, when Ms. Diaz took out a mortgage with WMC Mortgage Corporation through Millennium Mortgage to buy a home for her family to live in. She received a predatory loan. One mortgage, with a principal of $157,600 was an adjustable rate mortgage with a 7.25% interest rate that is scheduled to jump to 14.75% by 2013. That mortgage also had a balloon payment of $149,000, to be paid at the end of 30 years. Mrs. Diaz was never informed of the balloon payment. Her other mortgage, was a fixed rate mortgage with a 11.35% interest rate! Worse, the mortgage company included her then boyfriends income on the mortgage application to qualify her for the loan, but only made the mortgage out to her!
Her mortgages were quickly sold by WMC Mortgage Corp. to Litton Loan Services who then sold her mortgages to Saxon Bank and Chase Bank. Now Wells Fargo, as trustee, is moving to foreclose. A securitized loan, the foreclosure of Ms. Diaz’s home comes in the wake of the recently decided Ibanez vs. US Bank case, which showed that banks must prove that they have the right to foreclose on an owner before they do so.
“This loan is a prime example of the predatory practices of banks that have helped create the housing bubble and the economic collapse that followed,” say Jeff Napolitano, a No One Leaves coalition member.
These same banks have received billions in taxpayer bailouts and are recording record profits while they move to foreclose and evict families throughout Springfield, leaving families homeless, homes vacant and our neighborhoods in disrepair.
With support of the Springfield No One Leaves Bank Tenant Association, Ms. Diaz and her family are continuing to work to try and get the bank to call off the auction and work with them. If Ms. Diaz is successful, we will hold a rally and press conference at the Diaz family home.
The No One Leaves Campaign is a community-based campaign working to organize residents in foreclosed homes and prevent mass evictions and displacement after foreclosure that are destroying our community. For more information visit www.springfieldnoooneleaves.org
Contact: Malcolm Chu - 718-666-6872 nooneleavesspringfield@gmail.com
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