Asheville couple highlights the struggles thousands of area families have encountered when banks foreclose on homes.

1. Datestamp: 01/30/2011
FIGHTING TO STAY HOME
FAMILIES STRUGGLE AS AREA FORECLOSURE WOES BURGEON
By Sandra V. Rodriguez
srodriguez@citizen−times.com
ASHEVILLE − Christopher and Devon Randall made these vows at the time of their New Year's Day
wedding five years ago.
They would always care for one another. And they would provide a safe, loving home for their child, due the
following summer.
The first has withstood the test of time.
The second had to survive the recession, when Christopher's cabinetry business collapsed as people either
delayed or gave up on plans for renovations.
Just as the Randalls' story is one of misfortune and missteps, it also is one that should provide home−saving
lessons at a time when a soaring number of Western North Carolina residents face foreclosure.
Foreclosure filings tripled from 2009 to 2010 in the Asheville metropolitan area, which includes Buncombe,
Haywood, Henderson and Madison counties, according to a report released last week by RealtyTrac.
Asheville's 229 percent increase was the largest in the nation, though much of that had to do with the housing
crash arriving late in the mountains. The metro area recorded 1,496 foreclosure filings in 2010, ranking it
175th out of 205 metro areas studied by RealtyTrac, a leading source of foreclosure property information.
"Nationally, observers expect foreclosures to peak in 2011," said Jeff Shaw, spokesman for the N.C. Justice
Center, a nonprofit advocacy group. "In North Carolina, there is reason to believe that wise public investments
in vital state programs may keep us ahead of that curve."
North Carolina as a whole saw a record 67,854 foreclosures in 2010 as people either bought more home than
they could afford, lost work, suffered personal crisis, or became victims of the economy and their own
mistakes, as did the Randalls.
False promises
The one−story bungalow in Oakley was the first for Christopher and Devon. "I was pregnant at the time and
our wedding was coming up," Devon Randall said.
"It was the first Christmas I spent away from my family, and it was just us by ourselves here in this empty
house that we had just bought and that we had no furniture for. So it was surreal. It was very exciting."
Foreseeing trouble, the two refinanced their home from an adjustable−rate mortgage to a fixed−rate mortgage
FIGHTING TO STAY HOME 1

2. as soon as they could. But just as construction plummeted, required mortgage payments increased, going from
$1,100 a month to $1,300.
"We were just spinning our wheels," Devon Randall said.
The two were always exhausted, particularly Devon, who was pregnant with their second child. Jobs were
scarce.
Even paring down nonessentials, like brand−name foods and cable TV, didn't help matters.
"We were late," Devon Randall said. "Then at some point, we skipped a month completely. Originally, when
they said 'foreclosure,' we thought, 'Oh my gosh, we are going to have to leave here. There's no way we are
ever going to work this out.'"
When they fell behind on their mortgage in 2009 and received the foreclosure notice, they were ready to file
for bankruptcy and start packing up their possessions.
"I didn't know what rights we had," Devon Randall said, "or if we even had a leg to stand on."
The bank offered the Randalls a forbearance agreement, a legal but temporary reprieve. It lowered their
payment for a brief period, but after that required much higher payments to catch up. It was not a solution for
a couple still struggling.
"A lot of homeowners got taken in by that because that was the only way for them to get help," said Rochelle
Sparko, a defense foreclosure attorney with the N.C. Justice Center.
"That was typically a problem several years ago," Sparko said. "They (the banks) were offering people
modifications that increased their monthly payments, and that was the typical form a modification would
take."
Homeowners typically need to consult with an expert outside of the bank to learn what their options are.
The Randalls did just that, but the grueling process was riddled with what lawyers see as commonplace:
Paperwork would get lost or languish in someone's bank office.
When she would call the bank, Devon Randall said, she often would get someone with no previous knowledge
of their case.
Navigating the mortgage modification labyrinth, which in the best−case scenario allows a homeowner to stay
in his home with a reduced monthly payment, can be tough.
But there is help available − and it's crucial that homeowners seek assistance as early in the process as
possible.
"So many of our clients are so frustrated and demoralized by the whole experience that, when it is combined
with whatever events led them into the default in the first place, it is too overwhelming," said Laura Collins, a
foreclosure defense attorney at Pisgah Legal Services in Asheville.
The Randalls' experience, foreclosure experts say, demonstrates why homeowners threatened with foreclosure
need to secure financial and legal advice as early as possible.
FIGHTING TO STAY HOME 2

