Stop the Eviction of Nikisha Johnson and her Family by Fannie Mae
Temporary Victory – Eviction Hearing has been stayed pending resolution of Federal court case
Come to the Court and Support the Johnson Family
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 8:45 am
18th District Court
36675 Ford Road, Westland, MI 48185
between Wayne Road and Newburgh Road
36675 Ford Road, Westland, MI 48185
between Wayne Road and Newburgh Road
Fannie Mae is attempting to reinstate eviction case in Westland, even though Nikisha Johnson has her case pending in US District Court, Federal Court (Nikisha Johnson v Fannie Mae). She needs your support at the eviction hearing on Wednesday, February 13, at 8:45 am.
Also call Fannie Mae and Bank of America.
Demand that Fannie Mae, owned by the U.S. Government since 2008, and Bank of America, the mortgage loan servicer, reduce the principal of her loan and modify the loan to reflect the current market value and at a payment the Johnson family can afford.
The loan number is 159970408
The home is located at 36245 Somerset Street, Westland, MI 48186
Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae Chicago Office: (312) 368-6200
Fannie Mae Mortgage Help Center: 866-442-8572
Email: chicago_mhc@fanniemae.com
Bank of America
Office of the CEO & President for Mortgages, 1-877-877-2670
The Story
In 2007, just before the Housing Crash in 2008, Nikisha Johnson, her husband, grandmother and six children moved into the home they just had purchased in Westland, Michigan. Ms. Johnson and her family had lived in Detroit all of their lives, but Ms. Johnson’s mother had been found murdered and her children were having difficulty in their schools. Ms. Johnson had been involved in a serious auto accident in 2004, suffering a disabling, closed head injury. Ms. Johnson and her family decided to use the money/damages from the accident to move out of the city to a safer place with better schools. They found a house in Westland for $160,000 and put $30,000 down on the house with a mortgage for $130,000.
The lender was Shore Mortgage and the loan was assigned to Countrywide and then Bank of America as servicer. After the housing crash in 2008, the value of the home crashed, as well. It now is appraised at about $60,000 or $100,000 less than the family paid for the purchase of the home. The lender wanted that $30,000 cash down payment, so they misrepresented the family income to qualify them for an impossible loan. The stable family income, Ms. Johnson’s SSI and her grandmother’s Social Security was about $1300 per month, but the lender prepared a loan application which claimed the family income was $3500 per month. Even though Ms. Johnson applied as a married woman, and her husband made the $30,000 down payment, the lender had Nikisha Johnson as a single or unmarried woman on the mortgage, the note and the deed, meaning that Ms. Johnson’s husband had no standing in relation to the loan or the home. As a result, the lender put Ms. Johnson in a loan where the monthly payment, principal and interest only, was $884. In addition, Ms. Johnson and her family were responsible for taxes and insurance at more than $300 per month, so the total monthly payment was about $1200 per month on a stable family income of $1300 per month. This was a loan designed to fail.
The loan was assigned to Countywide and then Bank of America, which serviced the loan. Ms. Johnson and her family struggled to make the payments and when they realized the situation was impossible in 2009 and 2010, Ms. Johnson began contacting Bank of America for a loan modification. The bank finally agreed to an initial forbearance where the monthly payment was $480, which the family could afford. Ms. Johnson made the $480 payment each month for seven months, but then Bank of America began returning the checks. In 2011, Bank of America told Ms. Johnson that she qualified for a loan modification, and the monthly payment was nearly $1000 per month. This was worse than the original payment of $884 which had caused the problem in the first place!
Ms. Johnson contacted Bank of America to explain that she could not afford $1000 per month, but she could afford $500 per month. Bank of America gave her the runaround. Finally, after numerous complaints by Ms. Johnson to Bank of America and government agencies, a person from Bank of America contacted Ms. Johnson by mail and assured her that he was her one and only customer representative and he would work with her to resolve this matter and to get a workable loan modification in place. Ms. Johnson was hopeful. Her health had been failing under the stress, as had her grandmother’s. Ms. Johnson cooperated in every way with the new Bank of America representative, sending all requested documents and information. Two months later a man with a gun appeared at Ms. Johnson’s front door , announcing that her home had been sold at Sheriff’s Sale to Fannie Mae, and that Ms. Johnson and her family had to get out. Ms. Johnson’s husband sent the man away. When Ms. Johnson called her personal Bank of America representative, he told her that Fannie Mae had bought it at Sheriff’s Sale and she would have to move.
Fannie Mae is the Federal National Mortgage Association, now owned and controlled by the U.S. government. Fannie Mae insures and underwrites most of the mortgages in this country. When a loan goes go foreclosure, Fannie Mae now uses our tax dollars to pay the lender the full value of the loan, $163,000 in Ms. Johnson’s case, and then Fannie Mae proceed to evict the family. Fannie Mae, controlled by the federal government, now does more than 70% of the foreclosures and evictions in this country. Your tax dollars at work! For the Banks!
Ms. Johnson is continuing to fight. She is determined to keep her family in their home, a home they sacrificed to buy. Fannie Mae has brought eviction action in 18th District Court in Westland. Ms. Johnson by her attorney filed complaint in Wayne County Circuit Court against Fannie Mae, and Fannie Mae removed the case to U.S. District Court, Federal Court, where the case now is pending. But Fannie Mae has three sets of attorneys working on the case, one firm in Chicago, another in Bloomfield Hills and Orlans, the local foreclosure mill in the Westland District Court eviction case. While the case is pending in Federal Court, Fannie Mae is attempting to reinstate the eviction case in Westland District Court.
Ms. Johnson and her family need and request your support. Detroit Eviction Defense, other organizations and other homeowners are supporting Ms. Johnson and her family in their fight to prevent eviction and foreclosure and to reduce principal and reach a workable loan modification to keep Ms. Johnson and their family in their home.
Join the Fight. Demand that Fannie Mae, the government insurer of mortgages, reduce the principal of this loan and modify the loan to reflect the actual value and at a payment the Johnson family can afford.
Join us at 18th District Court in Westland on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 9 am to support Ms. Johnson and her family in their fight. The Court is located at 36675 Ford Road, Westland, MI 48185.
by Detroit Eviction Defense
Reminder: Rally for Homeowners Battered by “Hurricane Fannie Mae”, Weds., Feb. 13, 5 PM,
Metro AFL-CIO Hall, 600 W. Lafayette, corner of 3rd St., Detroit (across from Detroit News)
Free parking in rear lot off 3rd
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