What Will It Take?

By John Ballard

When I saw a Tweet linking this story my first response, of course, was RT. But then it hit me: This is obscene. Stories such as this are proliferating like rats in a landfill. This is not one of those local stories that clutter the news -- drug busts, apartment fires, C-store robberies, police chases, traffic jams... This is a national plague that has been unfolding over what will soon become three years. Have we have become so deaf and blind to the wholesale ugliness of it all the best we can do is Twitter about it?

Come on.

Blogging, social media and complaining among ourselves over a few joints or beers is great, but unless and until more pissed off people get in the streets and raise hell the madness will not slow down or stop.

When Mimi Ash arrived at her mountain chalet here for a weekend ski trip, she discovered that someone had broken into the home and changed the locks.

When she finally got into the house, it was empty. All of her possessions were gone: furniture, her son�s ski medals, winter clothes and family photos. Also missing was a wooden box, its top inscribed with the words �Together Forever,� that contained the ashes of her late husband, Robert.

The culprit, Ms. Ash soon learned, was not a burglar but her bank. According to a federal lawsuit filed in October by Ms. Ash, Bank of America had wrongfully foreclosed on her house and thrown out her belongings, without alerting Ms. Ash beforehand.

In an era when millions of homes have received foreclosure notices nationwide, lawsuits detailing bank break-ins like the one at Ms. Ash�s house keep surfacing. And in the wake of the scandal involving shoddy, sometimes illegal paperwork that has buffeted the nation�s biggest banks in recent months, critics say these situations reinforce their claims that the foreclosure process is fundamentally flawed.

�Every day, smaller wrongs happen to people trying to save their homes: being charged the wrong amount of money, being wrongly denied a loan modification, being asked to hand over documents four or five times,� said Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

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She intended to assume the mortgage on the house, which landed in probate court after her husband�s death. The bank required that she catch up on payments and taxes, so she sent a check for $15,000.

Hearing nothing from the bank for many months and not having ownership of the house, she made no more payments, she said. By the time Countrywide reached Ms. Ash, the real estate market was collapsing, so she sought a loan modification.

Months and years of frustration followed. The bank lost documents and rarely returned her e-mails and phone messages, she said.

When Countrywide issued a default notice in 2007, it went to the wrong address, her lawsuit says. Later, Ms. Ash said, the bank assured her it would not foreclose while she pursued the loan modification.

Even so, the bank conducted a foreclosure sale on the property in May 2008. Again, Ms. Ash said she had not been notified and learned of the sale during a summer visit. She said she had been told the sale would be rescinded.

Near Halloween 2008, work crews broke in and cleaned out the place, taking Persian rugs, china, furniture bought on a trip in Peru, skis, photos of her marriage and childhood in Iran. Her husband�s ashes were taken from the couple�s master bedroom.

A bank spokeswoman, Jumana Bauwens, said, �We take the allegations made by Ms. Ash very seriously and are thoroughly researching her claims. Bank of America will work with Ms. Ash and her counsel to determine the extent and cause of her claims and move toward an appropriate resolution of the case.�

Although the original foreclosure was rescinded, as promised, Ms. Ash, who discovered the break-in in January 2009, says it is hard for her to visit the house anymore and she will probably let it lapse into foreclosure. At this point, she said, it is just a �sad reminder that 22 years of my history vanished.�

�This is in essence a burglary,� said Ms. Ash, walking through the vacant home, with its four levels and commanding mountain views. �But when a burglar goes in, they don�t take your photos and your husband�s ashes.�

�This used to be my haven I�d run away to,� she said. �Now I run away from it.�

Perhaps when Wikileaks drops a load on the banking system outrage at this kind of madness will reach the boiling point.