Consumer Law

Putting a Human Face on Foreclosure

By Brian Wolfman

Yesterday we told you the cold stastics: Foreclosures are at their highest point since the mortgage meltdown began.  But here's a real story, which begins like this:

Mike and Kathy Wales don't know how long their 10-year-old son, Alex, has to live. Last year, they learned he has cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, a terminal neurological disorder that has left him unable to see or walk. Now the family faces one more crisis: the foreclosure of its Prince William County home. Just days after the Waleses were told by banking giant Chase that they had been approved for a mortgage modification, the company foreclosed, selling the three-bedroom townhouse in Bristow to Fannie Mae and imperiling the family's place in a community that has rallied around Alex at every turn. Mike Wales, who retired from the Air Force in 2004 after 21 years to take a civilian intelligence post within the service, said he and his wife were overwhelmed by the emotional and financial toll of Alex's illness and fell behind on their monthly mortgage payments.

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on September 17, 2010 (boomark / email).