Interesting little tidbit from Brittney Gordon from ABC news… Apparently that beloved Obama community organization/get-out-the-vote group, ACORN, has decided to make themselves *unquestionably* – (as opposed to under investigation) – criminals for breaking and entering the former residence of Donna Hanks in the 300 block of Ellwood (near Ellwood Park) in Baltimore, MD.
Police were at the home Thursday night looking for fingerprints and other evidence.
The activists who staged the break-in belong to the Association of Community Organizations For Reform Now or ACORN.
After snapping a lock with bolt cutters, ACORN member Louis Beverly told supporters “this is our house now.”
ACORN staged the demonstration to protest the foreclosure crisis sweeping the nation.
The home in the 300 block of Ellwood Avenue used to be owned by Donna Hanks. She lost this home in September, after owning it since 2001. When things got tough she struggled to make her payments. Her mortgage? $1995 a month. Her income? $2200. Donna’s story is one that ACORN is taking a stand against.
“We feel that it was unjust, we feel as though she was strong armed robbed, we feel that Wells Fargo could have modified her loan and that is what we are asking for right now,” says Beverly.
Acorn chapters across the country are staging similar scenes to drive their point home. They want state governments to enact moratoriums on foreclosures until this crisis can be worked out.
So now ACORN has taken to abusing other US citizen homeowners’ rights as part of their affirmative action civil disobedience protests. The home is now, allegedly, owned by one William Lane who told ABC News that he plans to sue ACORN.
Go for it, guy… you should put up a website for contributions to your legal cause, along with the others ACORN is now abusing (as they state in the article above with other chapters engaging in similar crimes) as part of their antics.
But something truly smells about this… Ms. Hanks purchased this home in 2001 with a mortgage monthly of $1995, and an income of $2200??
First, let’s adjust the payment for reality, as this payment may be what we call a PITI payment… in other words, a mortgage loan with payment that includes the estimated property taxes and homeowners insurance monthly.
Now I’m not sure what southeast Baltimore’s property tax mil rate is, but lets play a few numbers games, shall we?
Let’s play that her taxes on the home are $3000 annually (which is based on the assessment value of the home), which would translate to $250 monthly. And let’s assume her homeowner’s policy is $1200 annually, and $100 monthly. That takes her principle and interest mortgage payment down to $1645.
Now let’s assume that she got a very high rate (ala subprime?) for 2001 of 7.5%, when rates were low following 911. (thank you so much, Greenspan… sarcasm/off)
Using mortgage calculator now…. With a $1645 monthly mortgage at 7.5% for 30 years, that’s financing $235,264 for the loan.
Now I don’t know what Ms. Hank’s used to own. And I’m not privvy to the more detailed Baltimore market history. But I can use Trulia’s market trends for her zipcode of 21224 back to 2001.
If you’ll notice, that area’s median price back in 2001 was $50K-60K. How did she end up with an astronomical mortgage of $1645 on a $50-60K loan? (or even a $100K loan, being generous for overpricing….) And of course, that also means if the home was assessed for this lower amount, my tax allocation of her PITI payment is likely high.
Sorry… don’t buy this BS. I repeat, something is rotten in ACORN’s Baltimore, and we’re missing a huge chunk of the truth.
If Ms. Hanks had that high of a mortgage, what ACORN may not be telling us is if Ms. Hanks *refinanced* that home and pulled out cash equity *after* her original purchase… then defaulted. Naturally, there is still the head scratcher as to why any lender would do so, since none of median market trends supported a 100% LTV loan for a price as high as $235K on a 7.5% mortgage rate… UNLESS she did this as at least a 100% LTV refi at the peak market late 2007 in her area.
UPDATE 2-21-09: Big thanks to commenter Sherry below for confirming that my speculation about Ms. Hanks irreponsible use of her real estate and equity is correct. Ms. Hanks purchased for $87K, refi’d for $270K which, after closing costs, gave her a rough estimate of $175K cash equity.
Considering that Sherry has informed us Ms. Hanks declared bankruptcy in June of 2006, we are safe to assume that $175K is gone somewhere. And unless it was for medical emergencies, irresponsibly obtained, and even more irresponsibly spent.
Make sure you read Sherry’s comment, as it’s rich with more public record information about this ACORN “victim”…. And again, many thanks for doing the local public records legwork, girl!