3. Buncombe agencies offering such help include OnTrack Financial Education and Counseling, which staffs
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development−approved counselors, and Pisgah Legal Services.
Homeowners in trouble often can delay foreclosure. In North Carolina, foreclosures do not need to be
reviewed by a judge, so they can be completed in a few months, less time than in many other states.
If the homeowners are already in foreclosure, it is crucial that they speak to an attorney, Collins said.
An option they should avoid, she added, is paying any company or individual that promises to negotiate loan
modifications on their behalf.
In North Carolina, "it is illegal for companies to even advertise a loan modification for upfront fees," Collins
said. "A lot of out−of−state companies advertise that, and many of them are scams."
After taking the homeowners' money, she said, "They vanish."
Long process
The Randalls chose a strategy to slow foreclosure, something experts caution can be draining, lasting up to
two years.
Some of the delay may be due to initial bank offers, like the one the Randalls got, that make matters worse.
For most homeowners, Sparko said, "If they had been able to get a loan modification (that worked for them),
they would have been able to afford the mortgage all along."
This is particularly true of people whose financial situation has changed drastically since they got the
mortgage, as from the loss of a job.
This long, adversarial battle is not how the foreclosure process is supposed to work.
In theory, an applicant submits the loan modification paperwork the lender requires. The bank evaluates the
homeowner's situation and delivers a decision in a timely fashion.
"But that's not how it works," Pisgah Legal's Collins said. An attorney, monitoring the process, can demand
adherence to state laws and make sure the homeowners know their options.
Once they missed payments, the Randalls agreed to the bank's initial loan modification − with its promise of
higher payments down the road − because it was the only option the couple saw to save their home.
Then the bank lost the first month's payment that the Randalls sent with the contract, the Randalls say. They
have proof that someone at the bank signed for the certified mail, but the bank told them it didn't know what
happened to the check. It proceeded to foreclose.
Knowing what's best
Pisgah Legal Services has seen a spike in the number of foreclosure cases it's involved with in recent years,
particularly from 2005−07, when the housing market started to tank, due in large part to "loose lending
practices," Collins said. "We started to see the results of the loans people had been offered that had predatory
terms in one way or another," she said. One example: monthly payments that suddenly skyrocket after an
introductory period.
FIGHTING TO STAY HOME 3

4. Borrowers should be alert to such risks, but Victor Moore, OnTrack Financial Services' counseling director,
said he has seen a lot of financial illiteracy in recent years.
Some people don't even realize how important it is to stay current on their mortgage, or to immediately seek
advice if they can't.
Some of Moore's clients, he said, kept up to date on up to $40,000 of credit card debt but were past due on
their house.
Moore said counselors at OnTrack end up seeing the truly hard cases, homeowners who have tried and tried
getting loan modifications and just couldn't.
The Randalls spent more than a year fighting to stay in their home, accruing fees and penalties.
The simplest, uncontested foreclosure can cost the homeowner $1,800. Complicated and drawn−out battles
can cost much more, even if the house is lost.
For the Randalls, a referral from OnTrack to the attorneys at Pisgah Legal Services, eventually helped lower
their loan payments down to 31 percent of their income.
"My advice to people is, No. 1, they have to get help, because they don't have to go through that process
alone," Collins said. "There are N.C.−certified housing counselors who can help people go through the
process of seeking a modification of their home loan or some other workout option."
The Randalls say they never underestimated the responsibility that came with signing on the dotted line on the
mortgage that put them into their home, just as they never saw the economy's collapse coming.
But count them among the tough for sticking it out in rough times − and among the lucky. Because they
endured, and they got help, the Randalls still have their home.
"I didn't know what rights we had," Devon Randall said, "or if we even had a leg to stand on. Then the
lawyers − they saved us."
Staff writers John Boyle and Mark Barrett contributed to this story.
Prevent foreclosure fraud
Make sure your counselor is HUD−approved. If you are looking for help to save your home from foreclosure,
be sure your counseling agency is on the HUD list of approved agencies. Visit
www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/fc/ for a list by state.
Don't pay an arm and a leg. Most HUD−approved housing counselors will help you for free. Others offer
services for a low fee (less than $100). Do not pay money to anyone unless you know exactly what services
you will receive.
Your payments should go directly to your lender or servicer. Do not trust anyone else to pay your mortgage
for you.
FIGHTING TO STAY HOME 4

