Team Ramrod, (10/3/2008 4:47:30 PM)

what if you shoot your pinkie toe off? ...sign me up for a million dollar mortgage and I'll do it.

Bluebird48, Sand Springs (10/3/2008 4:53:32 PM)

This won't be the first.......

notdem, muskogee (10/3/2008 5:51:00 PM)

All fannie and freddie unqualified mortgages will be forgiven, these next two years are really going to be a treat..

jestergrl, ok (10/3/2008 6:02:31 PM)

I agree with bluebird, there will be more coming like what this woman did. People get pushed into a corner and do not see a postive outcome. I do think though once she gets herself together then the financial institution could work with her to pay off her debt.

THE REF, Broken Arrow (10/3/2008 6:06:11 PM)

One way to pay off the mortgage !

thinker08, (10/3/2008 6:29:44 PM)

Why would a person who has been living in a house for 38 years still have an out standing mortgage? It sounds like she probably took out a home equity loan a few years ago, but why would anyone in their 80's take out a home equity loan knowing that they could afford it. Most people of this age are living on fixed incomes ... so none of this doesn't make any sense. The bank would have to be nuts to make a loan of this nature and the home owner would have to be completely irresponsible to take out a second mortgage on a home that was paid for this late in life. There are obviously some facts that aren't being disclosed by the media. Who is really at fault ... and why is this mortgage being written off. It sounds like this lady would possibly qualify for some kind of living assistance in a place where someone could help care for her .

libdem, (10/3/2008 6:39:32 PM)

If the banks forced the people to get in over their heads, then try to drown them, they should be given their homes.Poor people need homes, too.
When the rich get to pay their fair share, the money problems will start to end. Obama will figure a way for everyone to be able to have health care. He will get us out of these wars by the end of March 09, and their will be plenty of money then.
McShame and McPalin would bankrupt the country, give all of the $750 billion yo fatcats and Exxon, and probably re-enact the draft so we could conquer more small countries. McShame and IwannbecheneyPalin are nothing but racists warmongers, who are in the pockets of big oil,thatare part of a group that would do anything to keep a black man from becoming the President of the US.

Bluebird48, Sand Springs (10/3/2008 8:02:16 PM)

thinker08, (10/3/2008 6:29:44 PM)
Why would a person who has been living in a house for 38 years still have an out standing mortgage? It sounds like she probably took out a home equity loan a few years ago, but why would anyone in their 80's take out a home equity loan knowing that they could afford it. Most people of this age are living on fixed incomes ... so none of this doesn't make any sense.
----
Ahh...this is the scam. She and thousands like her did own the homes; however, as homes age, they need upkeep. You know, a new roof, new furnace, new carpet, etc. When the 0% mortgage poop came out with nothing down, these folks who work so hard to pay off their mortgages the right way thought well it sounds good. We can take out this second mortgage and use the house as collateral. Get the stuff done to the house done and pay off the loan little by little as they said..but then POW!

And now here we are Thinker08 welcome to America!! More intriguing IS that the investment banks created other products off of this woman's mortgage...the infamous mortgage derivative (contract to buy or sell her line of credit) These are the hedge fund products Mrs. Pelosi and others can afford to buy. There are trillions of them out there. There are the things that were worrying the FAT CATS. NOT the actual mortages. Those can be bought on the auction as 'normal' assets. but those other things god only knows are JUNK. But we, tax payers owned them now.

Moses, Jenks (10/3/2008 8:19:48 PM)

Ms. Polk was 90 years old and indeed had lived in her home for 38 years.
The home had become dilapidated and needed a new roof and additional expensive repairs.
A loan officer, (with no conscience), talked her into a high interest loan with a balloon payment, so she could repair her home.
He got his loan fee and Ms. Polk got the loan from hell.
Only Ms. Polk knows why she agreed to this loan. She may not have planned on living this long!
The banker should go to jail and her loan should be forgiven, considering her age, the length of time she has lived in the house and the fact Ms. Polk was taken advantage of.
Let's face it folks, we don't throw grandma out in the cold.
I would have paid off her mortgage myself if I had the money.
libden, you should not be allowed to vote in any election!

Bonasera the Undertaker, (10/3/2008 8:54:21 PM)

This desperate act smacks of folks jumping out of N.Y. high rise buildings during the 1920's stock market crash. Bummer-roo.

30kdm, Tulsa (10/4/2008 12:03:50 AM)

Uhh... I'll shoot my pinky toe off if Fannie Mae will forgive my student loan. If I can't find my gun, I'll just ask Sally Kern to do it.

moya, (10/5/2008 1:24:05 PM)

"Fannie Mae forgives loan for woman who shot herself"
Addie Polk, who attempted to commit suicide rather than facing eviction is not only a symbol of the nation's home mortgage crisis; she may also be a symbol of elderly people who are victims of financial exploitation. if Mrs. Polk were my client, I, as an elder care social worker would want to know why, at age 86, she took out a 30-year, 6.375 percent mortgage for $45,620, and why on the same day she took out an $11,380 line of credit, for a total of $68,000.
Was this a reasonable amount for a woman of her age to take out, or was she being financially exploited? Is she competent to make decisions, whether or not they appear to be foolhardy to others? Should the local department of human services’ Adult Protective Services investigate this situation? What role did the Countrywide Home Loan office play in Mrs. Polk’s decision to assume a mortgage? Who else may have been involved?
I know of clients who, because of exploitation by family members as well as by neighbors and strangers, have drained their bank accounts. When I asked one of the bank branch officers, who knew such a client, if the banks could develop a warning system in such cases, I was told that they didn't have the capability at the branch level. I hope this will change. Community-based banks need to care about their customers as individuals, and to know where to turn when there is a suspicion of neglect or exploitation.
Mrs. Polk’s tragic situation raises red flags around the country that we must ALL be more aware of the pain and suffering that foreclosure, loss of jobs, lack of health care and isolation cause to ordinary people. It is heartening that so many people are coming to Mrs. Polk’s aid. But as Akron City Council President Marco Sommerville said, “….what do you do when there’s just so many people out there and the economy is in the shape that it’s in?” We must work with our legislators to ensure that funding for local and state public and private agencies is adequate to handle the increasing numbers of people seeking help. While bailing out Wall Street, we must also provide funds to bail out Main Street. t Fannie Mae won't halt foreclosure action against other people, as they did in Mrs. Polk’s case.

Moya Atkinson.