Man facing foreclosure campaigns for patience

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www.komonews.com/news/local/44627492.html?video=YHI&t=a


TACOMA, Wash. -- Banks have lifted their temporary moratorium on foreclosures, which means more properties are being auctioned off every Friday on the courthouse steps of every county in the state.

Amid the busy transactions is a man who's leading a protest for patience.

Craig Wuest is trying to find out if his home will indeed be auctioned off the courthouse steps. It's on the list.

"Don't have any information yet, none yet. What's that telling me?" he said.

Wuest, who was injured 18 months ago, can no longer work. His wife works, but her monthly income doesn't cover the mortgage.

"If they lower it, I can afford it. But at this point in time, I can't afford it," he said.

Wuest is four months behind, owes more than his house is worth and has an interest only loan at 10.5 percent.

With mortgage rates at 5 percent, Wuest wants a new deal with his lender but says the lender won't deal.

"I even sent them new financials, so they can see what the financials looked like. It doesn't seem to work with them. I don't know what does, because they don't want to talk to you," he said.

Right now, banks want cash and want borrowers like Wuest off their books. So Wuest got ACORN, a national housing group, to hold a protest for patience.

"This foreclosure rate is just horrendous. I've got five houses in my neighborhood today that are in foreclosure," said Wuest.

The latest monthly figures show the highest rate of foreclosures tends to be in counties with lower household incomes. The worst figures are in Cowlitz County where one out of every 300 homes was in foreclosure during the month of March. Cowlitz County is followed by Pierce, Thurston, Snohomish and Clallam counties.

But someone's pain is someone else's gain.

"The banks are giving more discounts down here so we are purchasing several more properties every week," said Cindy Hornbuckle of Vestus Foreclosure Group.

Auction regulars say the banks are in the mood to sell quick on the courthouse steps. Wuest wishes they'd just make a long-term deal with him.