A Matter of Heart

503 Member Shares Foreclosure Story at Bank of America Rally

Sandy and Chuck Huckleberry were in good financial shape until he had a massive heart attack. Then it came down to the heartlessness of Bank of America, which raised their credit card rates and Beneficial Finance, which foreclosed on the home they owned for 25 years rather adjust their mortgage.

Sandy, an SEIU 503 member and DHS office specialist, told her heartrending story to 300 chanting, placard-waving demonstrators (see photos) who took time from the union’s biennial general council to rally against the greed of Wall Street and the big banks at the Bank of America branch in Albany.

Watch a video of the rally and Sandy's speech

Below are Sandy’s remarks, and a letter to the bank’s CEO from SEIU Local 503 President Linda Burgin:

One of the great things about Coos Bay, OR are the people.  Our  roots included 30 years at the same job for Chuck which makes my 13 years working for Child Protective Services seem short.

We have a lot of memories in our community. For 25 years we lived in beautiful house on Marion. (1 mile from work). A home we recently lost to foreclosure. The final paperwork hasn’t been filed but the emotional and financial damage has been done. We now have moved 30 miles away.

Two major events started our trouble: Chuck was the primary breadwinner until a massive heart attack forced him to retire. Things were tight. Things got worse when I lost hours and income due to the budget crisis.

When I heard about the furlough days, I knew things were going to be even tighter.  I contacted all of my creditors to let them know I was going to have trouble paying my bills. The answer I got  - including from Bank of America - was “Sorry, there is nothing we can do to help.”  We were never looking for a handout, just a temporary adjustment to help them weather the hard times. But the answer was still “No!”

Making matters even worse, just when I had my income cut due to unpaid furlough days, Bank of America sent them a notice that my credit card payments would be going up. I contacted them AGAIN to ask for a temporary reprieve, believing that after decades of being a solid customer the bank would be willing to work with me. Again, in every instance the answer was no.

Now Beneficial is trying to sell the home for half what it was worth and still nobody is buying. What if Beneficial had worked with us? What if they would have modified our loan?  That would have helped the bank AND we wouldn’t have had to move.  Wouldn’t everyone be better off?

We tried to be proactive.  We tried to do our part.  Times are tough in Oregon – the banks need to meet us half way.  Our communities, our economy, our state can no longer afford the big risks and foot dragging from the banks. It’s time for them to step up and help end the mess they created.

Do you have a story about your struggle to make your mortgage payments? Do you have family members or colleagues with a story to share? Click the link below to submit your story.

http://seiu503.seiu.org/page/s/BofA_TellYourStory