5. Beware of guarantees. A counselor cannot guarantee to stop the foreclosure process, no matter what your
circumstances. If you sign a written agreement with your lender, make sure you have copies of all documents.
Know what you are signing − and be sure you sign it. Don't let anyone pressure you to sign paperwork you
haven't read through carefully. Never sign documents with blank spaces that can be filled in or documents
with misinformation even if someone promises to fix it later.
Never sign over ownership of your home to someone else. Many foreclosure scams try to trick you into
signing over ownership of your house "temporarily" as a way to help you.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
If you feel you may be the target or victim of foreclosure fraud, seek help.
Sources: Federal Reserve Board and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
On the Web
Making Home Affordable at www.makinghomeaffordable .gov/counselor.html.
Department of Housing and Urban Development at www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/fc.
North Carolina Foreclosure Help at www.ncforeclosurehelp .org.
To report fraud
N.C. Attorney General's Office, Department of Justice, at 877−5NO−SCAM (667−226)
N.C. Office of the Commissioners of Banks at 888−384−3811 or http://charlotte.fbi.gov.
Sources: Approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, www.richmondfed.org
For more information
To get help or to volunteer, contact Pisgah Legal Services at 253−0406, or OnTrack Financial Education
& Counseling at 255−5166.
Where to get help
Depending on a homeowner's financial stability, options banks may offer range from permanently lowering
the monthly mortgage payment to delaying a foreclosure long enough to sell the house. Since the foreclosure
crisis clearly emerged in late 2007 and early 2008, governments have enacted some measures to protect
consumers. Those include:
The Homeowner and Homebuyer Protection Act, which bans foreclosure rescue scams, where dealers try to
take advantage of people in foreclosure by taking some of the equity they've built up in their home.
HAMP − The Home Affordable Modification Program, a federal program designed to help as many as 4
million financially struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure by modifying loans to an affordable level.
The N.C. Commissioner of Banks' foreclosure prevention program, which works with homeowners to avoid
FIGHTING TO STAY HOME 5

6. foreclosure.
The state Housing Finance Agency's bridge loan program. The program existed before 2008, but it has been
expanded with federal funds. In part, the program provides bridge loans that help people.
Caption: David Zalubowski/AP A counselor cannot guarantee to stop the foreclosure process, no matter what
your circumstances.
Number of homes foreclosed per year.
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−2005−−−−− 2006 −−−−2007−−−− 2008−−−− 2009
−−−−−−−−2010
Buncombe −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−654 −−−−−−−−615 −−−−697 −−−−−−833 −−−−1,168
−−−−−−−1,393
Haywood −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−178 −−−−−−−−200 −−−−300 −−−−−−−252−−−−−−
379 −−−−−−407
Henderson −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−296 −−−−−−−273 −−−−−262 −−−−−−377 −−−−−−542
−−−−−−−670
Madison −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−53 −−−−−−−−53 −−−−−−−62 −−−−−−−−78
−−−−−−133 −−−−−−−157
Transylvania −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−67−−−−−−−− 72 −−−−−−−86−−−−−−− 117
−−−−−−139 −−−−−−203
North Carolina−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−− 42,876−−−−−− 45,464−−− 49,683−−−53,958−− 63,282
−−−67,854
Source: NCForeclosureHelp.orgWNC foreclosuresCounty
John Fletcher/jfletcher@citizen−times.com−−Christopher and Devon Randall with children,
Caption:
Cullen, 18 months, and Finnegan, 5, were hit with a foreclosure notice.
Publication: The Asheville Citizen−Times
Section: News
Source:
Edition: Main
Page: 1
Book: A
Byline: Sandra V. Rodriguez srodriguez@citizen−times.com
From: STAFF
Day:Sunday
FIGHTING TO STAY HOME 6