Eviction Notice: 'I will not leave this house,' grandmother vows
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PORTLAND, Ore. - A family in Northeast Portland vows to fight any attempt to evict them from their home, and the matriarch of the bunch, a 79-year-old grandmother, is inspiring neighbors to pledge their support.
The house is on Northeast 14th Avenue, and the family could be evicted as early as midnight Friday. But according to the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, it is not familiar with the property, which means it is unlikely deputies will try to evict the family this weekend.
Annette Steele, 79, and her two relatives living with her at her home in the 4,000 block of Northeast 14th Avenue say they are not going to leave without a fight and will be ready.
Neighbors have agreed to be on call and to run over to help try to block an eviction if the sheriff's deputies show up.
The family says lenders took advantage of Steele, signing her up for loans she may not have fully grasped, and then moving to foreclose.
She has not made a payment in the past three years, but after 26 years living in the home, Steele thinks she paid off what she owed and should own the house outright.
And she's not willing to move out.
"And I will not leave this house," she told her supporters from her porch Friday afternoon. "I will stay here. And if the law come, I'm ready. I'm ready. I don't have a weapon, but the one I use is hot water. And I keep it ready."
Steele says she was inspired to stay in her home by the way the community came together around Alicia Jackson in May. A group of protesters helped Jackson re-enter the Northeast Portland home she lost in foreclosure. Now nearly three months later, she's still living there, though the water remains off.
She was outside Steele's house Friday, and like Steele, Jackson said she is not sure how her situation is going to be resolved. Both women are just taking it day by day.
It's sick that people will read an article and think they have the facts straight or the whole story! It's also SICK that people will justify a bank robbing from the elderly but bash a community helping their neighbor! It is no secret that the banks in this country are FRAUDULENTLY foreclosing and practicing predatory lending! â"After paying on her home for 20 years, a company widely seen as one of the most predatory actors in the subprime crisis offered Ms. Steele a subprime variable rate loan to do needed maintenance on her home. Even though it was a bad loan Mrs. Steele was able to make all her payments on time. But when it came time to refinance, as a condition of her loan, she was consistently denied. Unable to refinance and negotiate better terms she was left with a ballooning bill that was unmanageable for her. She sought help at every turn and was denied. In the meantime foreclosure proceedings continued and eventually her house was sold without her consent and now she is facing eviction.http://weareoregon.org/2012/07/annette-steele-rallies-support-to-defend-her-home/
 @TayaD I missed the part where the lender held a gun to her head and forced her to sign the papers.
 @TayaD For any of you that try to deny the CRIMINAL activity of our lending system! "One of the most pernicious practices in which the nationâ biggest banks engaged during the lead up to the financial crisis was pushing minority borrowers into subprime loans, even when many of them qualified for prime loans. Wells Fargo had perhaps the most horrifying practices in this department, calling the subprime loans that they pushed in poor, black neighborhoods âghetto loans.âhttp://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/12/01/379332/former-banker-subprime-pushed/
 "State and federal prosecutors, in a recent settlement with five banks that included Wells Fargo, agreed. The joint state and federal settlement spelled out how the document procedures at the five banks resulted in âloss of homes due to improper, unlawful or undocumented foreclosures,â according to the complaint."http://economywatch.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/04/19/11269115-inside-the-foreclosure-factory-theyre-working-overtime?lite
@Duvie23Â Â
"""" I am sure the american school system is too blame """"
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I blame her parents, bottom line the responsibility of a childs education is the parents, if the child isn't learning fast enough, either the parents have to help the child or figure out a way to get help. Just sitting back and blaming the schools is a cop out.
@kramr I am sure the american school system is too blame why she could not read a contract, understand it, and shop around to make sure she was getting the best situation....
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This country doesn't want us to have any personal responsibility....that way they convince us we need them to take of us...nanny state....
  "she would OWE just a vey small amount"""
Livefyre really sucks, what kind of idiot makes it so you can't easily edit ones post
@marflar Part of personal responsibility is having the brains to know the difference between a good loan and a bad loan. Part of personal responsibility is NOT treating  ones house like a piggy bank by  refinacing  the equity out of the home. Part of Personal responsibility is just PAYING DOWN ONES MORTGAGE AS THEY GET CLOSER TO RETIREMENT.
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Just think, if Granny had just paid down her Mortage from when she moved in....... she would own just a very small amount!!!!
