CNN is reporting a 90 year old woman shot herself inside her foreclosed home.
That’s horrible, unfortunately it is a sign of these tough times.
But what’s worse is that her plight is now being used on the floor of congress. Give me a damned break.
(CNN) — A 90-year-old Akron, Ohio, woman who shot herself as sheriff’s deputies tried to evict her from her foreclosed home became a symbol of the nation’s home mortgage crisis Friday.
Fannie Mae foreclosed on the Akron, Ohio, home of Addie Polk, 90, after acquiring the mortgage in 2007.
Addie Polk is being treated at Akron General Medical Center after shooting herself at least twice in the upper body Wednesday afternoon, her city councilman said.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, mentioned Polk on the House floor Friday during debate over the latest economic rescue proposal.
“This bill does nothing for the Addie Polks of the world,” Kucinich said after telling her story. “This bill fails to address the fact that millions of homeowners are facing foreclosure, are facing the loss of their home. This bill will take care of Wall Street, and the market may go up for a few days, but democracy is going downhill.”
This article appears in Sep 30 – Oct 7, 2008.
Fannie Mae has now forgiven her mortgage, and given her the deed outright! There will be thousands of attempted suicides now. Great job Fannie Mae!!
So, if I shoot myself, my bank will forgive my mortgage and pay off my house?? How ridiculous! I’m sure many people feel that way over debt. She should have been hospitalized and treated for depression, but I don’t think her home loan should have been forgiven. Perhaps a relative could have helped her out. People have to take responsibility for their choices!!
They weren’t going to get the money anyways. The mortgage was worthless. They couldn’t sell it for a penny on the dollar. So they just gave it up.
Stories like this irritate me. I’m sympathetic that a 90-year old woman was losing her home, don’t get me wrong, and she obviously suffers from mental/emotional issues to attempt to kill herself over it. But what is never explained is where the $57,000 that she took out went. Why didn’t she use that money to pay her mortgage? If she wasted it and/or gave it away, then really that’s HER CHOICE. A 30-year fixed mortgage at 6.3% is a good deal by most standards. People have been losing homes for as long as they’ve been buying them. Not every person foreclosed on is a victim of the “mortgage crisis”. Some people just made stupid choices and are now having to deal with them
The real question is why was she given a 30 year loan at her age? Did Countrywide believe she would live to be 120?
There were red flags all over this situation. As tragic as it is both parties were a fault. First why would one borrow 57,000 dollars on a house bought in 1970? She was 86 at the time of the loan so she would have to live to 116 to pay off the notes. Country wide should have seen this and tried to assist her in other alternatives, like senior housing if she was in finacial problems from the start. At 86 Countrywide had to know she was not working, did she have income to afford the loan at the time? I hope she recovers and this is an example of the system out of control!!!!!!
This house was paid for- free and clear- when this woman was inexplicably given nearly $60k at the age of 86 and this is a bailout moment? That is almost the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
As with others on this comments section, I’m not completely un-sympathetic to this woman, but she made the bad choice to get this loan. She’s aged enough not to be up-to-date on the most recent mortgage offers. No company should ever give a 30 yr mortgage (fixed or not) to an 86 yr old woman. It’s hard to ask ‘Where is this woman’s family’ because a lot of older Americans don’t have family that care about them. Maybe she should have gone to the caring neighbor… anyone who could help her.
Any responsible mortgage banker should have given her a Reverse Mortgage. If you don’t know what that is, Google it. It would have been perfect for her. As long as her home was paid off to begin with, she would get the cash she needed and wouldn’t have to make payments back to the bank.
And I agree with a previous comment, now people are going to think they can attempt suicide or do some other physical harm to themselves and get their house free and clear. What a nice message to send to the general public… because you’re kidding yourself if you think people out there aren’t going to try this now. The article should have said the bank is working with the woman’s estate to work out a solution. That statement would have been safer, by far.
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