Want out of your mortgage? Just shoot yourself

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Ohio. Figures. I'd probably shoot myself too if I had to live there - solely on principle.

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http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/03/eviction.suicide.attempt/index.html

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Fannie Mae forgives loan for woman who shot herself

(CNN) -- Fannie Mae said it will set aside the loan of a woman who shot herself as sheriff's deputies tried to evict her from her foreclosed home.
Fannie Mae foreclosed on the Akron, Ohio, home of Addie Polk, 90, after acquiring the mortgage in 2007.

Fannie Mae foreclosed on the Akron, Ohio, home of Addie Polk, 90, after acquiring the mortgage in 2007.

Addie Polk, 90, of Akron, Ohio, became a symbol of the nation's home mortgage crisis when she was hospitalized after shooting herself at least twice in the upper body Wednesday afternoon.

On Friday, Fannie Mae spokesman Brian Faith said the mortgage association had decided to halt action against Polk and sign the property "outright" to her.

"We're going to forgive whatever outstanding balance she had on the loan and give her the house," Faith said. "Given the circumstances, we think it's appropriate."

Residents of Akron have rallied behind Polk, who is being treated at Akron General Medical Center. She was listed in critical condition Friday afternoon, according to Akron City Council President Marco Sommerville.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, mentioned Polk on the House floor Friday during debate over the latest economic rescue proposal.

"This bill does nothing for the Addie Polks of the world," Kucinich said after telling her story. "This bill fails to address the fact that millions of homeowners are facing foreclosure, are facing the loss of their home. This bill will take care of Wall Street, and the market may go up for a few days, but democracy is going downhill."

Neighbor Robert Dillon, 62, used a ladder to enter a second-story bathroom window of Polk's home after he and the deputies heard loud noises inside, Dillon said.

"I was calling her name as I went in, and she wasn't responding," he said.

He found her lying on a bed, and he could see she was breathing. He also noticed a long-barreled handgun on the bed, but thought she just had it there for protection. He touched her on the shoulder.

"Then she kind of moved toward me a little and I saw that blood, and I said, 'Oh, no. Miss Polk musta done shot herself,' " Dillon said.

He hurried downstairs and let the deputies in. He said they told him they found Polk's car keys, pocketbook and life insurance policy laid out neatly where they could be found, suggesting that she intended to kill herself.

"There's a lot of people like Miss Polk right now. That's the sad thing about it," said Sommerville, who had met Polk before and rushed to the scene when contacted by police. "They might not be as old as her, some could be as old as her. This is just a major problem."

In 2004, Polk took out a 30-year, 6.375 percent mortgage for $45,620 with a Countrywide Home Loan office in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The same day, she also took out an $11,380 line of credit.

Over the next couple of years, Polk missed payments on the 101-year-old home that she and her late husband purchased in 1970. In 2007, Fannie Mae assumed the mortgage and later filed for foreclosure.

Deputies had tried to serve Polk's eviction notice more than 30 times before Wednesday's incident, Sommerville said. She never came to the door, but the notes the deputies left would always disappear, so they knew she was inside and ambulatory, he said.

The city is creating programs to help people keep their homes, Sommerville said. "But what do you do when there's just so many people out there and the economy is in the shape that it's in?"

Many businesses and individuals have called since Wednesday offering to help Polk, Sommerville said.

"We're going to do an evaluation to see what's best for her," he said. "If she's strong enough and can go home, I think we should work with her to where she goes back home. If not, we need to find another place for her to live where she won't have to worry about this ever again."

For his part, Dillon hopes his neighbor of 38 years can return to her home.

"She loves that house," he said. "I hope they can get her back in. That would make me feel better because I don't know what they're going to put in there once she leaves."

He said the neighborhood is declining because so many people have lost their homes.

"There's a lot of vacant houses around here. ... Now I'm going to have a house on my left and a house on my right, vacant," he said. "That don't make me feel good, because we were good neighbors, we trusted each other, and we looked out for each other.

"This neighborhood is shot, to me, from what it used to be," he added.

"When I moved here, if it were like it is now, I would have never moved here. But it was a nice neighborhood. ...

"I'll just tough it out. I'm too old to start thinking about buying another house."
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Sommerville said that by the time people call for help with an impending foreclosure, it's usually too late.

"I'm glad it's not too late for Miss Polk, because she could have taken her life," Sommerville said. "Miss Polk will probably end up on her feet. But I'm not sure if anybody else will."

[Jim Richards]

Hmmm...this might be an excellent business opportunity. A shooting service to help people get loan forgiveness. :Yeah...I like it. That way, they can save the money they were going to use on the purchase of a gun to shoot themselves, and use it on the purchase of a new digital TV. Remember, all television stations have been mandated by the federal government to transition to digital by February 17, 2009. Sign up for now your personalized shooting, and be out of the hospital and literally home-free by February 17th!

[old man neri]

So she took out a mortgage and a line of credit and can't pay? So they want to evict her? I don't understand what is the big deal. From what I gather the home was already paid off seeing as it was bought in 1970. This article fails to mention if the woman has a job, or what she did with all the money.

