Capri Ramos refuses to believe she lost her home 13 years ago over a $68 dental bill.
She still lives there. She still pays the mortgage.
But a court ruling earlier this month may boot Ramos and her family from the tax-subsidized home she claims was taken without her knowledge.
It all started with baby-teeth cavities that landed Ramos' daughter in the dentist's chair in 1995. The $68 bill went unpaid.
"At that time, I was young, brand new married and kids, just bought a house and wasn't really aware of everything going on," said Ramos, now 41. "I had no idea that by not paying a dental bill, this man would get my house."
The Salt Lake City collection agency North American Recovery sued Ramos in 1995 over the dental bill. Ramos, who says she did not realize how dire the consequences might be, did not contest the suit. The Salt Lake County sheriff's department was ordered to sell Ramos' real estate to pay off the debt, which had reached $958 with interest and added fees. Third District Judge Sheila McCleve oversaw the collection. A court spokeswoman said McCleve did not remember the case.
In 1994, Ramos had taken out a low-income homeowners loan from Salt Lake City to buy her Glendale split-level home for $51,000.
It sold two years later at the sheriff's auction for $1,550.
The home was transferred to Salt Lake City-based Jarmaccc Properties LLC, whose registered agent and manager is listed as attorney Ralph Petty. Court records indicate Ramos was served with notices of the sale, but Ramos claims she knew nothing of it until 1998.
"I tried to get a loan, and they said, 'You don't even own that house,'" Ramos said. "I was shocked. I had no idea."
It isn't clear why North American Recovery collected on the bill through Ramos' home. Most court documents on the dental debt have been destroyed in accordance with state court archive guidelines.
Ramos said she would have preferred to part with a less valuable asset.
"I've always had vehicles," she said. "I've always had a job. They could have garnished my wages."
North American Recovery President David Saxton says Ramos' case runs counter to the agency's current procedure. It no longer pursues debts as small as $263, he said, and almost never uses real estate to recover a judgment. Of about 50,000 collections the agency handled in the last year, only one involved seizing a house, he said.
Another mystery festers in the city loan that paid for the house at 5 percent interest. The agreement forbids Ramos from selling, renting, leasing, or transferring the house to anyone else for 15 years, said Marion Barnhill, who oversees the city loan program. If those conditions aren't met, the house reverts to the city, the deed states.
The goal is to keep the city's investment in the hands of the low-income buyers for whom the loans are intended, Barnhill said. Had Ramos stopped making payments when the title transferred to Jarmaccc, the city would have foreclosed.
"We would not let it stay as a subsidized loan in the hands of an investor," Barnhill said.
The danger of trying to enforce the rules now, he said, is that it could mean evicting Ramos and her family from a home she has been paying off for 14 years - even if she no longer holds the title.
"If we were to act on that clause, [the borrower] would be the one harmed, not the guy who bought it," he said.
Petty, whose company holds the title, did not return phone calls seeking comment as to why Jarmaccc allowed Ramos to live in and make mortgage payments on the home.
When Ramos found out about Jarmaccc's claim on the property in 1998, a lawyer told her filing for bankruptcy could help her keep her house. Jarmaccc was listed as a creditor in the bankruptcy plan because, Ramos said, she believed Jarmaccc had covered her dental debt.
"She thought they were ... a creditor that had a lien against the home, not a creditor that owned the entire property," said Ryan James, an attorney representing Ramos.
Ramos paid $1,200 to Jarmaccc through the bankruptcy, which she says she filed only because of Jarmaccc's claim on the home. The plan carried the stipulation that Jarmaccc would have no claim to the house after the debt was paid.
Ramos' divorce from her first husband in 1999 named her the owner of the house. In the meantime, she continued to make mortgage payments to the city. It will be paid off next year, she said.
In 2004, Ramos sued Jarmaccc, claiming the bankruptcy plan returned the house to her and there were inaccuracies in the property description written on the sale notices.
Ramos won the case, but the Utah Court of Appeals returned the home to Jarmaccc this month after ruling Ramos should have filed her lawsuit by 2002 at the latest.
The city likely will take no legal action until Ramos exhausts her attempts in court, Barnhill said. Ramos' attorney, James Haskins, said his client now will seek help from the Utah Supreme Court.
Ramos says she intends to keep paying the mortgage.
"I still totally, totally oppose the thought that it's his house," she said. "There's no way this is his house. I have put everything into it - sweat to replace the tile floors. There's no way."
Meanwhile, Ramos has launched a career as a loan officer.
"I went to school last year to figure out how all that stuff works. I'm finding all kinds of little things out that, had I known back then ..." she said.
She continues to live in the house with her second husband and two youngest children, 3 and 10.
"I spent more money than I ever thought I would, selling jewelry, selling everything ... for attorney's fees," Ramos said. "All I have is this house."
