Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
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closeSaturday, Apr. 25, 2009
Kennewick couple blame bank for foreclosure
By Pratik Joshi, Herald staff writer
KENNEWICK -- Desiderio and Catarina Alvarado are upset with Banner Bank.
They are holding the bank responsible for losing their rural west Kennewick home at a foreclosure auction last week.
A bank official told them he had put the sale on hold, Desiderio Alvarado, 48, told the Herald on Friday while picketing with family and friends outside a Banner Bank branch near the mall.
The Alvarados haven't paid their monthly mortgage payment of $1,441 since September and knew about the possible repercussions, said the independent construction contractor who's been out of work for several months.
Alvarado insists that a Banner Bank official he had been dealing with since December promised to postpone the April 17 foreclosure sale.
But Banner Bank denies it. The bank never talked about stopping the sale, said Arnie Willig, a Seattle-based attorney representing the bank. The sale price wasn't immediately available, but Willig said the amount was more than what was owed to the bank. As of Dec. 29, Alvarado owed more than $132,000 on his basic loan.
In December, the bank walked Alvarado through the process of what might happen if he failed to pay the bank, Willig said.
It's sad he lost his home, Willig said. "Nobody at the bank likes to see other's homes to be foreclosed."
The family owed the bank an estimated $16,000 on April 6, payment of which would have made them current on their loan payment.
In 1999, the Alvarados took out a loan of $153,450 at 7.125 percent interest and built the two-story home, which is valued at $331,490, according to Benton County assessment records.
Alvarado said he told the bank he would clear his debts when he returned to work in May and was breathing easy.
But he was shocked when a man came to his house Sunday and told him he had bought the house, and the family needed to clear out soon.
And to rub salt into the wound, the man later offered to pay the family $500 if they left the property clean, Alvarado said. It was insulting, he said. "I don't know what I'm going to do. We worked our whole lives for our children to have a home."
He's sad and said he feels cheated.
"We were under the impression everything will be all right after assurances from a Banner Bank employee," he said.
At one point, the bank asked Alvarado to pay $5,000 by the end of January to get him out of default status. That was when he officially owed the bank more than $8,500, Willig said.
But Alvarado could only manage $3,800 by early March, and no one promised him an extension through May, Willig said.
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