The Signal from Santa Clarita, California • 4

A4 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2010 THE SIGNAL California Finance: Changes to mortgages have some homeowners being forced out of their homes without much warning i hi. I If- T-'v-vr-? ti Now, incomes and other details are being fully vetted before trial periods, and borrowers are preapproved for a permanent modification as long as they make three trial period payments, she said. She also said banks are only obliged to grant modifications "A Sir iii ll me luvt-aiuia vviiu uuiu uica' mnrteases also benefit fromV II r--t 9a -c the as mandated by the October 2008 legislation approving the bailout. Those explanations provide little comfort to the Cascos. i if nirni mi i ln.fr rni .1 nn -'i rrr -n nil i -ft- n.

iii.i Ml mi 1 ilium uiai uaiina cuv ptaym; ing games with us," William-Casco said. Casco said his monthly mortgage payments to Washington Mutual Inc. went up to $2,765 when he refinanced his home in 2006 to pay for a new a meat counter at his store in the industrial Los Angeles suburb of South Gate. Chase was in the process of acquiring Washington Mutual in January 2009 when Casco said it sent a note telling him he qualified for a lower forbearance rate. The El Salvador native sent the tax returns and business documents the bank was requesting.

His payment was reducerjQ to $1,250, where it remained for several months until Chase told him to apply for a trial loan modification. Again, Casco said, he sent Chase the documentation they LOS ANGELES (AP) Grocery store owners William and Esperanza Casco were making enough money to stay current on their mortgage, but when JPMorgan Chase Co. offered a plan that reduced their payments, they figured they could use the extra cash and signed up. The Cascos say they never missed a subsequent payment, so they were horrified when the bank decided the smaller payments weren't enough and foreclosed on their modest Long Beach home. Their story is echoed across the country by people who claim some in lawsuits that banks didn't live up to their end of the deal when they agreed to trial mortgage modifications.

The suits add to a feeling jrnong many struggling homeowners that they're getting little help from the part of the government's $700 billion Wall Street rescue that aimed to help them directly. Indeed, Treasury statistics show that only about one-third of the nearly 1.4 million homeowners accepted into the government's payment reduction program over the past year have had their reductions made permanent "It is extremely unfair that someone like me and my wife who have owned our home for 17 years and never missed a payment could end up in foreclosure," Casco, 47, said in Spanish through an interpreter. Chase spokesman Gary Kishner was unable to comment on whether Cascos had been current on their payments but insisted the bank had treated the couple fairly. "We worked with the borrower to give him as many opportunities as possible to qualify for a modification," he sajd. "However, they were not able to do so and therefore we were forced to foreclose on the property." Several federal lawsuits filed in Boston accuse major lenders of breach of contract under the government's Home Affordable Modification Program, in Associated Press In this Oct.

26 photo, families and members of Alliance of Callfomians for Community Empowerment, ACCE, march downtown Los Angeles financial district, to demand banks' accountability, foreclosure moratorium and loan modifications. Across the country, people claim some In lawsuits that banks didn't live up to their end of the deal when they agreed to trial mortgage modifications. ing itself against the cases. More lawsuits have been filed against other lenders modifications they had already agreed to," said attorney James C. Sturdevant, whose firm is assisting in the lawsuit.

Thise policymakers said, just qo out requested. His payment rosrAQ to $2,363 in June, then re- and do this and don't let us worry about the details. These details are now what are coming to the fore in these modification cases." Joseph R. Mason, professor at Louisiana State University's business school to stem the flow of foreclosures before it "had adequate plans in place. "These policymakers said, just go out and do this and don't let us worry about the details," he said.

"These details are now what are coming to the fore in these modification cases." Laurie Maggiano, policy director at the Treasury Department's Homeownership Preservation Office, said banks were encouraged to offer trial modifications based on interviews with borrowers about their incomes and expenses while they sorted out the paperwork to qualify for permanently reduced payments. The banks were under no obligation to make trial modifications permanent until this June, when new regulations stopped loan servicers from offering the trials based on stated income, Maggiano said. which banks agreed to participate as part of the bank bailout. The lawsuits say the banks agreed under HAMP to grant permanent mortgage modifications to borrowers who make all payments during trial modifications. Attorney Sherman Alexandra Kavanagh said several of the plaintiffs lost their homes after their payments reverted to their original sums that they were unable to pay.

She said she believes tens of thousands of borrowers in Massachusetts alone could be covered by the suits if they get class-action One of the lawsuits, against Bank of America was consolidated earlier this month with similar complaints in five other states, Kavanagh said. Bank of America spokeswoman Shirley Norton said in an e-mail that the lender will continue aggressively defend turned to the forbearance rate in October, Casco said he continued paying what he was asked until August 2010, when Chase told his family that they were $50,000 behind on their payments and put them into foreclosure. The home has since been sold and Casco is currently fighting eviction. That has him considering joining an existing lawsuit against the bank or seeking support to file a suit on his own. "I'm determined to do whatever it takes in order to keepQ my house," he said.

