A Long, Winding Road For Chicago Homeowner Victimized By Renegade Loan Servicer

In Chicago, Illinois, a recent story in Gapers Block Mechanics tells the story of Zabrina Worthy, a local homeowner who, along with her children, was allegedly illegally locked out of her home by her loan servicer, Wells Fargo Bank, after falling behind on her house payments, despite the fact that no actual foreclosure sale ever took place.

Her story starts on the day she came home from work, only to find her home boarded up and with the locks changed, and goes from there:

• the failure to winterize the home led to bursted frozen water pipes which led to the destruction of the house,
• squtters taking up residence in the home which led to more trashing,
• the destruction and loss of all the family's personal belongings,
• a notice of foreclosure action that was improperly served (ie. 'sewer service'),
• a $2,000 nuisance fine by the City of Chicago because of the debris from a home gutting that was left piled on the front lawn (since she was still the owner, she got hit with the fine),
• the efforts Zabrina's lawyer, attorney Kelli Dudley, who coordinates the predatory lending program at John Marshall Law School, and who has teamed up with a private local law firm to file a seven-count counterclaim against the banks in their foreclosure action, alleging misdeeds from trespassing to unlawful conversion of property to consumer fraud.

After spending time couch-surfing with her family across Cook County, Zabrina ultimately gave up on Chicago and moved her family to Valparaiso, Indiana in search of a new start.

For the story, see Not a Wonderful Life: The Effects of Aggressive Foreclosure.