John Freidah

Foreclosed: The collateral damage

As the mortgage crisis worsens in the United States, foreclosures are claiming some innocent victims: renters. In cities and suburbs throughout Rhode Island, people who paid their rent and often signed leases are forced to pack up and leave their homes when landlords default on mortgages and banks reclaim the property, choosing not to get into the rental business. The most vulnerable, children and the elderly, become collateral damage of the subprime mortgage meltdown. A landlord who stops paying the mortgage often fails to pay the water and utility bills, resulting in shutoffs. Tenants often lose their security deposits and struggle to find the cash for a new rental property. Laws protect tenants from evictions in many situations but these laws do not apply when a bank forecloses on a property.

Katherine Chase Ormond and her 10-year-old son Jack Ormond must leave their rented home because the bank is foreclosing on their landlord. Jack watches as the movers haul the last of the family's belongings onto the truck. "I like it here," says Jack, who must switch schools after the move. "I will miss my friends."
  
Ormond turns to Rhode Island Legal Services, which offers help for free and has been inundated with requests from tenants who are being evicted by banks foreclosing on their landlords. Ormond had paid her landlord two months’ rent, unaware that the bank was repossessing the property.
   
Irene Foss, 79, watches as Auctioneer Richard C. Jumpp attempts to sell the triple-decker house where she rents an apartment. The only potential buyer, Joe Davis, left, makes an offer, but it is not high enough and the bank keeps the property. Foss worries about her fate, knowing she will have to move. The tenants already had to take up a collection to get the water turned back on after the landlord stopped paying the bills.
     
  
Richard C. Jumpp is busier than ever, often leading multiple foreclosure auctions in a day. Typically, no buyers show up or the minimum price is not met and the bank is left with the foreclosed property. Rather than selling for less than the mortgage owed, banks seem prepared to wait out the market with the hopes of getting a higher price.
   
Legal documents, addressed to Jane and John Doe, pile up outside a rental property that the bank has repossessed. Lawyers for the bank are attempting to evict the tenants, who avoid collecting the mail. After numerous failed attempts to notify tenants, banks must go to court for eviction orders to force out the tenants.
   
Latisha Silva and her three children - 9, 7 and 2 years old - must move from their apartment in Pawtucket, R.I., when their landlord is foreclosed upon. Through the ordeal of searching for a new home, Latisha tries to keep family routine intact – making sure the children get to after-school activities and sporting events. Seven-year-old Isaiah, who is autistic, models his superhero Halloween costume before a neighborhood party.
     
  
One of the greatest hardships for evicted families is the upheaval in the children's school routine. Katherine Chase Ormond bids her son goodbye as he heads to the bus stop in the days before they are forced out of their home.
  
Ten-year-old Jack Ormond must switch elementary schools mid semester when the bank’s foreclosure forces the family to move. Jack takes a tour of the new building on his first day. He has difficulty adjusting to the new surroundings and is ultimately home-schooled.
   
Maria Simmons and her family of nine must leave their rented home by the New Year after the landlord is foreclosed upon. The family weighs their options after finding out an apartment they had hoped for is no longer available.
     
  
The Silva family finds a new home through the Providence Housing Authority. Once Latisha is released from the hospital, friends help them move, but they must borrow money from family to rent the necessary U-Haul.
   
The power is shut off at a boarded-up multifamily house that was foreclosed on. Working in darkness, Michael Traupman, who works for a property maintenance company, cleans out the former tenants’ belongings. Property management companies receive a flood of work, as banks rush to secure all the repossessed property they now own. Even after houses are padlocked, vandals often break in and steal copper.
   
Daboll Street is one of the hardest hit in Providence, R.I. It is home to numerous rental properties, several of which are boarded up. Two buildings, in various stages of foreclosure and owned by the same landlord, will displace some 16 families.