Francesca Lia Block, the author of the beloved Weetzie Bat series, has mounted an online campaign to avoid losing her family’s home.
The Save Francesca’s Faerie Cottage website explained her mortgage problems: “Francesca has good credit and an up-to-date mortgage for an over-encumbered property (which has declined in value due to current market conditions and the recession). In other words her house is, as they say, ‘underwater.’ In order to avoid foreclosure, she has been trying for an entire year to get the bank to modify the existing (and incredibly unfair) interest-only loan on the property, since it has declined so much in value.”
Block is urging her readers to write Bank of America about her situation. The single mother and novelist bought the home with her mother in 2007. She has kept up with the mortgage since her mother passed away, but has struggled with the terms of the current loan.
Block directly addressed the problem in a letter to fans:
These banks have been bailed out by the American public and yet are not working with us. The interest-only loan from Countrywide was egregious in the first place (although my broker, realtor and accountant reassured me it was standard for the times and quite safe, especially with the expected ability to refinance in a couple of years) and Bank of America knew this type of loan was unfair when they bought out Countrywide. Bank of America’s behavior toward a customer who has never been behind on a single payment has been inexcusable. Please read the timeline (see sidebar) for the details. I ask that you let as many people as you can about this situation in the hopes that it will help others who have gone through what I am going through and perhaps, in some way, help me save my home for my family.
(Via Neil Gaiman)