Woman, 90, shoots self inside forclosed home

ShanaBanana · Oct 3, 2008

I wasn't sure where to put this.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/03/eviction.suicide.attempt/index.html

(CNN) -- A 90-year-old Akron, Ohio, woman who shot herself as sheriff's deputies tried to evict her from her foreclosed home became a symbol of the nation's home mortgage crisis Friday.

Fannie Mae foreclosed on the Akron, Ohio, home of Addie Polk, 90, after acquiring the mortgage in 2007.

Addie Polk is being treated at Akron General Medical Center after shooting herself at least twice in the upper body Wednesday afternoon, her city councilman said.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, mentioned Polk on the House floor Friday during debate over the latest economic rescue proposal.

"This bill does nothing for the Addie Polks of the world," Kucinich said after telling her story. "This bill fails to address the fact that millions of homeowners are facing foreclosure, are facing the loss of their home. This bill will take care of Wall Street, and the market may go up for a few days, but democracy is going downhill."

Neighbor Robert Dillon used a ladder to enter a second-story window of Polk's home after he and the deputies heard bangs inside, Dillon told CNN affiliate WEWS-TV in Cleveland, Ohio.

"I just thought she may have fell or couldn't get up or something," he told WEWS. "I didn't know [she had shot herself] until I got in there. And even when I got there, she was breathing, but she wasn't saying anything to me. I knew she needed help then."

Dillon said he saw blood when he put his hand on Polk's shoulder.

"There's a lot of people like Miss Polk right now. That's the sad thing about it," said Akron City Council President Marco Sommerville, who had met Polk before and rushed to the scene when contacted by police. "They might not be as old as her, some could be as old as her. This is just a major problem."

In 2004, Polk took out a 30-year, 6.375 percent mortgage for $45,620 with a Countrywide Home Loan office in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The same day, she also took out an $11,380 line of credit.

Over the next couple of years Polk missed payments on the 101-year-old home and in 2007 Fannie Mae assumed the mortgage and later filed for foreclosure.

Deputies had tried to serve Polk's eviction notice more than 30 times before Wednesday's incident, Sommerville said. She never came to the door, but the notes the deputies left would always disappear, so they knew she was inside and ambulatory, he said.

The city is creating programs to help people keep their homes, Sommerville said.

"But what do you do when there's just so many people out there and the economy is in the shape that it's in?"

Many businesses and individuals have called since Wednesday offering to help Polk, Sommerville said.

"We're going to do an evaluation to see what's best for her," he said. "If she's strong enough and can go home, I think we should work with her to where she goes back home. If not, we need to find another place for her to live where she won't have to worry about this ever again."

He said that by the time people call for help with an impending foreclosure, it's usually too late.

"I'm glad it's not too late for Miss Polk, because she could have taken her life," Sommerville said. "Miss Polk will probably end up on her feet. But I'm not sure if anybody else will."
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hotwater · Oct 3, 2008

Sad but If you want to do the job right these days shoot at the cops, because It's a sure-fire guarantee to leave feet first

Hotwater

MaryJBlaze · Oct 3, 2008

hotwater said:

Sad but If you want to do the job right these days shoot at the cops, because It's a sure-fire guarantee to leave feet first

Hotwater
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sad, but true

ShanaBanana · Oct 3, 2008

It shows who the true victims are in the current financial crisis. Unfortunately, the government bank bailout will not help the true victims.

seamonster66 · Oct 3, 2008

as some people have mentioned on this forum recently

survival of the fittest

treehuggerT · Oct 3, 2008

Why did she mortgage her house? And who gives a 30 year mortgage to an 86 yo?

Zoomie · Oct 3, 2008

Who gives a $250,000.00 home mortgage with ZERO downpayment to an underpaid school teacher and an unemployed carpenter?

That's how I got my house.

YankNBurn · Oct 3, 2008

Im so glad that when the next election for my state reps, sen and ect come about I am voting for a clean sweep of all new people.

hippychickmommy · Oct 3, 2008

Sad, yes, she made the poor decision to take on an adjustable rate mortgage payment. People need to seriously do their research beforehand. Read between the lines. Budget, do only what you can afford, because the market changes daily people! Educate yourself! If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is! Take responsibility!

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Woman, 90, shoots self inside forclosed home

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MaryJBlaze eleven

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treehuggerT Member

Zoomie My mom is dead, ok?

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