My Life in Argentina and Beyond

The Office of the Governor

 State of Georgia 203 State Capitol Atlanta, Georgia 30334

October 14, 2009

Re: Mortgage Fraud/Foreclosure Experiences in GA

Dear Governor Perdue,

I have had an extremely bad experience in your state. I was a victim of mortgage fraud and I lost my home in November 2005. I have written letters to the Attorney General of GA and filed a complaint against the broker. Nothing has produced any type of justice and results. A copy of my letter to the Attorney General of GA can be found at www.beccar.wordpress.com. It tells the story of my downfall. I feel very ill used. Now I am not writing to you just to vent and maybe my problem is something that no one cares about because it didn’t happen to them. It happened to me and I am not a person with power and influence. All I know is that when I went to Atlanta, GA I was a person with a nearly perfect credit score of 754 and when I left it I was deep in credit card debt for the first time in my life. The loss of my home because I trusted these two people has had repercussions that I have to live with to this day. I cannot begin to describe to you what it has done to me. It has been the most horrible experience of my life so far and I deeply regret the day that I decided to take the Grey Hound bus going to Atlanta. I never told these real estate professionals to lie about my income or to say that I had my own publishing company. That was done without my knowledge and when I found out about it, I thought it was too late to turn back and that I had to go through with the closing on July 26, 2002. I was naïve; I realize that now after reading about similar cases in newspapers like the New York Times. I have paid a very heavy price for that naïveté and am still paying for it. I assure you that everything I am saying in this letter is the absolute truth and nothing but. Now I don’t believe in people like I once did. I don’t trust anybody, especially realtors and their friends. I have them to thank for it. I was out of the country when my condo foreclosed on November 1, 2005 and I had to way to get back to the United States. Nevertheless, I tried everything I could to stop it and I called the Sheriff’s Office, among other GA government departments. Needless to say, I had no attorney and no money to pay for one. I was alone and far away at a t I tried everything I could to stop it and I called the Sheriff’s Office, among other GA government departments. Needless to say, I had no attorney and no money to pay for one. I was alone and far away at a time when I was going through a terrible experience. I have since left GA. If at this time the statues of limitations for white collar crimes are not too long in GA, I would like to see them expanded to 10 years. No one—no one calling themselves real estate professionals--has a right to put their personal gain/commission ahead of a borrower’s needs.

Sincerely, Eugenia Maria Renskoff

It was a two-bedroom, 2 bath condo in Buckhead, one of the best neighborhoods in Atlanta, GA. The location could not be better—near the supermarket, some shops and Borders bookstore. But shortly after I closed, I began to suspect that something had gone wrong—terribly wrong. I started asking people and looking on the Internet. Refinancing right away carried a penalty; the same for selling the place. I have overpaid and was now in deep trouble. I knew I was going to miss the condo (it was a quiet second floor walk-up), but the financial burden of keeping it would be overwhelming. I don’t know what is more devastating or damaging than losing the home that you love. A home is a place that more than shelters you. A home lets you be you. It keeps you when no one else does or wants to. You turn to it for more than a bed, a kitchen and a shower. And when it’s gone, there is no going back. It’s not just that things can never be the same—the damage is more harmful than anything a person has ever known. Foreclosure is a bad word. No one wants to pronounce it and yet so many people, like myself, have had to say it over and over again. My home was foreclosed.

Saturday, October 17, 2009: I have written a letter to the GA governor concerning my mortgage fraud/foreclosure experience. Some people will say it is a waste of a 44 cent stamp and/or my time. I don't care. The experience has made more than a lasting impact on my life and the more people know about it, the better. It would be more than fair to say that it has changed my life for the worse.

I was foreclosed on in Atlanta, GA in November 2005 when I was out of the country. I didn’t have a lawyer to help me and I couldn’t afford one. I used up all my savings trying to save my beautiful condo in Buckhead. The mortgage fraud/foreclosure experience I lived through (I believe I was given a subprime mortgage though I had a credit score of 754) is still haunting me. The day of the foreclosure, I called the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office long distance and did everything I could to stop from losing my home. Someone had told me that maybe my civil rights were being violated because it was happening when I was far away. I didn’t know if this was or was not true. I just loved my condo and didn’t want it to be taken away from me. That afternoon, I used up I don’t know how many phone cards and talked to many people; some, like a woman named Ms. De Louise, were very nice and tried to help me. This has been a great personal tragedy. It has left a mark on me and my life that so far has been impossible to erase.

