CD resident and cancer survivor fighting for her home, neighbors to show support Oct 18

Dixie Mitchell, who lives on 21st Ave just south of Union, is fighting to save her home of 44 years after getting caught up in a predatory lending scheme. To make matters worse, her husband Luster ran into health problems and was forced to quit working.

All she has asked of Ocwen Financial, an F-rated institution according to the Better Business Bureau, is for a mediation session to come up with a financing plan she can afford. They have repeatedly denied her request, even copying-and-pasting a rejection form letter without even filling in the placeholder details (“The loan originated on ORIGINATION DATE for $ORIGINAL PRINCIPLE BALANCE” etc).

As it stands, the Mitchell home is scheduled for auction October 28. Friends, family and neighbors will gather at her home to show their support for her. Meanwhile, a petition with thousands of signatures (over 7,000 as of Monday afternoon) will be delivered to Ocwan Financial’s Florida offices at the same time, along with Dixie’s modification paperwork.

You can join in support of Dixie, Luster and other people facing foreclosure Tuesday, October 18 at their home (which happens to be just a few houses away from CDN headquarters):

  • When: Tuesday, October 18th at 11:30 am
  • Where: The Mitchell residence, 927 21st. Ave, Seattle, WA
  • Who: Neighbors, family and local supporters of the Mitchells; anti-foreclosure community leaders.

Here’s a video of Dixie explaining her situation on MSNBC:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

From Washington CAN:

On Tuesday, October 18th at 11:30 am, neighbors, family and other local supporters will gather at the endangered home of Dixie Mitchell in Seattle’s Central District. While people in Seattle join together to fight to save Ms. Mitchell’s home; thousands of petition signatures and Ms. Mitchell’s modification paperwork will be delivered on the other side of the country to Ocwen Financial’s Florida offices in West Palm Springs.

The unified message from Seattle to West Palm Springs is that it’s time for Ocwen Financial and big banks everywhere to stop foreclosing on Americans; it’s time for big banks to Pay US Back.

Ms. Mitchell is a 71-year old cancer survivor. She and her husband have lived in their home in Seattle for the past 44 years and have raised nine children and fifty foster children in the home. Ms. Mitchell is currently facing foreclosure and Ocwen Financial refuses to work with her to modify her loan, saying they can’t seem to find her paperwork. Read her full story here.

After no luck dealing with Ocwen, Ms. Mitchell took her story national. With help from The New Bottom Line, she launched an online petition targeting Ocwen Financial. Since the launch of the petition in mid-September, 7,385 people from across the country have signed their names in support. Ms. Mitchell also appeared on the Up With Chris Hayes show on MSNBC to share her story (see clip here) and stand up for the millions of people across the country that are currently going through foreclosure.  

Ms. Mitchell’s home could be auctioned off as soon as October 28th, and all Ms. Mitchell needs is a simple HAMP modification. But Ocwen can’t seem to find the modification paperwork that they’ve asked Ms. Mitchell to submit again and again. So we’ll deliver the paperwork to Ocwen, in person, in Palm Springs. While the petitions and modification paperwork are being delivered to Ocwen’s offices, Ms. Mitchell’s supporters will be gathering in Seattle to join their voices to the cause of saving Ms. Mitchell’s home and waiting in hopeful anticipation for a phone call from Ocwen.

Ms. Mitchell has requested a mediation session with Ocwen, thanks to the new Foreclosure Fairness Act which was enacted in Washington in July, 2011. If a mediation session is granted, the auction date of Ms. Mitchell’s home will be pushed back and she’ll have the opportunity to finally speak with Ocwen about modifying her loan. Ocwen has an F rating at the Better Business Bureau and they have around 890 complaints nationwide.

It’s time for banks to work with people who are in foreclosure instead of putting families like the Mitchell’s out on the streets.

When: Tuesday, October 18th at 11:30 am PST / 2:30pm EST

Where: The Mitchell residence, 927 21st. Ave, Seattle, WA / Ocwen Corporate Offices, 1661 Worthington Rd #100 West Palm Springs, FL 33409

Who: Neighbors, family and local supporters of the Mitchells; anti-foreclosure community leaders.

Is this the birth of “Occupy Central District?” Seems like fighting to let the Mitchells continue “occupying” their home could be a good place to start.

19 thoughts on “CD resident and cancer survivor fighting for her home, neighbors to show support Oct 18

  1. Why should Ms. Mitchell get to live rent-free when the rest of us have to pay for our residences? If she really only has an income of $2,200, there’s no way she can afford to pay her mortgage under any “adjustment” scenario and legitimately should move to a different residence.

  2. You forgot a few relevant facts. The last time the Mitchells were featured on CDN, we learned:

    – The Mitchells remortgaged their house several times, collectively cashing out several times the house’s original purchase price. In Dixie’s words, they “gambled” on their house’s value to support their spending indefinitely.
    – When they put the house on the market they priced it $100K more than comparable houses. They never made an honest effort to sell it.
    – This is a 6 bedroom, 2500 sq. ft. house. They’re not exactly living in hardship. Of course they don’t want to move, but nobody is entitled to a huge house that prints money. Not Wall Street, not the Mitchells.

    I’m sorry the Mitchells have had health problems and subprime lenders are certainly jerks. But there are so many people living in the CD who are in bad circumstances through no fault of their own that it’s hard to muster much sympathy for people who used their houses as ATMs and now want someone else to pick up the pieces. Where did Dixie honestly think the money was coming from?

    Does she deserve hundreds of thousands of dollars because she’s good at getting publicity? What about those aren’t so good at self-promotion?

