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Senate candidate Mark Warner talks to Cheri Miles and Donald Willis of the Central Virginia Housing Coalition.
Steve Waterholter of Spotsylvania (left) tells U.S. Senate candidate Mark Warner how he nearly lost his home. |
By PAMELA GOULD
Steve and Veronica Waterholter of Spotsylvania County spent eight tense months wondering if they'd lose their house to foreclosure.
Yesterday, they shared with U.S. Senate candidate Mark Warner what a lifesaver they found in Cheri Miles, a certified housing counselor with the non-profit Central Virginia Housing Coalition.
Their suggestion to the Democrat and former governor was to provide more counselors like Miles.
"There's more people like us out there, and they need to know where to go," Veronica Waterholter said.
Warner made a campaign stop at Botta Bing Bagel and Deli in North Stafford yesterday morning to gain some firsthand information about the housing crisis.
Over a bagel sandwich and a bottle of water, he chatted with the Waterholters, Miles and Spotsylvania resident Donald Willis, who is providing financial counseling at the housing coalition, as well as dealing with his own housing woes.
"You read the statistics, but statistics don't tell the whole story," Warner said after the hour-long chat. "There were people that maybe got in over their heads, but it doesn't mean only a taxpayer bailout."
Warner said the solution requires a multi-pronged approach. He supports the idea of more financial counselors, and said that consolidating loans and getting a person to sit down with to negotiate are key.
Warner also admitted he has changed his view of the housing situation.
"Eight or nine months ago, I thought, let the market play itself out," he said.
Now, he sees that it isn't just one family, it could be an entire neighborhood that's impacted. As a result, he now sees the need to not only fix the current crisis but also to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Preventing a repeat, he said, means instituting regulatory reform in the financial arena.
While chatting at the deli, Warner noted the British system is more effective because it employs just one regulatory agency for financial institutions whereas this country employs about a dozen.
Former Gov. Jim Gilmore, Warner's Republican opponent, supports helping people who were misled by lenders, his spokeswoman Ana Gamonal said yesterday. He does not, however, support bailouts for any mortgage companies or other private companies that contributed to the problem, she said.
"He's anxious, if elected to the U.S. Senate, to be able to help those people keep their homes," Gamonal said.
Gilmore and Warner are vying for the seat being vacated by Republican John Warner. The two Warners are not related.
Miles said the housing crisis forced her to leave her 22-year career in the mortgage industry two years ago and take her current job. She said it's hard on her personally to see the emotions of parents and children struggling to keep their homes.
The Fredericksburg region currently has 487 homes in foreclosure, Miles said. In the last quarter, only 14 of the 53 families she worked with succeeded in keeping their homes.
Willis, now Miles' co-worker, proved one of the points she made: that people from all income levels are struggling.
Willis retired from the military in 2002 and bought a home in Spotsylvania in 2003. When he got laid off from his six-figure job with a federal contractor in 2006, he found himself fighting to hold on to his house and fell prey to what he called a "predatory lender."
The Waterholters had refinanced their home loan three times while renovating what had been essentially a condemned property when they bought it.
The last loan, with an adjustable rate mortgage or ARM, nearly sent them into financial ruin.
Looking for a solution, Veronica Waterholter went online and typed "stop foreclosure" in a search engine. She then contacted the first company that popped up.
The promises of help turned into further financial losses and led them to a social services agency for help. That's how they learned about the Central Virginia Housing Coalition and secured Miles' aid.
Miles negotiated with
"The best thing that ever happened to somebody" is how a grateful Steve Waterholter described his experience with Miles.
Pamela Gould: 540/735-1972
Email: pgould@freelancestar.com
| NEED HELP?
The Central Virginia Housing Coalition provides help to people living in Fredericksburg and the counties For assistance, call 540/604-9943, or visit central vahousing.org online. |
