Homeowners' tales of trouble at Nassau event

Hundreds of homeowners, some of them desperate and many facing foreclosure, lined up Wednesday and again Thursday at the Nassau Coliseum, seeking mortgage relief from 17 lenders and loan servicers.

Some homeowners left with a sense of hope, others with frustration or disappointment. The loan modification marathon goes on for one more day, Friday, from 1-7:30 p.m.

Here are the stories of three homeowners who attended:

"There's no other option"
Lisa Leibrock of Wantagh found resolution to her mortgage issue. "It's not my first choice, but unfortunately there's no other option," she said.

This weekend the single mother of four said she'll look into putting her home up for sale and start searching for a smaller place, also in Wantagh, where her two younger children attend school.

Holding down a full-time administrative assistant job, plus working weekends as a product demonstrator, Leibrock, who is divorced, said she was late with her November mortgage payment, triggering a request for her to make a double payment, which she was unable to do.

Now five months behind and with a deteriorating credit score, she said that last month her request for a loan modification was shot down because her lender would not count child support as part of her income.

So, she's decided to take advice that she said she was first given by counselors at the Nassau County Office of Housing and Homeless Services and that was reinforced Wednesday at the Coliseum event. She will sell her home, take the equity and, with her children, two dogs and cat, move on.

"I'm trying to be an optimist," she said, looking for "a fresh start."

"I didn't live beyond my means"
As Jim Sabella headed home Wednesday evening, he said he was looking to read up on forbearance. That's what he walked away with -- the possibility of getting a three-month grace period on making mortgage payments.

Sabella, 56, of Wantagh, is not behind on his payments, even though he was laid off from a job as a technical project manager about a year ago. He's been looking for work and drawing down savings to keep afloat. "I didn't live beyond my means," he said.

Still, in August he contacted Chase, his lender, to request a temporarily payment reduction or suspension until he does find work. Communicating by phone and fax, though, was not fruitful, he said.

However on Wednesday he got to sit "face-to-face with a human being, one-on-one" and in a matter of hours "something got accomplished" with his lender.

If this forbearance does go through -- he won't know for 60 days -- it's "not a long-term fix," he said. "It's a Band-Aid. It's something I needed."

"I never give up"
William Delage, 54, entered the Coliseum Wednesday, his home in Lindenhurst was to be put up for sale Friday.

But as he walked out to the parking lot, he told of getting word from a representative of American Home Mortgage Servicing that the auction would be put on hold.

He said he also had been given a packet of information on the Home Affordable Modification Program so that he could renew his efforts to try to get a modification from his lender.

A year and a half ago, Delage said, he was laid off from an auditor's job around the same time his adjustable rate jumped from about 4 to 12 percent, and he fell behind on the higher payments.

He's since started a preservation business, providing services like cleaning out, winterizing, and photographing foreclosed-on homes, a booming business, he said.

"I never give up," he said. "I fight until the end."