Predatory Lending In Cheyenne - KGWN –Cheyenne, WY– Scottsbluff, NE News,Weather, Sports

Predatory Lending In Cheyenne - KGWN –Cheyenne, WY– Scottsbluff, NE News,Weather, SportsPredatory Lending In Cheyenne


Posted: Jun 07, 2011 7:14 PM
Updated: Jun 07, 2011 7:14 PM
By: Travis Knudsen

According to RealtyTrac.com there have been just over 1,000 foreclosures across Wyoming in the last year.

Going through a foreclosure can not only be a financial disaster, but also an emotionally trying time. John Ruth and Debra Merrick, a married couple of Cheyenne are going through such an experience. They were told on Monday that they only have three days to move out of their foreclosed home.

John and Debra have lived in their home for nearly six years. Six years which they spent growing a family, making memories, and living happily.

"Through this whole thing, it was four years of fighting we've done. Just to try and stay in our home, just to resolve the issue." Said Ruth during my interview with him and his wife early Tuesday morning.

A fight, that got them know where. Their home, their livelihood, and for a time, their happiness, is all being taken away.

John and Debra had a first and second mortgage on their home. The second had a 10.60% interest rate which was to be renegotiated after a year, but in a year's time that mortgage company had gone bankrupt.

"We remained optimistic, so I called again and again and at this point after maybe a week of trying that's when I got the operators saying that the number was no longer in service. That's when we knew we were in trouble. But we couldn't give up, we had to keep trying. This was our home." Said Merrick.

Their loan had been turned over to Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC. who John and Debra say, would not speak with them, or negotiate with them.

"They said property taxes and insurance had gone up, so I called the county clerk check on the insurance and they both had gone down. When I called them [ocwen] back and finally got a hold of someone, the started the foreclosure proceedings." Said Ruth.

David Haney, the Executive Director of Wyoming Community Development Authority says that the best way to protect yourself as a home buyer is to first educate yourself.

"Take home buyer education courses before you start looking for a house. Go to your lender or where ever you have your banking relationship, you visit with them before you go shopping for a house, get with a realtor and professional the combination of those three should put you in a very good position." Haney says.

Sadly, for John and Debra, their home is apart of their past. But they say they aren't yet done with the fight for others who are victims of a flawed system.

"We're strong, we're not done fighting, but it does make us very angry and very distraught." Said John.

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