The trouble started more than two years ago when Ramona Hernandez's live-in son Gerry got too sick to work. Family and friends paid medical bills, power bills and even made mortgage payments, but those helping hands no longer had the ability to pitch in. Hernandez found herself six months behind on her mortgage.
But then the hearts of Houstonians opened. We received at least 200 offers of mortgage assistance for Mrs. Hernandez, who owned less than $10,000 on her mortgage. She has lived in her tidy little southeast Houston home for more than 20 years. Medical care for her ill and disabled son put her in financial straits, so she fell behind on her mortgage.
The 82-year-old widow was facing a foreclosure auction in early April. The response from viewers was immediate as soon as the initial story was aired on a Friday evening. By Monday, a family friend, who went public with her story in an attempt to save her home, selected 6 offers of help that added up to the payment of principal plus legal fees associated with a foreclosure proceeding.
A foreclosure expert says that unfortunately, Mrs. Hernandez's story is one of many foreclosures affecting the elderly, who have only modest amounts remaining on their principal loan amounts. Often because of health issues, they fall behind on their payments and the situations snowball.
As for Mrs. Hernandez, her family friend says the mortgage is being paid off, so the fear of foreclosure and eviction need never trouble her again.
Slideshow archive | ABC13 wireless | Help solve crimes
