Reverse Mortgage Loan Blog

A church group and other concerned citizens are rallying in a last-minute attempt to stop foreclosure on an Alcoa woman’s home.

On Tuesday, the home of Lorraine Zickefoose for the past 32 years is scheduled to go on the auction block, according to John Smaldone, a Maryville reverse mortgage broker.

“Lorraine is going on 72 years of age, she is a widow and is handicapped,” Smaldone said. “She has nowhere to go, she may be put out in the streets.”

As related in a May 7 article in The Daily Times, Zickefoose fell behind in her mortgage payments with Wells Fargo Home Loans. She applied for a reverse mortgage in hopes this would pay her loan off and she could live in her home for the rest of her life without a mortgage payment.

Her loan application was taken by Smaldone’s company, AAXA Mortgage, and was approved. However, due to falling property values, the reverse mortgage came in short of paying her loan off from Wells Fargo.

Smaldone said he has been trying to negotiate a settlement with Wells Fargo in the amount of entitlement that Zickefoose would receive from the reverse mortgage, but the company turned it down and asked its attorneys to proceed with foreclosure.

“We are still trying to stop the proceedings,” Smaldone said Tuesday. He has written letters seeking help from U.S. Rep. John Duncan and Sheriff James L. Berrong. Duncan has asked Wells Fargo to review the matter to see if she qualifies for the new Making Homes Affordable financing program.

Meanwhile, Zickefoose’s church, Our Lady of Fatima, has scheduled a benefit car wash on Saturday to try to raise enough money to save the home. It will be held on church grounds at 858 Louisville Road, Alcoa.

“If enough people understand what will happen to Lorraine Zickefoose, we just may save her home from being sold at an auction,” said the Rev. Bede Aboh, church pastor.

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