Queens Woman to Lose Home After Losing Son In Iraq

(James Thilman/Gothamist)

Jocelyne Voltaire of Queens Village is the face of the housing crisis in America: she's facing foreclosure—again—on the home she has owned for over 20 years. A victim of predatory lending, Voltaire, 50, made headlines in 2008 when it was first reported that she might lose her home. A grassroots effort initiated by Code PINK and the generosity of strangers staved off foreclosure then, but just three years later Voltaire finds herself with even higher monthly payments.

Working three jobs to save for the fifty percent down payment, she says she bought her home in 1987, putting down $80,000. Speaking through tears at yesterday's Occupy Wall Street foreclosure tour in East New York, Voltaire said, "I used to pay two or three months mortgage before I went on vacation. I used to pay $1,500 and they switched me from bank to bank until the payment was $3,800 per month. How will I pay that? How many families suffer like me?"

Voltaire fell behind in payments on her home in part because she lost the support of her son, Robert Force Cyprien, an Iraq war veteran she says was killed in January 2008. "My son spent four years in Kuwait. Then four years in Iraq. Now my son is dead," she said yesterday, struggling to maintain her composure. An American citizen born in Haiti, Voltaire graduated from college, and later refinanced her home to pay for her son's college education following his own graduation from Francis Lewis High School in Queens. "I did everything I was supposed to do," she said, "and now they want to move me out of my home."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By James Thilman in News on December 7, 2011 4:26 PM

Comments [rss]

Gadea

Give her a break.

Guest

Although my above post has nothing to do with this woman, I addressed it because this article brought it up and the term is thrown around quite a lot with the Smoke & Mirrors of the Obama admin. It seems this woman just made some bad financial decisions which a lot of people did when times were good but she had good intentions to do what's right for her kid. Unlike some people buying a house for 300k, refinancing for 360 to buy 2 new cars and then you get laid off and the value of your house drops to 210k and after you get behind you owe 400k on a 200k house. Maybe people should read the fine print and learn a little about economics and finances before making such an investment. Don't fault the bank when you're the one signing on the dotted line.

Guest

"Predatory Lending" ... no such thing. Look beyond the past 3 years of this administration's blame and you'll see the Clinton admin pressured fannie mae and freddie mac into giving mortgages to people who had no way to pay them. Took over 10 years for the bubble to burst, people need to open their eyes and find answers for themselves.

m015094

You're right. Clinton definitely wasn't opposed to making it easy for poor, undeserving people to be homeowners, but a closer examination implicates every President since Carter.

Community Reinvestment Act (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

BottomlessChips

I can't hear you. I just want to blame the banks and rich white people.

-The 99%

Guest

HAHAHA!! Oh that crazy 99% of the country! Speaking of smoke and mirrors, less than 30% support OWS.
Radical leftist tip no. 128: Claim to be the majority because mob rule and silencing opposition is the only way to advance your agenda.

BottomlessChips

Gothamist fell for a sob story and then promoted it with nothing more than her anecdotes.

Colonel_Ingus

99% ignored this thread, I guess

Nos Feratu

I don't understand. She says her son was killed? Was he killed in Iraq while a member of the US military? If so, what happened to his GI insurance? I believe GI insurance is now $250K minimum and a serviceman can purchase extra insurance up to a million.

m015094

You can opt out. I always did when I was in the service. Of course I didn't have a family that needed that money if I died.

Joey Boots

we were strongly advised by our first sergeant not to opt out when we were deployed......i would be curious if she got that money.

Nos Feratu

Still doesn't answer the questions. Was her son killed in Iraq while serving in the US military? Did he have GI insurance, and if so, what happened to it?

"Tim Osman"

I can't seem to find much info on him, only that she mentions in this article (http://www.democracynow.org/20... that someone (unclear if it was australian govt, us govt) told her that her son had committed suicide

Inkognita

Yes, this woman was told that her son, ex-U.S. military, committed suicide in Australia under what may or may not be questionable circumstances. Another thing that was weird is that the Australian consular (so she says) requested $15,000 to send her son's body back to the U.S.

This whole story is peculiar and to make matters worse, it appears she still has two other children (ages 10 and 16) living with her (no child support?). Now she says she is too sick to work, so she has no income coming in (her words). Also, the death of her son means that she is no longer receiving any money from him either.

There are too many loose ends to this story.

Nos Feratu

God knows I'm no friend of the banksters, but this story doesn't make sense. A cynical person might think the banksters are promoting her story because they know it's false. "See, it's not us, these people get themselves into trouble."

winning1234

Ok, so it looks like she used the equity in her home to finance her son's college. Honorable thing to do, but it's not like a banker forced her to lever up.

petey2

So twenty years ago she had an $80,000 mortgage, and was paying $1,500/month. She had to have had a 10-20 years, or was paying some kind of rate like 20-30%. It DOESN'T add up.