    Here’s what I would do to help the Mitchells: donate to a fund to help them declare bankruptcy and move to a good living situation that is within their means.

  3. Ya I remember that story.

    Folks have bee building some pretty sturdy chicken coops behind the co housing. Perhaps we could find some room for these folks there. I think the cohouser might even feed them.

  4. —–The reports on this family seem pretty bleak, and yes I agree there may have been a few terrible mistakes on their part,… BUT, I will be there tomorrow to show that one more person is requesting banking reform. These folks are not the only people facing such harsh treatment from banking institutions, and our showing our dis-satisfaction with the treatment these neighbors have received, may in some small way make a greater statement.
    —–Whether you agree with this finance company or not ( and I believe there has been no attempt to mediate from them ), shouldn’t we add our voices to reform of the banking system that is still hurting honest borrowers?

  5. foreclosure is scary for anyone. It appears that this is a serious miscarriage of justice. No one is asking for a handout, just to rewrite the terms of the loan so that it can still be paid over time at a lower payment. Beware, today its the Mitchells that need assistance, tomorrow it could be your family.

  6. I’d like to get a free ride too but that’s not how the world works. How about all their children and foster children pitch in instead of begging for a handout?

  7. They have gone way too far with their foolishness. It is fools like this that create the bank oportunists who see so many people eager to part with thier money. Living in the chicken coop should be their best hope. We should create a special prison system for fools.

  8. Grumbo your the perfect example of what sets american people back with your ignorance. When life hits you who are you gonna call.

  9. I grew up here, my mother was born here. I don’t know what happened, but this area has somehow become home to too many selfish, miserable, hateful jerks, who have absolutely no compassion at all for anyone but themselves. It is astonishing and disgusting to read their frequently hateful comments online. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that they call themselves Christians. Jesus Christ would not know your ways. Love thy neighbor; do unto others as you would have done to you are foundations of Christianity. Shame on you with your shriveled hearts of stone.

  10. @Chilo

    I’m confused, did the financing company not give her the money when she refinanced multiple times? Did the Better Business Bureau not exist when she was refinanancing the house? Did they sign documents for her refinancing without asking her, and if so did she send back the cash when they sent it to her after refinancing her without her permission? I’m sorry that she made mistakes, and I’m sorry that this will cause hardship to her family. To say that this is the responsilbity of the rest of us to stand up for her after she cashed out thousands while I countinued to rent a studio apartment just down the street because that was what I could actually afford (not what the banks told me I could afford) is insulting.

  11. A rewrite that extends the term by many years is a form of handout. Additionally, given past stories on this situation it’s doubtful there is enough income there to cover it no matter what the rewrite.

  12. ——Hum,.. as a native Washitonian myself, and with three genearations of early settlers behind me, I understand your frustrations. Thing is, if you live in this neighborhood, you also should know that most of your neighbors do look after themselves and each other. Just because a few of the same negative folks tend to respond in our local blog, does not mean that the majority of your neighbors aren’t worthy of compassion.
    ——As to the Christian reference, please consider that not all of us are of that faith, yet are good people. Use of that term seems to have become a club, when I think it was meant to be a reference to a positive way of life.

  13. Gee Pat, I’d say that the selfish people in this situation are those who took money from a bank and are now trying to get out of paying it back. I’m not sure that it’s lack of compassion that causes people in these comments to question why they should help another who is suffering as a direct result of their own wrongdoing.

    There are many injustices in this world, many people who are deserving of charity. When you look at the facts, the Mitchells don’t seem to be among that group.

  14. This has nothing to do with religoius belief or affiliation, it has to do with the citizens of the US realizing that if a deal is too good to be true, it is. No more ostrich syndrome empathy. Read the small print or pay the money back.

  15. As I am not a Christian, and as you clearly are responding to my lack of reverence for the goober family, it is very strange that you would choose this as a venue to attack Christians.

    As to lack of compasion of people in the PNW – that is not the problem. The reverse situation is true. So many compassionate bleeding hearted souls want to help and fix everything for anyone. Ohh you poor urchin, let me wipe your…. for you. I would describe it as the Christian complex unhinged. The assumption that you can accept the docile doctrines of Christ and the bible without the controls and more negative aspects is false. We have a bunch of goodie goodies trying so hard to be more Christian than Christ.

    My online persona of Grumbo and other characters in other forums is simply here to bash in your thought process in a nihilistic way – because it is obsurd. The super-Christian (better than Christ) method of having a safety net for everything has led us to a society where people don’t bother to be strong, educated, and sensible. We have a bunch of mush minded medelling mushrooms parading as upstanding super-Christians. You are idiots.

    Take off the training wheels and learn how to ride a bike. You might get killed in traffic, but, I will respect you. I will even try to pull the handlebars out of your guts and save you. But if you loose control of your bike while coasting down hill with your training wheels on having not learned how to maintain the breaks – I will probably laugh at you unless you are under the age of 11. Which you silly head indicates.

  16. Nanny Obama? There are plenty of safety nets. But you must let go of the rope if you are going to hit them. Time for the Mitchells to let go if they can’t jump.

  17. Fifty children? How old are they now, are they giving her any money to save her home? Do her kids work and pay the going rate of rent for the area, im guessing $600-$700? That would help pay for the mortgage etc.

  18. my neighbor as i prefer to think that my neighbors pull together and help one and another. To refer to a family as a goober family at this point in their lives when they dont need insults, is just petty. This is a family that is in distress. Its not as if someone is asking you to pay this debt. Quite the opposite in fact. I can only hope and pray for you. Your religion is irrevelant to me. Your attitude is just crappy, and i will send some good wishes your way, as it is clear to me that you need it.