Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Foreclosure crisis hits World War II veteran

Written by Biloxi

We have U.S. troops that are in Afghanistan and Iraq sacrificing their lives to serve their country. As foreclosure has hit the American people struggling financially in bad economy, families of veterans, too, are struggling to keep their homes. Last week, Vice President Joe Biden had announced on the White House website initatives to help homeowners as well as veterans with access to legal services to address legal challenges in areas such as foreclosure, consumer fraud, and employment issues. Unfortunately, the foreclosure crisis has claimed an unlikely victim: A World War II veteran and homeowner.

Jay Jensen, from Missouri took out a new mortgage from JP Morgan Chase on his paid-off home in 2004 to help finance a development deal. Mr. Jensen has had his home since 1952. When the development deal collapsed because of the real estate bubble burst , Mr. Jensen lost his land to foreclosure. And now he's lost his house and faces eviction. Chase Mortgage foreclosed on the property, and it was sold at auction in the St. Louis County Courthouse in Clayton November 16, 2010. Now comes the blame game. Mr. Jensen blames Chase mortgage made continuous paperwork errors and misstated income figures. In addition, Mr. Jensen and his son said that they were told "not to make any mortgage payments because all of the payments would be rolled into the back end of a new modified mortgage."


On other hand, Chase disagreed. According to Chase spokeswoman, Christine Holevas. Ms. Holevas said, "We have worked with Mr. Jensen for more than two-and-a-half years. We delayed foreclosure three times. Our analysis shows he can not afford the home. We've reached out to the new mortgage investor to see if he can stay in the house." Read on Mr. Jensen's story. Click here. As Mr. Jensen fights for his home, JP Morgan Chase launched a few weeks ago a website to provide financial services for the military called chasemilitary.com. On chasemilitary.com, Chase provides home financing and homeownership U.S. service members. As much as I applaud Chase to provide services for the U.S. service members, but what about veterans like Jay Jensen who had served their country that are struggling homeowners? It seem odd that a veteran who lived in his home for nearly 60 years and paid for his home in full in 2004 was not given other options of programs than a new modified mortgage. This story is an eye opener because veterans who are or aren't currently serving can be victims in this foreclosure crisis. As veterans come home after serving and protecting this country, it is a tragedy that we hear stories like Jay Jensen who are losing their American dream of homeownership .


Finally, on Chasemilitary website, it says "Your commitment is to our country. Our committment is to you." Is Chase really committed to save veterans like Jay Jensen who had served their country who is about to lose his American dream?

No comments: