Glen Burnie resident Marguerite Anderson has watched her monthly mortgage payment almost double in less than two years.
The 70-year-old former school custodian is having trouble making payments on her adjustable-rate loan, which has risen from $700 to more than $1,300 per month on the $150,000 loan she took out to make repairs on her home.
“I called the bank, but they said I can?t refinance,” she said. “I can?t afford to make these payments much longer.
“I?m afraid I?ll lose my home.”
Anderson joined several dozen protesters at the downtown Baltimore offices of Deutsche Bank on Thursday seeking to force the major mortgage lender to modify loans made to homeowners, including her. Chanting in the lobby of the bank?s offices, protesters demanded that Deutsche Bank force Ocwen Financial Corp., an agent that handles loans for the German bank, to negotiate with area homeowners to prevent foreclosures.
“In this area, we estimate they?ve been involved in over 200 foreclosures in 2007,” said Stuart Katzenberg, spokesman for ACORN, the community activist group that organized the protest.
“We want them to meet with us to discuss modifying loans to prevent more foreclosures.”
But Deutsche Bank officials said protesters were barking up the wrong tree, arguing that the bank serves only as a trustee for lenders.
“The function of the trustee is largely an administrative one; the trust company itself has no beneficial ownership stake or interest in the underlying loans of a securitization,” said John Gallagher, spokesman for Deutsche Bank National Trust.
“The trustee is not responsible for foreclosures or selling foreclosed property.”
The company provided a memo sent to Ocwen urging flexibility when dealing with borrowers.
Foreclosures have risen dramatically in Baltimore City and throughout the state, having nearly quadrupled in some counties such as Prince George?s since the same time last year and doubled statewide to 4.1 percent of all mortgages.
A recent ACORN study on the cost of foreclosures estimated the Baltimore region would lose $300 million in lost property taxes and home equity due to the crisis.
The group is proposing comprehensive reforms to the mortgage business, including new laws that would require lenders to provide more disclosure on fees and charges, prevent “steering” people into higher-priced loans, and allow consumers to renegotiate loans if they can prove they have been scammed.