Another consequence of the GA foreclosure/mortgage fraud: When I was living in Atlanta (right after it dawned on me that I had been scammed) I would take just $20 out of the ATM and treat myself to some sourdough bread from Eatzy’s, the Buckhead deli. I felt a little guilty about it, but that sourdough was a reminder of my old and easier life, a life with no bad money problems.

It baffles me to think that anybody would even consider the possibility that I would willingly commit mortgage fraud and that I would get myself into a situation where I would lose a home. That is similar to saying that a woman deserved to be raped because she did wore a low cut dress and therefore invited someone to sexually assault her. The experience that I lived through in GA turned my life into a living nightmare. I often feel that there is nothing worse than this. The real estate professionals I was dealing with knew what they were doing and they were aware of the consequences of their actions. I didn’t. They acted out of self interest and greed. Later I learned that at the time I bought the condo the real estate market in Atlanta and GA was very soft. I hate to think that they are doing the same to someone else. Why should they be protected when they did what they did? Why let this go on and on? Consumers, especially borrowers, should be protected.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009: For a while, I thought that the loan officer who engineered the loan that got me into mortgage fraud had left the business. Yesterday, while googling him, I think I discovered that he's back doing what he used to do when I met him back in June 2002.

Saturday, June 6, 2009: I will allow nothing to stand in my way. I am seeking justice for the mortgage fraud/foreclosure mes the so called real estate GA professionals got me into in 2002. Even though I have had no encouragement from the people surrounding me, it doesn't really matter. I will go on no matter what.

Friday, May 15, 2009: I still haven't lost hope that the so -called professionals who got me into my GA mortgage fraud mess will be punished. I know it's a long shot, but I I am hoping (maybe against hope) that it will actually come to pass and that justice will be done. I am just one person and maybe I don't matter because I am not famous or rich or anything, but my experience is very important to me. it has cost me many things, including the people i thought were members of my family, among other things.

Letter To OBama

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Obama,

I am writing to tell you my subprime mortgage story. In July 2002 I moved to Atlanta, GA. There I bought a condo for $170,000. I was offered two loans: one for $136,000 at 9.75% and the other for $136,000 at 13%. I should have been suspicious at these high interest rates, but I trusted the realtor, and loan officer she worked with. At this time my credit score was around 754 and I had no credit card debt . A few days before closing, the realtor informed me that the loan officer had paid $300 to somebody to write the mortgage company & tell them that I had my own publishing company and that I made $120,000 a year. I was shocked at this lie, but I thought I had no choice but to go ahead with the closing. I honestly believed it was too late to turn back. After the July 26, 2002 closing, I contacted the seller’s real estate company. I wanted to sell the place. They told me that I could get $150,000 for it at most. $20,000 less than I had paid! The appraisal had been for $188,000. I tried refinancing, but because there was a penalty of $5,000 if I sold or refinance less than 2 years after the purchase of the condo, all the lenders turned me down. I decided I would rent it out. The realtor had told me that I could rent it for around $1,600 a month on the roommate plan, but all the realtors I worked with could get no more than $875-900 for it. That was way below my 2 mortgage payments plus the monthly common charges of $225 a month. My savings began to drain away. I wanted to save my condo at all costs and I didn’t want to have a foreclosure. I had been proud of my almost perfect credit score and now it was in danger of being ruined. I took a job as a domestic for 3 months, in spite of my bad back. In 2004 I was only able to rent out the condo for 6 months. To make the mortage I was forced to use credit cards. Eventually I racked up more debt and unable to make payments the condo foreclosed on November 1, 2005.. I would like to ask you to help change the laws so that real estate people can get punished for doing what my realtor did. I was very naïve to trust the realtor but I did everything in my power to make the payments and to save my place. There are countless numbers of persons (even HUD and various real estate investors) that I contacted. Nothing did any good (the investors would not buy the condo because it had what they called negative equity). Now it appears that my life will stay in shambles.What I went through happened before this subprime crisis exploded, but its effect on my life was beyond belief. It is the same as if someone had kicked me in the back and left me paralyzed for life.

I have lived with Lau, my cat, in the streets of Manhattan. People were very kind to both of us. I am especially grateful to the soup kitchen at St. Bart’s church on 50th between Lexington and Park, the Starbuck’s coffee shop on 51st. just off Park and the Midnight Run organization. Passers by were also nice to us, giving me food for Lau and playing with her.

Now I am in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn. A friend allows me to stay in his loft. I have terrible back pain and no medical insurance. My back condition is chronic, and needs the care of a professional. When it is very painful, it hurts me to walk, go up and down the stairs and sit. I am in desperate need of medical help but can not pay for it due to my ruined finances. Sincerely, Eugenia Maria Renskoff