In which case, Ms. Hanks no more deserves to have ACORN committing crimes to support her irresponsible lunacy to take on such a mortgage payment anymore than the idiot institution that *gave* her that loan (with or without documentation?) deserves to be bailed out.
But it all makes for heart tugging fodder until you look at the local facts, eh?
But guess who was one of the general contractors for that area? ACORN Housing Corporation, of course. And coincidently, ACORN Housing Group was very busy in the area doing first time homeowner seminars in late 2007… perhaps about the same time that Ms. Hank’s possibly upped her ante on her Ellwood Park home.
Like I said, I don’t know the details on Ms. Hanks and her default on her home. But I do know that if she bought a $78,000 to $100,000 home in 2001, and ended up with a $1995 PITI payment, she has a seriously good legal case for Obama’s lawyer friends for discrimination.
But then, that’s not what ACORN is protesting with their criminal acts against US homeowners, is it? They are annoyed they didn’t give her a loan modification… not that they shafted her on her purchase loan.
So what’s the truth? Is Ms. Hank’s defaulting on a refi after pulling out cash equity? Or is it on an original purchase that she bought for a price 66% over market value?
Forgive me, but I can’t imagine *anyone*… including a first time homebuyer… being so absolutely stupid to voluntarily take out a $235K mortgage for a $78K-$100K home.
As far as ACORN goes? Hang… they’ve been criminals in my mind for quite some time. Glad to see that law enforcment will also view them that way. But I’d beware about giving them, and their “victims” too much sympathy.
Vietnam era Navy wife, indy/conservative, and an official California escapee now residing as a red speck in the sea of Oregon blue.
If the police chief, city attorney and mayor stand by and watch this happen they just accepted the first shot in a civil war as legal. Been watching Beck and they were talking about neighborhoods having to form ‘armed’ units to protect themselves. Looks like that will be the only protection for the honest citizens (there are some. aren’t they?) left in Baltimore and other cities across the country. Every member of ACORN and their supporters (including O’Dumbo and the democrats in congress) should be arrested today for fostering civil insurrection. O’Dumbo is giving them billions of your dollars to break the laws of the land? Ain’t that a hoot?
Scrapiron, I doubt they (law enforcement) are standing by. With the legal owner filing a lawsuit and charges (something that would be required for a lawsuit), they just plain can’t… even if they wanted to.
But be careful about that “fostering civil insurrection” bit… I am a m’cycle rider and have been one of those involved in either participating and/or supporting “civil disobedience”. Sometimes you have to do it to get a lawsuit into court and challenge a law.
But yes… part of the stimulus benefited ACORN… and for that, the media should be calling them out loud and clear. Especially of these abuses of homeowners by ACORN for their affirmative action protests.
Mata said, “Forgive me, but I can’t imagine *anyone*… including a first time homebuyer… being so absolutely stupid to voluntarily take out a $235K mortgage for a $78K-$100K home.”
Or, for that matter and competent loan officer signing off on it…
Never assume that there is an absolute bottom to “stupid”. I have found that there is really no limit to the stupidity that people will buy off on IF ALLOWED TO DO SO.
Scrapiron — Arrested? You know how that will play on CNN and MSNBC?
“Right Wing Fascist Police Thugs prevent legal home owner from returning to her home. Next with Wolf Blitzer”. Then just sit back and wait for the law suits to be filed against the City and Police.
Private property rights are the key to economic freedom and prosperity. Devaluing those rights is a sure path to socialism and deprivation.\
In an earlier thread I equated ACORN to the neighborhood enforcers who act as the political police in Venezuela.
This story demonstrates that the two groups do indeed have something in common.
Thugs, vandals and thieves….
$1900 a month?!!! OMG! That kinda money gets you 3500sqft new home in this area.
Insane.
Just so you know, newguy40… loan officers have no power to “sign off” on a loan. That is only in the hands of the lender’s underwriter. The *true* gods of lending. The application goes thru the loan officers (originator) to the processor to the underwriter.
And I’d wager big time that no underwriter would sign off on a purchase loan 66% over area value. And I’d also wager no appraiser would stake his future career on justifying an appraisal value so far over market value either.
I’m really sure there’s a refi in here somewhere that’s not being disclosed.
Ms. Hanks purchased this home in 2001 with a mortgage monthly of $1995, and an income of $2200?? Wow somethings wrong?? If there is a refi in there somewhere I could see it but if not what then??
