I am going to add to the plethora of "Subscribe Now" Diaries. I was asked to do this, but, in all honesty, I didn't need to be. I would have supported the attempts to widen the Subscriber Base with little or no prompting. When we get below the Dead Orange Armadillo, I'll tell you why.
This is not going to be easy, and it's not going to be brief, so ..... make coffee, fasten your seatbelt and join me down under.
I landed on these shores, washed by the tide it seems, from a land of Universal Healthcare, good Public Schools and healthy employment protections. A land that has it's problems, but also has a Right Wing who blame the Left for not regulating the Banks sufficiently (and they didn't). I would never hold up the UK as any kind of Nirvana, but I now live in Oklahoma and, quite frankly, I'm sick to death of the place at times.
Would we move? Sure, but where? I made a commitment when I came here. A promise to a new wife and family, and a promise to a new country. The country gave me a number, an Alien Identification Number, which I still have. The wife makes me happy. I would dearly love to sit in the park in downtown Tulsa, and be arrested with all the other OccupyTulsa Patriots; but I know if I do that then someone, sometime soon, will find a reason to deny me Citizenship .... for being a good citizen. It's ironic, but I have already found out that US Authorities don't actually do irony very well. So I write, support, cheer and I do much of it right here in these pages.
My story goes deeper than a simple desire to experience first hand the effects of pepper spray.
In the first year we struggled. We had a home and mortgage, well Jodie did. She was in the process of qualifying as a teacher and has now taught High School Special Ed for about six years. With a combination of her modest salary, food stamps, WIC and my dubious earnings as a Karaoke KJ we survived. We have three kids and they are clean, clothed, fed and very happy. We went without so that we could pay down old debts. We repaired our credit rating from something in the sewer to something above 700 ... Go us. It wasn't easy but we did it and in 2008 were rewarded by a mortgage offer on a bigger house in a better area.
By now Jodie earned a little more, as did I, but not much. Still, for a year we stayed afloat. The new mortgage payment was higher than the old, but the debt repayments were about done and we have pretty simple tastes. We don't spend much on ourselves, then or now. I still don't have health insurance, but that aside we were okay.
Then we learned about "Making Homes Affordable". I refuse to link that dubious website, it will get you in trouble!
We were making our home payments, every month, on time. It wasn't easy. The payment was modest by many standards, about $1100 per month including escrow, but for us, in this State, it had bought a nice home that needed years of TLC. What we could have used was a helping hand. Some recognition that the recession was biting. I have a woodshop and I make, even though I say it myself, beautiful furniture. Selling isn't easy right now and Jodie's income has been cut. So yeah, a helping hand, no more.
So we called the Bank.
Originally the loan had been provided by a very good local broker. It was immediately sold to Countrywide, then became Bank of America, and I have to tell you that even typing that name makes me feel sick. Anyway, we called. They told us that we qualified for a Loan Modification. We knew that already, it was why we called. They said they would send us the necessary paperwork to complete, and that we should wait for it to arrive. We waited, and it didn't arrive so I called again in about September of 2009.
During that call we were again told we qualified. Then we were told something quite extraordinary. The Bank told us that they could not help those who were current with their payments. At the time they made it sound very logical. They could help, but they could only help those who needed it because they were falling behind. So we fell behind and during the third call, a two hour phone interview, the Bank took us right through the entire application procedure. All was well, we were told.
The process was taking about ninety days, and we were to sit tight. Freed of a mortgage payment life became a little easier, and we sat tight. A few months passed and we heard nothing, so we called again. All was well, processing was taking a little longer than anticipated but we still qualified, so sit tight.
Then the Bank foreclosed on us.
We found this out in the traditional manner, by a Process Server arriving unannounced and unwelcomed. In a bit of a panic, I called the Bank. Well you would, wouldn't you? It was the Bank that had got us into this mess. We were told that we were not to worry. The process was a dual-track and the modification would end the foreclosure proceedings. So we relaxed.
Then a hearing date was set for the foreclosure and we finally stopped believing a damned word the Bank was telling us. We found, almost by accident, a retired District Court Judge who was helping folk like us. Between him, us and his tireless daughter we began to fight back.
I am not a stupid man. I don't think I am particularly naive either, but all of this was very new to me. Even the terminology was not what I am used to and while I now regret believing Bank of America, at the time neither of us had cause to disbelieve them. We sincerely trusted that it was in everyone's interests that we remained in our home, making regular payments at a level that was comfortable for us, and profitable for the Bank.
Questions were asked, discovery was sought, the Bank's assertions were challenged. All of this delayed things until very recently. We have been a little surprised at the length of time that this has all taken, but it apparently takes time to forge documents, and I'm coming to that.
