Help Save Our Home & Property

My husband, Kevin, an Army veteran, 82nd Airborne, and I are at very real risk of losing our home - the house and the land that we love if we do not pay Wells Fargo Bank the amount we are in arrears.

Almost five years ago, while trying to keep my small business afloat we fell behind on our mortgage payments. We ultimately closed my antique store and flea market and I filed for bankruptcy to give us time to catch up on the mortgage payments we had missed.

The bankruptcy was recently dismissed, after almost five years of making the plan payments. The payments had almost doubled from $5,000 a month to nearly $10,000. Most of the increase was due to the pandemic grace period being called due plus one missed month when Kevin was in training for a new job that pays more than his previous job, and comes with health benefits.

For every monthly payment that was missed, mostly during the pandemic, nearly $1,000 was added to the monthly payment.

We could not make the $9,800 monthly payment, every month, despite our best efforts.

The bank will foreclose on our home and auction it off on the courthouse steps if we do not pay what is left in arrears. Fortunately, what is left in arrears is only a small fraction of what we have already paid.

I love this old house but it is my connection with this land that fills my heart. I am in love with the soil and the trees and everything in between. This land has provided food for us, those in need, and so many animals.

We took land that had once been used to grow cattle feed and returned them to meadows for wildlife as former farmland all around us is turned into subdivisions. If the bank auctions off this property, it too will become a subdivision.

No chemicals have been used for any reason since we became caretakers of this land. I like to think the animals who also call this property home, know this is a chemical-free haven where they are safe.

I would happily sell everything I own to save our home, but that takes time that we do not have, though I am selling whatever I can as quickly as possible.

It seems like a cruel twist of fate that now, when we are in a much better place to make our original mortgage payment, we may lose our home.

Kevin now collects social security in addition to working and his social security will cover two-thirds of the mortgage and that does not include his salary or what I contribute.

We also worked to substantially reduced our expenses.

But, everything we did to decrease our expenses and increase our income was not enough to pay an almost $10,000 a month bankruptcy payment.

If the arrears are paid our mortgage returns to what is was on the happiest day of my life - the day we closed on this property. We can now easily afford that mortgage payment.

Why don’t we just sell? All sentimentally aside, the #1 reason we don’t just sell our home is because we would then not have a home. Our credit has been impacted by the bankruptcy and we would not be able to get another mortgage, not to mention the 3% mortgage we currently have. The rental market is already slim pickings before you add the fact that we have pets and most rentals also pull a credit report. One of the reasons we are trying to keep our home is to not become homeless or at the least have to move to a very low income area far from Kevin’s area of employment. After paying our mortgage timely and responsibly for more than a decade, we don’t want to lose our home because fell a little behind trying to save our small business, compounded by Covid.

I have deep faith in humanity and the kindness of others. I believe deep in my soul that many people would happily give a stranger $1 to help keep them from losing their home. I believe most people would give $5 or whatever they could afford.

I need two things for this to work. In addition to whatever monetary assistance you can give, I also need you to reach out to your network, and ask them each to reach out to theirs.

I imagine to some, a house is simply a replaceable thing. A place to live for whatever time you chose. Kevin and I searched for five years for our perfect place. Not a perfect house…a perfect place to grow organic food for ourselves and those who otherwise couldn’t afford it. A perfect place to grow organic flowers for the pollinators. And some wide open space for my soul.

This is not just a house to me. It is everything I ever wanted and worked so very hard to obtain.

The only way we can keep our home from being auctioned off on the courthouse steps is to raise enough money, through the kindness of family, friends and strangers, to pay back what is left in arrears. We are also working, selling antiques, and saving money towards that goal.

Please donate whatever you can and please consider sharing our story with your friends and family.

We will be forever grateful.

From the depth of my soul, Thank you for whatever you can do to help us keep our home.

if we are fortunate enough to raise more than we need to pay the bank the funds will be used to replace a section of metal roof or the windows, which will help us keep heating costs down.

--