She still lives there. She still pays the mortgage.
But a court ruling earlier this month may boot Ramos and her family from the tax-subsidized home she claims was taken without her knowledge.
It all started with baby-teeth cavities that landed Ramos' daughter in the dentist's chair in 1995. The $68 bill went unpaid.
"At that time, I was young, brand new married and kids, just bought a house and wasn't really aware of everything going on," said Ramos, now 41. "I had no idea that by not paying a dental bill, this man would get my house."
The Salt Lake City collection agency North American Recovery sued Ramos in 1995 over the dental bill. Ramos, who says she did not realize how dire the consequences might be, did not contest the suit. The Salt Lake County sheriff's department was ordered to sell Ramos' real estate to pay off the debt, which had reached $958 with interest and added fees. Third District Judge Sheila McCleve oversaw the collection. A court spokeswoman said McCleve did not remember the case.
In 1994, Ramos had taken out a low-income homeowners loan from Salt Lake City to buy her Glendale split-level home for $51,000.
It sold two years later at the sheriff's auction for $1,550.
The home was transferred to Salt Lake City-based Jarmaccc Properties LLC, whose registered agent and manager is listed as attorney Ralph Petty. Court records indicate Ramos was served with notices of the sale, but Ramos claims she knew nothing of it until 1998.
"I tried to get a loan, and they said, 'You don't even own that house,'" Ramos said. "I was shocked. I had no idea."
It isn't clear why North American Recovery collected on the bill through Ramos' home. Most court documents on the dental debt have been destroyed in accordance with state court archive guidelines.
Ramos said she would have preferred to part with a less valuable asset.
"I've always had vehicles," she said. "I've always had a job. They could have garnished my wages."
North American Recovery President David Saxton says Ramos' case runs counter to the agency's current procedure. It no longer pursues debts as small as $263, he said, and almost never uses real estate to recover a judgment. Of about 50,000 collections the agency handled in the last year, only one involved seizing a house, he said.
Another mystery festers in the city loan that paid for the house at 5 percent interest. The agreement forbids Ramos from selling, renting, leasing, or transferring the house to anyone else for 15 years, said Marion Barnhill, who oversees the city loan program. If those conditions aren't met, the house reverts to the city, the deed states.
The goal is to keep the city's investment in the hands of the low-income buyers for whom the loans are intended, Barnhill said. Had Ramos stopped making payments when the title transferred to Jarmaccc, the city would have foreclosed.
"We would not let it stay as a subsidized loan in the hands of an investor," Barnhill said.
The danger of trying to enforce the rules now, he said, is that it could mean evicting Ramos and her family from a home she has been paying off for 14 years - even if she no longer holds the title.
"If we were to act on that clause, [the borrower] would be the one harmed, not the guy who bought it," he said.
Petty, whose company holds the title, did not return phone calls seeking comment as to why Jarmaccc allowed Ramos to live in and make mortgage payments on the home.
When Ramos found out about Jarmaccc's claim on the property in 1998, a lawyer told her filing for bankruptcy could help her keep her house. Jarmaccc was listed as a creditor in the bankruptcy plan because, Ramos said, she believed Jarmaccc had covered her dental debt.
"She thought they were ... a creditor that had a lien against the home, not a creditor that owned the entire property," said Ryan James, an attorney representing Ramos.
Ramos paid $1,200 to Jarmaccc through the bankruptcy, which she says she filed only because of Jarmaccc's claim on the home. The plan carried the stipulation that Jarmaccc would have no claim to the house after the debt was paid.
Ramos' divorce from her first husband in 1999 named her the owner of the house. In the meantime, she continued to make mortgage payments to the city. It will be paid off next year, she said.
In 2004, Ramos sued Jarmaccc, claiming the bankruptcy plan returned the house to her and there were inaccuracies in the property description written on the sale notices.
Ramos won the case, but the Utah Court of Appeals returned the home to Jarmaccc this month after ruling Ramos should have filed her lawsuit by 2002 at the latest.
The city likely will take no legal action until Ramos exhausts her attempts in court, Barnhill said. Ramos' attorney, James Haskins, said his client now will seek help from the Utah Supreme Court.
Ramos says she intends to keep paying the mortgage.
"I still totally, totally oppose the thought that it's his house," she said. "There's no way this is his house. I have put everything into it - sweat to replace the tile floors. There's no way."
Meanwhile, Ramos has launched a career as a loan officer.
"I went to school last year to figure out how all that stuff works. I'm finding all kinds of little things out that, had I known back then ..." she said.
She continues to live in the house with her second husband and two youngest children, 3 and 10.
"I spent more money than I ever thought I would, selling jewelry, selling everything ... for attorney's fees," Ramos said. "All I have is this house."
Salt Lake Tribune
By Erin Alberty
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