Help us save our home!

For some of you who have followed my blog, much of this will be a repeat of things I have shared over the past two years. I am sharing these details here now because this is a last ditch effort to save our home. I hope you will take the time to read this.

Our fist real financial troubles began in 2007. Scott had a difficult year and spent several weeks unemployed and changing jobs. I lost my job in October 2007 and decided to go back to school to earn an Associates degree in Graphic Design, believing this would make me more marketable in tough economic times. In January 2008, my father passed away unexpectedly, putting us in greater debt as we attempted to manage the household, including his in-law apartment, without the assistance he had previously provided.
We first contacted CitiMortgage just a few months after his death and asked for some assistance. We were told to fill out “Workable Solutions” paperwork (which we did, providing all necessary documentation). When we didn’t hear anything, we called to ask the situation and were told that our case was “in review” and we would hear within a week. Weeks later, we still had heard nothing. When we once again fell behind on the mortgage and the calls began, we asked what happened with our case in review and were told they “weren’t sure” and somehow we slipped through the cracks. We were told to resubmit paperwork and documentation. We did this. Again, we got no response- no assistance offered, no denial- NOTHING!
In May 2009, I graduated from college with my degree. I had two surgeries over the summer and then began looking for full time work in August. I was hired at a local print shop, but 5 weeks into the job, I was let go and told it “wasn’t working out”. I have diligently spent hours each day job searching and interviewing. I recently accepted a 5 week job with a temp agency for Christmas help. The job is about 50 minutes away and I am currently driving Scott’s gas monger of a truck since my Jimmy (with 209K miles) just had a complete failure of the fuel system.
Scott was let go by his employer in August 2009, as they simply could not afford to pay him. He did qualify for unemployment, but in NH the max wage is about $400 per week, which clearly is not enough for a family of 6 to survive on for any length of time. He took the first job he could find which was about 25% less than what he was making, and also doesn’t include health care.
In July 2009, we were completely caught up on our mortgage payments. We missed our August and September payments, but had the full amount in our account for October 1st. Our payments through CitiMortgage have ALWAYS been automatically deducted. As a matter of fact, in July when we caught up, we asked to be taken OFF auto-deduction so we could avoid returned payment fees if we would happen to be late again in the future. Citimortgage told us that they had nothing to do with the auto-payment, that it was set up through our bank and we would have to take care of it with them. That was absolutely not true, so we continued with the automatic payment. The October payment was never removed from our savings account, but I was not aware of this until the statement arrived in early November. This then put us the dreaded 90 days behind and in default. By that time, I had already mailed money orders totaling $900 towards the November mortgage payment.
The Current Situation:
On November 18, 2009, we received a letter from CitiMortgage telling us that we were in foreclosure. They listed an attorney’s name and told us to contact them with questions. We promptly called the attorney and were told that an auction is set for January 22nd and that things “typically move quickly in NH”. I was stunned. My stomach was in knots and I couldn’t help but cry tears of frustration. We asked if there was anything we could do to stop this. They told us to contact our lender. We called CitiMortgage immediately. We explained that the money for the October payment had never been deducted and still remained in our savings account and that we had mailed $900 towards the November payment in good faith. They could not explain why the October payment was never taken out of our account and they acknowledged receipt of the $900 in money orders, but said they would returning them because they “don’t accept partial payments”. We asked what the total needed would be to stay in the house. We were told that they were waiting for a total from the attorney they hired (that we now also have to pay for) and that we could call back in a week or less. We called Monday and were told they still did not have the figure. We called again Wednesday and were told they were still waiting for the figure.At this point, they will not accept any money from us and the clock ticks closer to auction day!
Since this entire situation has unfolded, we have spoken with many people who have been in or close to our situation. We were told to check out the “Obama plan” to help people like us. We talked to the lender about this and after taking our information, we were told that we do not qualify by just a FEW DOLLARS! The kicker is that they are looking at my “current income” as if it’s a yearlong permanent job. It’s a 5-week temporary job through a temp agency, but they will not take this into consideration! I took any job I could to try to EARN money to keep our house and keep us afloat! I feel like we are being punished for being hard working Americans rather than willing to sit at home and collect government benefits!
I am beyond frustrated at the series of events that have led us to this point with our lender:
• The random lack of auto-payment deduction in October
•The refusal to accept the money we sent in November
• The acknowledgment of workable solutions paperwork but lack of response
•The lack of information on what is needed right now to stay in our home
I feel helpless at the hands of this monster-bank who holds all the cards and sets all the rules. PLEASE HELP US SAVE OUR HOME! We are willing to do whatever it takes. We are selling things on Craigslist, renting a room to a friend for a few months, both working full time at whatever is available to us, borrowing money from friends and family. We are showing OUR commitment to stay here.
We fully accept our responsibility in the situation, but also feel like the system and CitiMortgage have failed us.
We are hopeful that this letter will find it’s way into the hands of someone who can help us. We are aware of the power of our congressman and senators and the news media. We are pleading with you to help us fight this battle against CitiMortgage. We believe that with the power of other Americans on our side, we may be able to get CitiMortgage to correct their missteps and work with us to save our home.
Please feel free to email me at inlovewithdots@aol.com or call me at 603-264-1068 at any time.

Additionally, my brother Shon is creating a benefit CD to help us raise the money needed to keep our house. I am so grateful for his kindness and help! He currently has 9 bands on board! To pre-order the CD, you can go to : https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=10066394Send your email to shonbrowning@aol.com if preordering and you will be linked to the digi download as soon as it is available!