FDR gave a wink and a nod to the law breaking unions to cause civil unrest. That way FDR could stand by and allow them to shape public opinion without getting his hands dirty.
I think the military calls this type action shaping the battlefield.
Greetings:
What somewhat amazes me about this whole “mortgage” debacle is that in spite of all the government activity, no one, in or out of government, has suggested that the first thing to do is to cancel the Community Re-investment Act. This pernicious combination of socialism and compassion-itis is what started the whole bank failure ball rolling.
He should sue acorn, after all they’re getting billions of dollars from the stimulus / payoff bill.
i read a story about a bartender in vegas who got a loan for around a million and bought a mansion and then defaulted immediatelly, he never paid a single payment. he thought it would be a cool party pad for a few months, and trashed the place. i read this online maybe 6 or 8 months ago, don’t remember where. how could anyone think that a bartender can carry a mortgage that high? acorn is out of hand, the more crazy they get the worse they look to your average person.
ya know, Luva… I’m going to have to call that one fantasy. No one gets million dollar loans (in the biz, called jumbo loans)…most especially in the past year… without having documentation. Now if a bartender pulled this off, it had to be with a co-signer. Because no doc loans have been long gone… and have been rare if not impossible for jumbo loans.
So you ask if anyone (in this case, I’m answering for me…) can think of this being possible, and I’m going to say emphatically NO.
So forgive me, but I’m going to call this one a story beyond an urban legend unless you come up with some substantiated links. And, BTW, I did do some cyber snooping on my own about any kind of a story with a Vegas bartender, a penthouse, and a loan default…. and came up empty. Generally, if it’s out there, I’m pretty good about finding SOME evidence of it. But it’s a dead end.
Sounds like someone was pulling your leg somehow.
@MataHarley: Oh, I don’t know… the mortgage fraudsters are pretty creative and quite bold:
http://www.irs.gov/compliance/enforcement/article/0,,id=162992,00.html
Perhaps I shouldn’t put that link up there as it might give some lingering ACORN nut more ideas.
But then, why should they steal anymore? They’re set to get BILLIONS in tax payer dollars and the IRS will be the one stealing from us to give to them.
Mike, a bartender’s documentable income is substantiated by his tax returns. There is nothing harder to get past a lender nowadays than mattress money.
Thus I hold with my original statement to Luva. The chances of a bartender getting a jumbo loan without documention and legally traceable income is slight… and that’s being generous.
Thought you might be interested in some REAL information related to this foreclosure; Donna Hanks initially purchased her home (315 South Ellwood, Baltimore, MD 21224) on 7/06/2001 for $87,000. At some date between 2001 and 2006 she re-financed the original mortgage for the amount of $270,000 with a mortgage payment of $1,662.00. The FIRST foreclosure on this home was filed 5/31/2006. Donna Hanks filed for bankruptcy 6/16/06 during which a payment plan was approved for the $10,500 she was behind in her payments. This action stopped the original foreclosure. When she did not meet the terms of the bankruptcy re-payment, a second foreclosure action was started in January 2008. At the time she had not made her mortgage payments since September 2007. It should be noted that her salary per the bankruptcy paperwork was $1625 per month and she was working a 2nd and 3rd job (supposedly giving her an additional $1,275 in monthly income – the employers were not listed). Over extended? Also, during 2007 she was renting our her basement illegally (she was taken to court) and receiving rent while she was not making her mortgage payments. The mortgage company “raised” her payment $300 a month – right? Well, not exactly it was $340. The amount that she had agreed to pay back in arrears. Not exactly truthful, but what I would expect from a person with her criminal record (theft and assault 2nd degree and possession of a dangerous weapon with intent to injure). Oh and there is the small matter of breaking and entering. The house at 315 South Ellwood had already been sold at auction on 6/26/08 for $192,000. It just took them until September 2008 to get her out. Nothing like public information – it seems Acorn could have found this same information before they helped this “poor” victimized woman…………………
Thank you *very much*, Sherry. You have confirmed what I suggested happened in my original post.
1: that she purchased for the lower prices in the area (I said $78-$100K and you confirmed at $87K)
2: she refi’d to pull out cash equity, and that I was close in estimating the payments (I said about $1645 when you removed the property taxes and homeowners insurance from the $1995 PITI payment… you confirmed at $1662.
