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The Boston Herald reports a story about a family that lost their home to foreclosure over the holidays.
They won’t be home for Christmas, but a Roslindale family who lost their house to foreclosure, just miles from where Bank of America’s CEO lives, still hopes to have a happy new year.
“If we can do anything to get our home back, we’re willing to work with (the bank),” said Joseph Coyne, who attempted to resume living in his former home on Wednesday ahead of Christmas.
Coyne and activists from the group City Life entered the vacant home and were working to get the utilities back on when police arrived and asked them to leave.
They complied, but hope to convince Bank of America to let Coyne, his wife and seven children return and rent or repurchase the house at current market prices.
City Life’s Steve Meacham noted that mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently agreed to let consumers with home loans the firms control rent back houses following foreclosure.
Activists also hope the fact that incoming Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan lives just 10 miles away from the Coynes’ former home will work in the family’s favor.
“It would certainly be easy for (Moynihan) to solve this case,” Meacham said.
The Coynes admit they cashed out some $200,000 during the housing boom, but claim a slick mortgage broker pushed them to refinance over and over again.
The couple says most of the money went to paying parochial school tuitions for their kids, who range in age from 4 to 19.
“Even though we signed the papers, we had no idea – no idea – that things would go like this,” Margaret Coyne said. “It took five minutes to sign our lives away and not realize what we had done.”
Bank of America spokesman T.J. Crawford said he couldn’t comment extensively on the Coynes’ case until reviewing the family’s situation.
But the spokesman said Bank of America considers foreclosures “extremely costly and detrimental to everyone,” and has helped some 630,000 customers modify unaffordable mortgages and keep their homes.
