Woman, 90, shoots self inside foreclosed home

(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."

In my service in my church I can testify that oftentimes folks wait to long to wait to ask for help, so long that usually what help can be gathered is insufficient. Many times the church would have helped folks with rent or mortgage to help tide them over but they waited til foreclosure notice or eviction notice to even ask and thus it was to late.

Rep. Kucinich is correct though the bill that was passed will not help the common man, it never was intended to. It was a poor solution to a vast problem. A problem that was caused by both R and D over the space of really 30 years. 5 days of railroading with no hearings or testimony from experts will not solve the problem. As I told a fella I work with things are going to get worse before they get better. How much worse I don't know, but we've not hit bottom yet.

What I found sad is the deputies stood around and did nothing. It was a neighbor who climbed a ladder and enetered the house thru a second story window. It appears the deputies could care less.

I expect we will be seeing more people trying to take their lives. When we look at what creditors can do, I can just imagine what repo people can do to one's psyche. In this day and age you would think we would have laws that are enforceable to minimize the abuse, but we don't.

I look at the more information that has come out and I wonder why they gave her a new 30 year mortgage in 2004. I mean at the age of 87 she would never live to pay it off. This case is a prime example of predatory lending I think :(.

I am glad that Fannie Mae has decided to stop the foreclosure process and to forgive the debt and allow her to have title to the home. But there are so many more in similar circumstances.

I'm sure there are many more unreported debt/foreclosure related suicides taking place....very sad people feel that suicide is the best answer.

I look at the more information that has come out and I wonder why they gave her a new 30 year mortgage in 2004. I mean at the age of 87 she would never live to pay it off. This case is a prime example of predatory lending I think :(.

I am glad that Fannie Mae has decided to stop the foreclosure process and to forgive the debt and allow her to have title to the home. But there are so many more in similar circumstances.

It is against the law to deny a loan on age.

Question probably is, how did she qualify for this loan according to income? Probably tweaking the ratios again. Yea, I would say predatory lending.

I posted a similar thread yesterday in the general forum, as I did not realize this thread on the same topic existed:

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=29166

The worst part about this situation is that Fannie Mae has since forgiven her mortgage and she now owns the home outright. That sends a really bad message to people who are having the same problems.

The lady is 90 and obviously unstable due to the fact that she shot herself.

Since when did we become so "what about me" oriented that we can't find it in our hearts to help those that are wayyyyyy less fortunate?

The only message I got is that Fannie has finally done something worthwhile.

The lady is 90 and obviously unstable due to the fact that she shot herself.

Since when did we become so "what about me" oriented that we can't find it in our hearts to help those that are wayyyyyy less fortunate?

The only message I got is that Fannie has finally done something worthwhile.

Fannie Mae did this only because of the age and the news.

In 1929, when many had their wealth on paper, many jumped out of windows, etc..

I agree she actually was a victim. I feel sadly for her but you know what, there are others out there you will never read about.

This Country is in a crisis. I’m not going political, except to say, R and D are the same and all they care about is themselves and being voted in again. If we had term limits of let’s say 6 years one time, no running again, I do believe this Country would actually get off it’s @$$ and do something for the PEOPLE. You know, the Bill of Rights: “We the people”.

No all they see is self. Take one Senator; Kennedy (not to say I don’t feel badly about his health) but this guy has never held a real job. He has been a nut case for 30+ years. As far as I am concerned, O.J. got his due reward and Kennedy got away with murder. No, not premeditated, but he sure the hell covered his ASS.

I’m on a roll and that bothers me, but I am fearful for this Country, and if you are in this forum, get on the stick and get your case over, because as I see it, there will be very many more behind us. This is only my opinion. ‘Hub

They can not use age for a basis to disapprove a loan. I somehow think there is more to this story. I don’t think the poor woman did anything wrong but the banks may have.

TEW, yes, I agree, but where is the blame? This goes way down into big business, What was worth more, a 90 old to pay a 30 year loan, or her house? This is evil.

The lady is 90 and obviously unstable due to the fact that she shot herself.

Since when did we become so "what about me" oriented that we can't find it in our hearts to help those that are wayyyyyy less fortunate?

The only message I got is that Fannie has finally done something worthwhile.
I agree, this woman was clearly unstable. I can't imagine ever feeling so hopeless that the only answer to any given problem is to end your life. I am just afraid that others who are also in a financial crisis will get the idea that attempting suicide is the way to get your mortgage paid off. That's not the solution.

I would not say the woman was unstable. She was getting kicked out of her home. She had no place to go. No place to turn to.

Think about it, if you were given two hours to leave your place, and you had no money nor a job, what might come up in your mind to do?

To me it is very similar to the situation Socrates faced. He was tried and found guilty. The punishment was capital punishment. He decided to end his life when he wanted to end it. He was given and took a drug and died a death not typical of hemlock poison.

I suspect the reason countrywide did the 2004 loan is the fact she was 84 years old, well past the life expectancy of a woman in the United States. They figured she'd kick the bucket before they had to foreclose but they'd make what money they could beforehand. She had no children and thus no heirs. With a mortgage on the property they could claim the property upon her death.

The things started to tank and they probably have a lot of similar stuff on the books. So they sold it to Fannie Mae last year in the hopes of getting rid of some of the bad debt to make their books look better...didn't work.

I know some people think it is prejudice, but if you can't be expected to live out the term of the mortgage or loan, then isn't it false pretenses to even seek out such?

Doesn't matter what we think. It is against the law, plain and simple.

This is evil.

I agree 100%

I've always been a capitalist but when I see stories like this, I start to have second thoughts about that system. Housing, Energy and Healthcare are getting too expensive for people to afford and all because others are trying to get rich off of these things. This countries population grows every year and jobs and salaries are decreasing just so those at the top can maintain their wealth. It wouldn't surprise me if we wind up like pre revolution France one day with the rich living like royalty and eveyone else scrounging for the scraps. Eventually we could find we won't have enough charity and government aide funds to help the displaced and low income like this old lady. Then what happens? Some people say this old lady was unstable, I think she just got tired of the hell her life was turned into by those of greed and power. I think there are quit a few people on this board who know first hand just how evil some of these people can be. Every person has a point where enough is enough and I think this lady just reached that point. There is no excuse for a truly good society to push people to that point.

I hope this lady recovers and things work out for her.

That is a sad news. Everything now a days are all expensive. They don't care if you're old or young, employed or unemployed, all they are about is money. That's the law. If you don't have the money, you don't have a power. We can't really judge the old lady because we have no idea what really happened and what is the purpose of her actions.

That is a sad news. Everything now a days are all expensive. They don't care if you're old or young, employed or unemployed, all they are about is money. That's the law. If you don't have the money, you don't have a power. We can't really judge the old lady because we have no idea what really happened and what is the purpose of her actions.



We can't judge the woman because we might be the next one with our finger on the trigger. Sad but I think you have to admit, it mght be true.

Who is going to be next?