Don't take out a line of credit and a mortgage if you don't have any sort of plan as to what you are going to do with the money and how you are going to pay it back. A 30 year mortgage for $45K is not exactly high monthly payments.

I don't understand how she is a 'symbol of the mortgage crisis' Can someone please explain this to me.

[Laneco]

Oh come on. Exactly what kind of income verification/employment verification was done on a woman who was 86ish years old at the time she got the loan?

And they gave her a 30 year loan.... I realize they can't deny someone because of age but frankly, I smell a real rat here in the "loan verification process...."

angela

[masraum]

they're going to give her the house. Bah, it'll be a miracle if she doesn't end up dying.

[bell]

good thing i didn't stay in ohio......i lived in cuyahoga falls
however we are having a ***** of a time finding a job for my wife, she is apparently overqualified for everything that's available and it's killing us...........yes the interviewers have told her that.....

[Gogar]

Since I'm going to be paying for that forgiven loan with my tax dollars, I'd like to pay her a visit and take a big dump in her master bathroom.

And, I'm going to sign her up for marksmanship classes.

[legion]

Not only can shooting yourself get you a house, but it's also a good replacement for sex:

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/10/03/wtf/doc48e532862bb12236831344.txt

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Authorities say a Fort Myers man shot himself in the arm after his girlfriend refused to have sex with him. The Lee County Sheriff's Office reported that a 29-year-old man and his girlfriend returned home from a bar early Wednesday morning.

The girlfriend told deputies that her boyfriend wanted to get intimate, but she just wanted to go to sleep. When she refused, he became irate.

Authorities said the girlfriend went to a spare bedroom, and several minutes later she heard two gunshots. She told deputies her boyfriend came into her room and threatened her. He then stumbled into the kitchen before falling into the oven, knocking himself unconscious.

The man was treated for two gunshot wounds to the arm and was taken to jail.

The man was charged with threatening violence and firing a weapon in an occupied dwelling. He was being held on $100,000 bail.

[the]

If you're thinking of taking some lead to the leg, just wait a while. Obama will be sworn in in January, and very shortly thereafter, legislation will be passed allowing courts to simply re-write your mortgage for you! Yep, just order that the bank reduce the principal amount.

[craigster59]

Originally Posted by the

If you're thinking of taking some lead to the leg, just wait a while. Obama will be sworn in in January, and very shortly thereafter, legislation will be passed allowing courts to simply re-write your mortgage for you! Yep, just order that the bank reduce the principal amount.

I'll take .175% please...and while you're at it, can I pull some equity out of my car?

[DasBoot]

Can I get a 993 if I shoot myself in the foot? What can I get for a little toe?

[Hard-Deck]

Can I get a little something retroactive for a circumcision? Maybe a ride in Wayne's 959?

[SteveinTO]

I bought a house in 1975 w 20% down. Paid the mortgage off in ten years. Always did my own repairs & remodeling. I've never owned a new car, never had a big vacation to Europe, never owned an airplane, a boat. Saved for retirement. Raced a Formula Ford when I could.

My neighbor bought his house w/zero down & needed three paychecks to afford it at 3% APR. The boat on a three axle trailer showed up two years later. Then the new Escalade. The Harley, etc. etc.

Now the toys are for sale (and worthless) and they are in danger of losing the house now that the rate has re-pegged to 8% and a wage earner or two has dropped away.

I resent getting the tab for their debacle.

[charleskieffner]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Since I'm going to be paying for that forgiven loan with my tax dollars, I'd like to pay her a visit and take a big dump in her master bathroom.

And, I'm going to sign her up for marksmanship classes.

its 530am and the coffee is already flowing out my nose!!!!!! LMFAO! toooooooo damn funny! PPOT ought to be damn good this weekend!

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

...life insurance policy laid out neatly where they could be found, suggesting that she intended to kill herself.

As if the insurance is going to pay out for suicide...

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally Posted by svandamme

As if the insurance is going to pay out for suicide...

Yea I got a chuckle out of that too.

Of course you realize that a person who's going to (1) get in over their heads on an $45,000 mortgage, (2) take out a HELOC for 25% of the value of their mortgage in the same day and (3) shoot themselves over a house, probably isn't the brightest bulb in the box to begin with...

[lendaddy]

Just throwing this out there but if any of you are interested I'll let you shoot me if you pay my mortgage off.

I'm not saying a close range head shot, that would be crazy. No, you have to hunt me down and take your best shot. If you wing me in the leg or graze my foot..well that's your shot. Then again you might just catch me with a nice gut blower or maybe a temple tap from a few hundred yards. Think of think of the adrenaline!

If anyone is interested just let me know. The only way I lose is if no one takes the deal

[legion]

Originally Posted by svandamme

As if the insurance is going to pay out for suicide...

They might.

Most policies have a provision that they will only pay on suicides after the policy has been in force for X many years (varies by company). This is to prevent people from buying large policies and killing themselves, but not leave families out in the cold if someone should happen to kill themselves.