When Robin and John Atchley and their four children fasten their seat belts and prepare for takeoff Monday morning, it will be a moment of firsts for the Cherokee County family.
"None of us have ever flown," said John Atchley, a native Georgian who works as a utility lineman. "We have never been no farther than Tennessee."
And no one in the family has ever testified at a congressional hearing either. But that's about to change, too.
A U.S. Senate subcommittee asked the family to share the story of its ordeal with Countrywide Home Loans as part of a hearing to explore the misconduct of lenders in bankruptcy court.
Robin Atchley, a letter carrier with the postal service, will tell the panel of senators about losing the home she wanted her children to grow up in because of Countrywide's behavior in a bankruptcy case.
"When it comes to saving homes in bankruptcy, the bankruptcy system is broken," said Howard Rothbloom, the family's attorney. "The Atchleys' story will highlight that fact."
Thousands of families every month resort to bankruptcy when they are facing a foreclosure. A Chapter 13 stops repossessions and foreclosures and establishes a court-supervised payment plan to let families catch up on past-due bills while holding onto their homes and their cars.
The Atchleys filed for bankruptcy in 2005. They were behind with payments because Robin took several weeks of unplanned leave from her job after the sudden death of her sister.
After the family entered bankruptcy, Countrywide tried to foreclose twice within three months, claiming the family hadn't paid. But the family had paid, and their lawyer produced receipts to prove it.
The Atchleys said the problems continued as Countrywide added inappropriate fees and charges to their loan balance that eventually pushed the cost of the mortgage beyond their reach.
The Atchleys decided to sell, even though they had to take a loss and had to pay Countrywide charges they thought they didn't owe.
Although the Atchleys gave up their fight, the Justice Department's United States Trustee in Atlanta went to court in February seeking sanctions against Countrywide for its actions in the Atchley case.
That pushed the case into the national spotlight.
The Senate subcommittee will investigate allegations that such actions by lenders are widespread and are fueling the nation's foreclosure crisis.
"I think it's pretty good that they are wanting us to do this," John Atchley said. "They ought to come up with some kind of law that will put a stop to this."
The trip to Washington will be particularly special for the Atchleys' 14-year-old daughter, Kally. Her class is taking a school trip to D.C. next week, but the Atchleys couldn't afford to send her.
After the hearing, Kally and her younger brothers and sister plan to tour the U.S. Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial, as well as make a stop at the White House and the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.
Labels: Bankruptcy, Cherokee COunty, Countrywide, Foreclosures
# posted by
Brian Vanderhoff @ 8:20 AM