So the burning question is… when you refi an $87K mortgage (assuming she bought with no money down) for $270K, less closing costs….say $8K just to be on the high side… what did she do with the pocketed $175,000?
Doesn’t matter… she irresponsibly blew it on whatever. And she does not deserve to be “bailed out” with a loan modification. And those ACORN types ought to be embarrassed to incur criminal charges for such a low life scum. It’s people like her that got us into this mess.
Again, thanks for checking the records and confirming my speculations for us all, Sherry.
Sue ACORN for every single penny they have, for material damages, pain and suffering, rights violations and anything else you can possibly think of. This situation almost, almost, makes me wish I were a lawyer.
Will somebody please tell me when the scope of civil disobedience was expanded to include vandalism plus breaking and entering? Why didn’t the ACLU rush to Donna Hanks’ side?
Ms. Hanks ought to practice a little civil disobedience on the heads of Stanley Kurtz and Chicago ACORN Leader Toni Foulkes. I wonder which side Barack or Michelle Obama would represent in court?
Silly me, I almost forgot; they aren’t licensed to practice law any more, are they? Of course, Obama wouldn’t choose between the two; he’d simply (continue to) blame Bush for the whole mess. And let’s not forget that the situation is much worse than Obama or Biden thought it was, even though they were thoroughly capable of supporting the bank bailouts before and after the election.
Just a ruse, obviously. Obama assured the nation that he (oops, sorry, I meant He) would fix the economy, but did anyone doubt he was going to pull the “ignorance” card out of his pocket?
Dear Mr. President,
Please refrain from making any further promises until you are satisfied that you have all the information required to make an intelligent decision. I reaze that it may take until November 6 of 2012 for this to happen, but I’m willing to wait.
Sincerely,
A truly responsible taxpayer and homeowner
—–
Jeff V
I may have stretched the “civil disobedience” term technically, but not in my mind.
It’s a term more often associated with direct refusal to accept or obey government demands and mandates. In this case, I suggest it is appropriate because ACORN is refusing to accept laws about legal transfer of deeds, and has stated outright they are doing this to protest current foreclosure laws.
But vandalism and this particular B&E is still non-violent, Jeff (which is *much* easier than ruaqtpi2… LOL)
Ms. Hanks, IMHO, has no moral authority to dance on anyone’s head. And the only one that the ACLU should be racing to rescue is the current owner of the home, William Lane.
And in the future, if ACORN is bent on engaging in criminal activites as protest, they should select more worthy examples. Ms. Hank’s is, instead, the poster child of all that was wrong with this lending mess…. irresponsible buyers, and too loose criteria on lending standards.
see michele malkin’s column from this past week on the proposed acorn sit-ins. sorry no link.
Mata Musing: Thought I would do the courtesy of adding a few pertinent links on this. First Michelle’s post on the same incident which, as I do, calls the ACORN actions civil disobedience. Also, Malkin’s Feb 18th post to which susieq refers. Note that even ACORN themselves call these actions civil disobedience in their press releases. And here I thought I was being original… LOL! Thanks for the heads up and references to her work, susieq.
Oh, I agree that Hanks is the perfect poster child for all that is wrong with the lending debacle. No doubt we will be told that she was conned into a bad equity loan deal by some predatory lendor, whether it is really the case.
She may have had a true emergency need for the “cash-out” of her equity refinance, but most likely she tapped into the overinflated and overly speculative rise in home and property value to feed an excessive consumption habit that has become pandemic.
I can see a whole new wave of refinancing promotions on the horizon, and I believe the rollercoaster is being primed right now for another sickening ride. With Fannie Mae gearing up to guarantee (how I hate that word) nearly a trillion dollars in new mortgage deals, the government offering billions in incentives for banks and desperate homeowners (but only the responsible ones – yeah, right), and the Obama administration’s renewed vision of home ownership as a human right (and therefore doomed to be a government-sponsored entitlement program), there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that “here we go again!”
Don’t say you weren’t warned.
Heck, I may even get me some o’ that free money dere handin out at da banks. Obama feels my pain, thank you Lord, and praise you Jesus. The Messiah has come at last, and He’s gonna give me a free house. Maybe a free car too, if I’m real good and promise to vote for him again. (/sarcasm off)
Jeff V
(P.S. Anybody figure out “ruaqtpi2” yet?)
