Akhom's housing struggle against EverBank (lower audio levels)
Channel: Rochester Indymedia
Date: 2014-04-25

We forgot to reduce the audio levels in a prior upload. So here ya go.

On April 15, 2014, Take Back The Land Rochester and the community initiated an eviction blockade of Akhom Phetphanh's home. Akhom and his son Vithaya have lived in the house for 20 years. Akhom took out a modest $13,000 loan but was steered into a high-interest predatory loan scheme. His loan was sold multiple times, each new bank demanding higher and higher interest on his original loan. Now retired and without work, Akhom was foreclosed on by EverBank. The struggle continues....


Background
In 1987 Akhom and his family came to United State from Laos. After escaping Laos' oppressive authoritarian "Communist" regime, they came to the United State searching for freedom and the American Dream.  By 1994, Mr. Phetphanh had saved enough money to achieve his dream of buying a house in Rochester.  Although Mr. Phetphanh took out a loan for only $13,667, like many immigrants and low-income people of color, he was steered into a high-interest predatory loan by Alliance Banking. The loan was bought and sold many times to different banks, until finally EverBank took control of the loan.  In 2012, Akhom had a reduction in income on leaving his job so EverBank aggressively moved to foreclose. Akhom attempted to catch up but EverBank would not accept his payments and refuses to work with him. For more background, see Mr. Phetphanh's open letter (https://www.dropbox.com/s/n2cp82l9nwbk89o/Second%20Open_Letter_to_Everbank_from_Akhom_Phetphanh_in_Rochester%20%28.pdf) to EverBank 

EverBank's Pattern and Practice of Fraud
After paying for well over 15 years, EverBank claims Mr. Phetphanh still owes over $9,000, even though his original mortgage was only $13,667. The bank claim they don't have the full history of the loan and therefore cannot resolve discrepancies but insist they should be trusted regarding their information on the amount owed.This type of practice is consistent with what Federal Reserve and Office of Comptroller Currency called EverBank's "unsafe and unsound practices in mortgage servicing and foreclosure processing."(See New York Times article.) For these practices EverBank was issued a cease and desist order and forced to pay back millions of dollars to thousands of borrowers (http://members.jacksonville.com/business/2013-08-25/story/everbank-pay-37-million-borrowers-foreclosure-settlement) they had wronged (see Washington Post article). (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/everbank-to-pay-43-million-in-foreclosure-settlement/2013/08/23/ee11b6c8-0c30-11e3-9941-6711ed662e71_story.html)

"I Have No Choice But To Stay"
At the age of 64 and facing the foreclosure of his longtime home, Mr. Phetphanh says "I have no choice but to stay. Where would I go? I've put  so much into this house." In addition to displacing a family, foreclosures hurt the stability of neighborhoods, driving up public costs by lowering property values, increasing crime, health care costs, and police costs. In Rochester, Take Back the Land Rochester and community allies have worked to unite tenants and homeowners in foreclosure to fight for the structural changes that stop displacement and support the economic human right to housing.  

Please Sign Akhom's Petition to Stop the Foreclosure and Eviction
(https://www.change.org/petitions/everbank-withdraw-foreclosure-and-eviction-of-akhom-phetphanh-in-rochester-ny)