Homeowners seek help at Burlco forum

Sally Spencer walked into the John F. Kennedy Center in Willingboro hoping for a miracle.

The single mother of two works full time and cares for her 16-year-old autistic son, Salvatore.

Her monthly income is $1,400, but her mortgage is $1,700.

"I'm underwater," she said, waiting for a private meeting with an officer from HSBC, her lender.

Spencer, 44, refinanced the mortgage on her home in Lindenwold in 2006 because she needed money to bury her mother, who had died from breast cancer.

Her adjustable-rate mortgage was tolerable at first. Initial payments were about $1,000, she said. She didn't realize that the refinancing recalculated her mortgage every six months.

"It just skyrocketed in six months to 12 percent," Spencer said. "It was like $1,700 or $1,800."

Spencer was just one of many who went Saturday to a housing symposium sponsored by Rep. Jon Runyan (R., N.J.).

"The surprising thing is that a lot of people are hesitant or scared to say, 'I need help,' " Runyan said.

Willingboro ranked as one of the hardest-hit areas for foreclosures in the Philadelphia region, according to an analysis by RealtyTrac.

Since 2008, when the crisis was in full stride, 15.9 percent of Willingboro's housing stock was in foreclosure. Currently, one out of every 544 houses is in foreclosure.

At the symposium, residents met with officials from the U.S. Treasury, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and local housing agencies.

Like Spencer, many met with their bankers.

Shortly after she refinanced, Spencer suffered a neck injury at her job as an aide for disabled adults. She's needed surgery twice and suffered from depression, leaving her unable to work for 21/2 years.

"I didn't really know what I was doing. I was just trying to save my home and I kind of fell into this," Spencer said. "But I couldn't lay down and die. I have a son who has autism. If I did that, what are his options?"

Spencer's son, a student at the Y.A.L.E. School, sensed his mother's anxiety about their living situation, and, in 2009, he wrote a letter to President Obama. He was delighted when Obama wrote back - with a handwritten note telling them about a new federal program to help homeowners. "So I'll have somebody follow up with you to see if she qualifies," the note said. "She's lucky to have you as a son."

Though the personal touch elated the Spencers, even the president couldn't help them. In the end, Spencer's salary just couldn't cover the costs.

The federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) instituted in response to the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis allows for mortgages to be remodified with lower payments.

A recent settlement has given New Jersey an additional $837.7 million to help in refinancing mortgages and ending foreclosure abuses. The settlement terminated lawsuits between 49 states and five of the nation's largest lenders.

But it was too late to help Spencer.

She recently reconciled herself to losing her home and moving in with her sister in Burlington. She's accepted an offer from her bank for a deed in lieu of foreclosure, which means she is signing her home over to the bank to honor her defaulted loan.

"I'm just ready to move forward," she said. "I told my son that as long as we're together, we'll get through it."

Others among the 150 at the symposium had similar problems.

Maria Edwin thinks her payments are current on her mortgage, but she's not sure. She lost track of the identity of her lender after she refinanced the mortgage on her Willingboro home and the mortgage was sold from one lender to another.

Edwin, 61, works at two retirement homes and cares for her grandchildren, 2 and 5.

She was so desperate that last year, she enlisted a mortgage broker who charged her $2,500 but didn't help her.

To make sure she can keep her home, she sends $900 every two weeks to the bank that bills her.

"I don't want people to put boards over my house," she said. "I need a place to live."

Monay Brown was waiting patiently with her family to speak with a representative from Wells Fargo.

Brown, 31, of Bristol, said she received a letter from Wells Fargo that explained the symposium and what services would be available. She was hoping to make modifications to her mortgage, which was about $1,500 a month, because her family's income had recently been cut.

"This is very helpful," she said. "It lets you know your options and what the next steps are so you don't feel like you're at a dead end. This is something you have to look into before foreclosure."