 @kramr Taya already pointed out that "â"After paying on her home for 20 years, a company widely seen as one of the most predatory actors in the subprime crisis offered Ms. Steele a subprime variable rate loan to do needed maintenance on her home. Even though it was a bad loan Mrs. Steele was able to make all her payments on time. But when it came time to refinance, as a condition of her loan, she was consistently denied. Unable to refinance and negotiate better terms she was left with a ballooning bill that was unmanageable for her."
@TayaD  so your rant points the finger at everyone but the homeowner. Doesn't personal repsonsibility come into play at some point????
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 Not smart enough to read what she signed, but smart enough to figure that she payed enough?
Did not make payments in 3 years and refuses to leave the house - that's called stealing. It is not yours until you payed for it. If she resists eviction, she should be jailed for attempted theft.
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@Julie Rent free for 3 years...Where is that money Granny? Take that money and move.
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she thinks she has paid off the home? Well, she's lived in it for 26 years and made payments on it for 23 years...did she have a 23 year mortgage? Was the balance paid in full? Who the hell cares what she thinks? Did she pay back the money she borrowed or not? This can only end one of two ways...they can leave peacefully when the county sheriffs move in, or they can put up a fight and all be arrested for resisting arrest and other charges. They will then move from a small house to the big house. A bunch of ignorant system abusers!
what a crazy situation. But resolve is simple. Did she sign papers to borrow money and recieve the money and not pay it back? The natural consequence is foreclosure. Geez.
Can we please get more information for this story? I think the news is doing way too much shock and awe. Can someone please investigate! Please talk to the bank and get the full story. Did she indeed payoff the house and the bank is in the wrong or is she just crazy and doesn't understand how to buy a home? Did she ask for help from the bank if she couldn't pay? Is her and the two people leaving with her having a misterious problem that for some reason doesn't provide any income?? I went to read more of this story and I'm still left with tons of question. What happened to reporting. I'm very disappointed with reporters today who are just trying to incite riots.
Where does one sign up for the borrow money and don't pay it back plan? Does it come with a bunch of black people to guard my house when I decide not to make the payments?
@2012 Hope and Change You may actually have to be non-white to qualify....
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I know plenty of people who have lost their homes...they were white...I saw no help like that...no 3 years waiting in the house....
Say what you want about her financial abilities, but this old lady is a fire cracker!
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She don't have no weapon...she has hot water! So either she's going to fling a cup of water on you or sit you down for a cup of tea. She's a pistol!
If you don't understand what is on the paper DON'T SIGN IT. What gives these people the right to defy the eviction notice handed down by the courts. I think that tax laws are stupid and that the IRS is taking advantage of me, guess what if i don't pay my taxes i deal with the consequences. next time try getting an attorney to read the paperwork before you put your name on it. Sorry but if you haven't made a loan payment in three years you have lost all credibility.
Well, Ms. Steele is gonna have to pay the price for her oversight, because that's her signature on the dotted line!
So I pay my rent every month and she lives there free ? Where did this money go from the loans.. How much were these loans ? I can't believe the sense of entitlement here... So when you borrow money at the bank and don't pay it back, who pays it ? Throw her out just like everyone else who doesn't pay their mortgage..
@dougrpdx Nowadays you just have to throw out "the banks are evil" montra and you can stay....
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I guess she was waiting for her obama bucks!!!
At what point does any person have the right to take out loans to pay for their home, live off said loans for THREE YEARS, not make any payments whatsoever, and continue living free, because they just want to? Â And the neighbors are going to stand up? Â Really? Â I thought older people had a better grip on reality than that. Â Obviously she missed that old school idea of paying your way, and her neighbors have gotten too used to a free hand out. Â
OK, here's an important point: they CANNOT evict her using the standard FED "landlord-tenant" process, This is according to a decision of the Court of Appeals, in a case called "Bunch v. Pearson". Basically, unless here's an actual landlord-tenant agreement between her and the "owner" of the property, they can't use the sped-up FED process - they have to file a formal circuit court complaint, which can take months (years) to resolve. Hopefully a decent lawyer (I know, I know) will step up and offer to represent her.
@Mick Wagner I dont want any lawyer to help here...
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The lien holder is on the title the moment she side the loan papers. Failure to pay back the loan as described in the papers and signed by here means she forfeits her rights to title.
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Most foreclosures take 1 year...she is on 3 years...Throw her out...
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Outside of the NE and N portland areas most people who I have talked about this with, feel she is in the wrong and are pissed she is being treated with kids gloves while whites in the suburbs do not get this treatment.