A few weeks ago the Bank, and it's lying, cheating and crooked attorneys filed for summary judgement. As a minor aside here .... Those attorneys must know that they are perjuring themselves every time they step into a Courthouse. They are Officers of the Court, and should be disbarred.
The supporting documentation supplied to the Court is a tissue of lies. It is complete with affidavits filled in by robo-signers. They are not even trying to hide their utter contempt for the rule of law. The very first name on the paperwork lit up Google brighter than the Christmas lights springing up all around us.
The point here is a very simple one. If I come to you and say that you owe me $50k, and if you don't pay me then I will sue, your first response is to tell me to go ahead. The Court will demand that I show that you owe me the money, and when I can't show that they will dismiss the case. That is how it should work.
In Oklahoma the law is quite tough. Every property transaction must, by law, be backed by original documentation. There are no exceptions. They have to produce the documents, and they haven't so far.
They insist that we are placing an "onerous burden" by making this demand, that we are unreasonable. Well mister, it's only unreasonable if you don't fucking have them! If you do, then how hard is it? And if you don't, why are you telling the Court that you do, and why are you having Notaries Public commit felonies to bolster your claim?
AND WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SUING NOT JUST US, BUT ALSO THE POOLING AGREEMENT YOU SOLD THE MORTGAGE TO?
That's right, you read that correctly. Bank of America does not own the mortgage, they sold it and have been paid in full. They are suing us the homeowners, AND the people they sold the mortgage to. They have already been paid and now they want clean title on the house so they can sell it!!!!
They have probably already been paid by Fannie too, and by the Mortgage Insurance Policy ..... And they still want the house!
This is not Capitalism, it is racketeering, theft, fraud. Deliberate and calculated fraud on everyone involved, including the Taxpayers.
And they are likely to win. It's enough to make you cry. Indeed it has, made us cry. This is not done, there will be more tears. As yet there hasn't been a District Judge with sufficient gumption to actually follow the .. you know ... law. Every case fought by our attorney has, thus far, been lost. When I visited his office recently there was a row of about twenty files lining the back of the room. Each of those files represents a case similar to ours that is currently pending in the Oklahoma Court of Appeal.
The only thing novel about ours is that they haven't yet seen one where the Bank is also suing the folk they sold the mortgage to, as well as the homeowners.
When I first told our sorry tale to the attorney he sat smiling sadly and shaking his head. I told him little he hadn't heard before. Just about every detail was familiar, yet the Courts are not helping. So used are they to simply accepting the word of the Banks that they cannot process Homeowners fighting back, and using the law to fight correctly. They are herd animals, and we await the first Judge to call a halt to this nonsense and send the Banks packing. Don't hold your breath.
The hearing is in four days. In four days I feel confident that Bank of America will steal our home, and the Judge will help them.
So ... Subscriptions.
I can't do much. What has helped, and what continues to help is this place. Here there are friends, a community that is at least trying. Yes I know that there are disagreements. Oftentimes it might just be a "talking shop" of little practical use that is obvious, but here is the thing.
We all need somewhere to go. The OWS Activists, the Michigan Recall Workers, the Americans up and down this land who are trying to fight back against the injustice. They need a home, a refuge, and they have one here.
For years Daily Kos had real competition in the Left Wing Blogosphere. Huffinton Post, Salon, FireDogLake .... others. One by one they turned into either Cosmopolitan with Politics, or something else until the only one left was this one. The first one, and still the only one that has remained true to the ideal of building an Online Progressive Community.
Markos has stated his purpose. Y'all have to decide whether or not to support that. He hasn't always pleased everyone, and the ornery bugger will displease others in future .... But no one can accuse him of betraying his word, and for that he gets my support.
Today I stopped paying my $4 per month for the first time in years. I did so to escape from under the "Subscription Hell" that has plagued PayPal users this last few days.
One way or another I will have a Lifetime Subscription by December 31st, and I would urge all those who wish for this Community to build, grow and become ever more relevant to do the same.
Just a note on my other role here.
About nine months ago I became a Rescue Ranger. I had long admired the work they do, and was delighted when they asked me to join them. It is one way I can give back. I have some time available and if I can't spend it on the barricades I can at least spend hours trawling through the output of Kossacks, and bringing some of the best to a wider audience. It all helps. I don't do it for thanks or appreciation, I do it because I can and now I want you to do what you can.
If you can buy yourself a subscription, then please do. If you can buy one for someone else, then that would be marvelous.
Please remember that I am about to lose my home. That is a real effect, on a real family of the very things that this site is fighting against.
Please support us in that fight.