Save Our Family's Home
Donation protected
In 2014, on February 17 at 11:15 p.m., our kids were asleep and we were watching the Olympics in the living room when the weight of the heavy wet snow violently collapsed our attached garage, compromising the structural integrity of our home and sending our family into a tailspin. We woke the children and took shelter at a friend’s home that night, little knowing that when we stepped out into cold, we were embarking on a journey that would last over 3 years as we fought for justice to have our home adequately repaired by our insurance agency.
We temporarily moved into a hotel, then into string of rentals as the damages were assessed and the process crawled toward repair. Although we carried full insurance coverage on our home, our carrier started to balk as the cost of repairs came in. An independent restoration company estimated damages at $179k, but our insurance company instead determined that they would provide little more than a quarter of that amount.
At the end of the first year, our garage had been demoed, over half the issued insurance money ($27k) had been used for foundation repair, but we were no closer to moving back in when the insurance company cut off our family’s stipend for living expenses. We began paying out of pocket both for rent and for our mortgage, which was financially unsustainable. Desperate for options, we hired attorneys and entered into a lawsuit to get our home fixed. We moved for the sixth time that year.
In order to be given occupancy in our home by the township, we had to allocate over $12,000 of the insurance payout to shore up the roof and have a tarp installed. We were out of options, but we hoped to buy time before proper repairs could be made. Then in October of 2015, the insurance company raised our homeowners’ premium to over $10k for one year. This more than doubled our mortgage. We tried to work with the bank and requested help from the state insurance commission concerning the premium hike. We fought, and temporarily won, additional funding from our insurance company, and that money was placed in secure escrow with our bank. But in the end, all of our efforts failed. Unable to make our inflated mortgage payments, the bank assumed all remaining insurance money, and we lost our home to foreclosure in May of 2017.
This brings us to the Go Fund Me page. Our attorneys continue to fight for repair to our home, but we have long since given up on a timely resolution, if one is to come at all. In the meantime, we are going to be evicted from our home on May 25, 2018. We first need to redeem our home from foreclosure (~70K) and then we will be free to repair our home, which needs a new roof, a garage and to bring the structure up to code (~150k-$180k) or we can pursue a new build on our property, if that is more cost-effective.
Our family knows the burden of living in an unsustainable living environment. Daily, we walk up to a house that is covered by a blue tarp. We see an unusable entryway that boasts a dirt floor where foundation repairs excavated but never replaced our flooring. We look at cracked walls caulked with sealant and feel the constant threat of additional water damage and mold in our home.
This experience gives us a small window into the lives of those who have suffered great loss in recent hurricanes and wildfires. Should we exceed our Go Fund Me goal, we have agreed to give all extra money to help families in Puerto Rico who are now suffering due to hurricane damage. Also, in the event that we win our day in court, we will donate the amount we raise here to help relieve the burden for others who have lost their homes to natural disaster.
Please know that our family is humbly appreciative of your prayers and donations. This ongoing legal battle has been awful and we do not have many options. There are not many places to go for help. We would love for our family to have a safe home to live in after so many years of having to live with the stress and uncertainty of our current situation.
We continue to replace the tarp over our heads as we wait for justice.
http://fox17online.com/2017/03/26/family-battling-frankenmuth-insurance-over-claim-facing-foreclosure/
We temporarily moved into a hotel, then into string of rentals as the damages were assessed and the process crawled toward repair. Although we carried full insurance coverage on our home, our carrier started to balk as the cost of repairs came in. An independent restoration company estimated damages at $179k, but our insurance company instead determined that they would provide little more than a quarter of that amount.
At the end of the first year, our garage had been demoed, over half the issued insurance money ($27k) had been used for foundation repair, but we were no closer to moving back in when the insurance company cut off our family’s stipend for living expenses. We began paying out of pocket both for rent and for our mortgage, which was financially unsustainable. Desperate for options, we hired attorneys and entered into a lawsuit to get our home fixed. We moved for the sixth time that year.
In order to be given occupancy in our home by the township, we had to allocate over $12,000 of the insurance payout to shore up the roof and have a tarp installed. We were out of options, but we hoped to buy time before proper repairs could be made. Then in October of 2015, the insurance company raised our homeowners’ premium to over $10k for one year. This more than doubled our mortgage. We tried to work with the bank and requested help from the state insurance commission concerning the premium hike. We fought, and temporarily won, additional funding from our insurance company, and that money was placed in secure escrow with our bank. But in the end, all of our efforts failed. Unable to make our inflated mortgage payments, the bank assumed all remaining insurance money, and we lost our home to foreclosure in May of 2017.
This brings us to the Go Fund Me page. Our attorneys continue to fight for repair to our home, but we have long since given up on a timely resolution, if one is to come at all. In the meantime, we are going to be evicted from our home on May 25, 2018. We first need to redeem our home from foreclosure (~70K) and then we will be free to repair our home, which needs a new roof, a garage and to bring the structure up to code (~150k-$180k) or we can pursue a new build on our property, if that is more cost-effective.
Our family knows the burden of living in an unsustainable living environment. Daily, we walk up to a house that is covered by a blue tarp. We see an unusable entryway that boasts a dirt floor where foundation repairs excavated but never replaced our flooring. We look at cracked walls caulked with sealant and feel the constant threat of additional water damage and mold in our home.
This experience gives us a small window into the lives of those who have suffered great loss in recent hurricanes and wildfires. Should we exceed our Go Fund Me goal, we have agreed to give all extra money to help families in Puerto Rico who are now suffering due to hurricane damage. Also, in the event that we win our day in court, we will donate the amount we raise here to help relieve the burden for others who have lost their homes to natural disaster.
Please know that our family is humbly appreciative of your prayers and donations. This ongoing legal battle has been awful and we do not have many options. There are not many places to go for help. We would love for our family to have a safe home to live in after so many years of having to live with the stress and uncertainty of our current situation.
We continue to replace the tarp over our heads as we wait for justice.
http://fox17online.com/2017/03/26/family-battling-frankenmuth-insurance-over-claim-facing-foreclosure/
Organizer
Seth Budrew
Organizer
Alaska, MI