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Sammy will help her. He doesn't like paying his mortgage either!!!
Well that depends on how title is held. But, who cares about the process. She remains illegally in that house and should be foreclosed upon. What kind of thinking suggests otherwise?
This women looks kind of like OBummers grandmother to me. Just another OBummer relative in the news again.
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SO, let me get this right, she took loans on her house and has not made a payment in over three years. Did she think the loans were a gift? She needs to find another place to live or start paying her bills like the rest of us.
If she's not smart enough to stay away from those cash for your house things she deserves what she gets. Throw hot water on yerself lady! Â
Kids, remember to NEVER borrow on your house. take out a mortgage and pay it off so you have something to sell when you get too old to live in the house. 30 years goes by quicker than you think it will. Don't live beyond your means and loose your home.
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 @feministdolphinbuddha It is not her house.
If "homes" are on the auction block and set up, they are done on the Mult Co courthouse steps, generally at 10am any given morning and sold to the highest bidder & then if the owners do not move out, others get involved in the eviction process but they are not done at midnight nor generally on weekends.
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It would appear that she is blowing this whole thing out of proportion for attention when she in fact is prob in default when it comes to owing any monies and it is prob reverting back to the financial institution she owes.
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Trust me, if anyone gets in the way of law enforcement, they will be arrested.And if she plans to use "hot water" on anyone, that is assault & battery, etc.and if it happens to be a person of LE, it is also assualting a police officer.
If what she says about buying the home 26 years ago is true she paid $14,000 for it in 1986. At 6% interest  she would pay about $85 per month for 30 years. That is not a lot of money.
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My guess is that she refinanced and took some equity money that increased the payments and spent the money and then couldn't afford the payments. Not an uncommon scenario.
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She no longer owns here home. It is owned by a company in Florida who took over the property in 2/4/2010.
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This freeloader has been living there for over 2 years for free and now demands to be allowed to stay there.
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The entitlement society is alive and well. I can only hope that the US financial system collapses so that we can get back to reality and stop this insane entitlement society from sucking taxpayers dry.
@RalphCramden ........I got $20 bucks that says your right, Ralph.
 @Rob C Well the odds would be on your side. Just being black increases the  odds considerably that they are on public assistance.
This story is a teaser and garbage...The MCSO does not do weekend evictions . And if they say they are unfamiliar with the address, then they aren't involved and the S.O. does the evictions in Mult Co for rentals. I know because I used to set them up for many years and there is a process to go thru and it takes time to go thru that process.KATU is using this to "solicit" people to watch their news at 11pm.
What do you expect when you don't make a payment for three years. DuH!!!
Nothing more than thieves. They take out a loan and sign papers to agree to pay X amount of money for X amount of years. Then they stop paying and just decide that they own the home now and won't move out.
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The sponging relatives are probably living there for free and collect public assistance.
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The US is doomed.
This is "community organizing"
 @colmortimer This is community anarchy!Â
I Think the Bank Scammed her and thus they should be the ones arrested, all she has to do is say show me the note, if they can not produce the Note then there in Deep trouble.
 @lee986321 You think? What gives you that idea? I think she is a crazy old lady, and if this isn't stopped, more will do the same. And its "their " not there! Don't think unless you can speak and spell, otherwise you become problematic to society, like this lady and her freeloading relatives.Â
 @JustMe Um, it would be they're, as in they are in deep trouble, smarty pants! "Don't think unless you can speak and spell?!" LOL!
@WildeIsOnMine @JustMe lol grammar police on patrol
 @JustMe their/there/they're . . . that bugs me too
I hope the sheriff's office doesn't back off because of all this BS. Foreclosures suck. Banks suck. But, lady, you lived there for free for three years. This demonstration by them is so tacky and ignorant.Â
@colmortimer
if the MCSO says they are unfamilar with the address, then doubtful it will happen as she thinks it will. Again, there is a process one has to go thru and KATU and the woman are not telling the whole story.The S.O. does evictions all the time and they are a matter of public record so this one sounds like the plaintiff/the mtge holder gets their ppty back by forfeiture & by law are entitled to it so I am sure it will be messy if it comes to that, esp if her relatives & neighbors get involved.
 @colmortimer Amen to that!!!Â
"I will not leave this house"
Then start making the payments!
Three years of living free is more than long enough.
@catherine.henry ....thank you, Catherine.