Yes, Jeff, I am.
Thanks for asking.
😉
By the way, I’m predicting 5000 as the Dow floor.
@ruaqtpi2:
I did. Are you a cutie pie too? Well, are you?
Of course, Missy, and thanks for asking.
Ditto to you, Aye, though I think if the Dow falls below 6000 we’ll see a government-forced suspension of trading in order to prevent mass hysteria.
I just hope that when we look back on these days we’ll be thankful that it wasn’t worse.
Jeff V
MAJOR UPDATE:
Donna Hanks, the former homeowner from this story was arrested today, charged in connection with the breaking and entering of her former home.
What a fool, as ACORN didn’t use her “key”. Unless, of course, it was her tools that snapped the padlock. LOL
But then, she’s so far into debt after absconding her $175K equity and declaring bankruptcy, I guess she’s looking for the buck for her 15 minutes of fame.
Other than that? Give the loser jail time. At least she’ll have a “home”… courtesy of the taxpayer. And that’s all she’s ever done in managing her home investment anyway.
That’s great news – she’s a real piece of work – take a look at her (Donna Hanks) comments here
http://baltimorebrew.com/blog/?p=873
LOUIS BEVERLY – Co-Chair ACORN Foreclosure Fighters
This is the guy that actually cut the lock on Donna Hanks house.
This guy is totally misrepresenting himself. He tells reporters that he’s a homeowner facing eviction next month. It appears the eviction he’s talking about is on one of his rental properties, not his home. According to a quote on 1/09/07 Mr. Beverly states that he owns 15 properties around town (I found six houses associated with him). Not quite a victim!Based on the civil cases he’s had over the years (failure to maintain property, dumping, building not fit for human) he appears to be a slum-lord.
The property he has currently in foreclosure has been going on since March 2007 and was sold 11/17/08 to a man named Maurice Bost.
It’s unfortunate that Mr. Bost chose to purchase a home owned by Mr. Beverly as on February 13, 2009 charges were filed against Louis Beverly for 2nd degree Assault and destruction of property by Mr. Bost. It seems that Louis Beverly is willing to go farther than just “civil unrest”, he’s willing to attack.
Which is a little frightening since Mr. Beverly was charged in 1992 with Battery, Assault, Possession of handgun and Possession of deadly weapon with intent to injure. He also had a Peace Order issued against him on 9/25/06.
This is the guy that ACORN chooses to be their Co-Chair of the Baltimore ACORN Foreclosure Fighters? It seems he much better qualified to be a voter registration employee based on their employees during the election or do they choose people with these types of backgrounds to represent them since most law-abiding citizens wouldn’t break into homes?
CARLA JONES-CHEW
This is ACORN’s other poster child in Baltimore. She’s a “victim” of a foreclosure crisis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFt1z1uWEJs
She doesn’t mention that she’s employed at John’s Hopkins (I verified this morning that she’s still employed there – her work phone is 410.502.1065) with a monthly net income of $3,076.02 and her mortgage is only $457 a month according to her bankruptcy paperwork.
Note: this is not a subprime loan, her interest rate is 4% according to her – 6.25% according to the lender paperwork
In video – June of 2008 she sought assistance from an attorney.
Truth – She has had the same attorney (Marlene Johnson, Esq.) since the inception of her bankruptcy October 15, 2005.
On 1/05/07 the Trustee’s Recommendation shows that she was behind in her mortgage payments by $6,216.20; approximately a year of payments.
In video – On November 12, 2008; after returning home from a business trip she had a message from her attorney her told her that morning her property went up for foreclosure.
Truth – The 2nd foreclosure was filed on 8/22/08 and an affidavit was sent to Mr. Jones-Chew and her attorney the same day and posted on her front door on 9/09/08. At that time was again at least 3 months behinds in her payment (as of 5/03/08).
She says that her attorney was going to file an objection because her attorney thought the filing was done “mistakenly”. I guess the mistake was that she forgot to pay her mortgage.
An exception was filed on Mr. Jones-Chew’s behalf on November 26, 2008 and the mortgage holders attorney filed a response on 1/28/09. The case is still open.
She’s asking for the foreclosure to be reversed as the process was not done in a timely or professional manner. I can see her point – they’ve ONLY been trying to work with her since October 2005 – heartless………..