After 21 years 30k doesn't pay off a 80k mortgage, BUT only takes it off the auction block?

a search of her name turns up an address in queens, and a search on "zillow" and "property shark" says the value of the house is over 300k with property taxes around 3200-3400.

It places the bank as the "owner" and the last sale was for $330k in march 2010.

Last time the average rate was over 10% was in 1986, so even if she had a high rate, it doesn't add up.

Deed Transfer recorded
$330,000
2/26/2010
Hide details

Buyer
Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, As Indenture And Trustee Of The Aames Mortgage Investment Trust And 2004-1

Seller
Matthew M Lupoli, Es Q , As Referee

Foreclosure Auction scheduled
$302,142
2/5/2010
Hide details

Auction Date
2/26/2010

Judgment
2/13/2008

Index Number
2007/13429

Foreclosure Type
Mortgage Foreclosure

Plaintiff
Aames Funding Corporation, et. al.

Defendant
Jocelyne Voltaire, et. al.

Apt
n/a

Foreclosure Auction scheduled
$302,142
5/13/2009
Hide details

Auction Date
6/5/2009

Judgment
2/13/2008

Index Number
2007/13429

Foreclosure Type
Mortgage Foreclosure

Plaintiff
Aames Funding Corporation, et. al.

Defendant
Jocelyne Voltaire, et. al.

Apt
n/a

Foreclosure Auction scheduled
$302,142
3/12/2009
Hide details

Auction Date
3/27/2009

Judgment
2/13/2008

Index Number
2007/13429

Foreclosure Type
Mortgage Foreclosure

Plaintiff
Aames Funding Corporation, et. al.

Defendant
Jocelyne Voltaire, et. al.

Apt
n/a

Foreclosure Auction scheduled
$302,142
11/24/2008
Hide details

Auction Date
12/19/2008

Judgment
2/13/2008

Index Number
2007/13429

Foreclosure Type
Mortgage Foreclosure

Plaintiff
Aames Funding Corporation, et. al.

Defendant
Jocelyne Voltaire, et. al.

Apt
n/a

Foreclosure Auction scheduled
$302,142
9/29/2008
Hide details

Auction Date
10/17/2008

Judgment
2/13/2008

Index Number
2007/13429

Foreclosure Type
Mortgage Foreclosure

Plaintiff
Aames Funding Corporation, et. al.

Defendant
Jocelyn Voltaire, et. al.

Apt
n/a

Foreclosure Auction scheduled
$302,142
4/1/2008
Hide details

Auction Date
4/18/2008

Judgment
2/13/2008

Index Number
2007/13429

Foreclosure Type
Mortgage Foreclosure

Plaintiff
AAMES Funding Corp., et. al.

Defendant
Jocelyne Voltaire, et. al.

Apt
n/a

Lis Pendens filed
$359,000
5/24/2007
Hide details

Judgement Expires
5/24/2010

Book
Lis Pendens

Document Type
Lis Pendens

Index number
13429/07

Debtor
Jocelyne Voltaire

Creditor
Aames Funding Corporation

Lis Pendens filed
$285,000
3/14/2007
Hide details

Judgement Expires
3/14/2010

Book
Lis Pendens

Document Type
Lis Pendens

Index number
6633/07

Debtor
Jocelyne Voltaire

Creditor
Deutsche Bank National Trust Company

Lis Pendens filed
$285,000
12/7/2005
Hide details

Judgement Expires
12/7/2008

Book
Lis Pendens

Document Type
Lis Pendens

Index number
26236/05

Debtor
Jocelyne Voltaire

Creditor
Aames Funding Corporation

Deed Transfer recorded
n/a
8/25/1987
Hide details

Buyer
Voltaire, Jocelyne

Seller
Halaby, Marie Therese

Deed Transfer recorded
n/a
12/9/1981
Hide details

Buyer
Marie Therese Halaby

Seller
Belfong Georgette

Deed Transfer recorded
n/a
8/27/1975
Hide details

Buyer
Antoine Halaby

Seller
Wanke Marie C

zombiebob

Longest Gothamist post EVEH!!!

LICnative

She put down half on a property that costs 160 grand. Twenty years later, she's making payments OVER 3 grand a month?

My mortgage has been sold four times, the payments never went up. There's a big piece of the pie missing from this plate. Someone made some very unwise financial decisions. She should have been on easy street by now, the interest almost fully paid up and knocking off principle by the boatload every month.

I've been offered crazy home equity loans for years. I just say "no thanks". I didn't get to take that cool vacation or buy that fancy car. I'm also not waiting for the sheriff to throw my stuff onto the street.

brooklynRick

I'm with you, something is not being told here. How did her payments go up? Sounds more like she borrowed against her house which unfortunately can put you on the street.