"I feel that a great injustice has been done to my family." In San Francisco, the Housing and Economic Rights Advocates legal services group sued Chase, accusing the New York bank of profiting from collecting payments during long trial modifications that ultimately end in foreclosure. "They're participating in the crisis they had helped to foment by refusing to honor loan Chase's Kishner said he could not comment on the pending litigation. Joseph R. Mason, a professor at Louisiana State University's business school who has written widely on the sub-prime lending debacle, said he suspects the loan modification disputes are a legacy of the federal government's rush Coroner raps deputies Stem totrimigQinig Unoaivy caom to Saon IFtr'aiMS yon, and said he couldn't recall a case where a police agency moved remains without coroner's clearance. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore acknowledged that deputies moved the bodyjthout permission, but said they 'did so because of concerns animals might destroy the remains.

Richardson's family slammed the sheriff's department for her late-night release without car or phone in September 2009. LOS ANGELES (AP) A Los Angeles County coroner's official says sheriffs deputies may have violated the law and undermined his investigation when they moved the remains of a woman found in August. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winf tells a local newspaper in a Sunday story that he was "very clear" with sheriff's officials that the remains of Mitrice Richardson should not be removed when they were discovered in a Malibu can down the lines. In Sacramento, people hoping to go ice skating Sunday were disappointed when a ice rink was closed because of the rain. A rink guard told the Sacramento Bee that the rink was expected to be open again Monday, weather permitting.

1 C-r, SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A storm front moving across Northern California was causing delays and inconveniences for people across the region. The National Weather Service says the front would bring periods of heavy rain to the San Francisco Bay area throughout Sunday, as well as gusty winds. Up to two inches, of rain was expected in the mountains north of San Francisco before the storm tapered off late Sunday. The winds prompted the California Highway Patrol to issue a wind adviso ry for the San Mateo-Hay-ward, Benicia, and Bay bridges. The CHP was also reporting standing water on area freeways At San Francisco International Airport, delays of 30 to 60 minutes were being reported because of the weather, Also in San two Municipal Railway lines were disrupted by downed power lines Sunday morning, affecting service for about two hours.

But Muni spokesman Paul Rose said it wasn't clear what brought WSJ ill me liiuuiuauis, luiiyt masters sav heavv snow is" Do You Need More Money for Retirement? Since 1865 expected on the Tioga Pass and other areas of the Sierra Nevada, with up to two feet of snow expected on some of the higher eleva- tlnnc In today's economic environment, consider the benefits of a charitable gift annuity with The Salvation Army. Lock in a secure stream of income with one of America's most trusted charities. 0 Fixed income for life Relief from taxes Income now or later Support your community Car crash kills 2 pedestrians, mother and daughter ONE-LIFE RATES Age Rate 1 Age Rate Age Rate Age Rate 65 5.7 72 6.3 79 7.4 86 9.2' 6i 5.8 73 6.5 80 7.6 87 9.5 67 5.9 74 6.6 81 7.8 88 9.8 6J 6.0 75 6.7 82 8.0 89 10.1 69 6.0 76 6.9 83 8.3 90 IQ.5" 70 6.1 77 7.0 84 8.6 71 6.2 78 7.2- BTZZ place until water samples test as safe. i. Santa Cruz police investigate park assault attempt SANTA CRUZ (AP) Santa Cruz police are sending out e-mail alerts to city residents as they search for a man they say tried to sexually assault a 15-year-old girl at a park.

Investigators say around 6:40 a.m. Saturday a man, believed to be about 27 to 30 years old, walked up to the girl while she sat on a bench at Ocean View Park and started talking to her. The teen told police that she tried to leave when the man asked her to perform a sex act, but that he grabbed her. When both the man and the girl lost their footing, the girl was able to run away. Police say the girl did not know the suspect.

For information call 800-275-3197 or return coupon. LOS ANGELES (AP) A car crash Saturday afternoon in the Leimert Park area of Los Angeles resulted in the deaths of two pedestrians, an 89-year-old mother and her daughter, believed to be in her 60s. Sgt. Cy Fel iciano says the women were killed when a pickup truck collided with a Volkswagen and the car careened into them at the intersection of Cren shaw Boulevard and Coliseum Street. After being taken to an area hospital, the 89-year-old woman died immediately and her daughter died later in the evening.

0 The two drivers suffered minor injuries. No arrests or citations have been made. An investigation is Sewage spills into San Marcos creek SAN MARCOS (AP) San Diego County officials say more than 5,000 gallons of sewage have spilled into San Marcos Creek. The Department of Environmental Health said in a statement Sunday that a pipe carrying solid waste broke late Saturday night and an estimated 5,440 gallons flowed into the creek, which flows to Batiquitous Lagcton in La Costa and on to the ocean. The spill at the Mead-owlark Water Reclamation Facility in San Marcos was stopped about an hour later.

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