News & Events

May 15, 2019
Complex Foreclosure Case Resolved by Settlement

A Santa Fe homeowner countersued Bank of Oklahoma for flood damage to her home after the bank locked her out.

Barbara, a resident of Santa Fe, fell behind on her home mortgage payments to Bank of Oklahoma after she had to financially support her daughter through a crisis.

Photo: Barbara and her son on the front porch of her Santa Fe home.

During the course of the foreclosure case, Bank of Oklahoma sent a property preservation inspector to her home. The inspector erroneously determined that the home was vacant. The bank's contractors then entered her home while she was out, changed the locks and disconnected the water lines. When Barbara arrived back home, she was locked out, couldn't access her medications and had to find somewhere else to sleep that night. After she called the bank to complain, the bank went back to the home, turned on the water and gave her new keys. However, when she entered the house, it was completely flooded with ankle-deep water because the contractors had failed to reconnect the hoses to the washing machine. Due to the flooding, the home developed a mold infestation.

New Mexico Legal Aid co-counseled with trial lawyer Barry Green and filed a lawsuit on Barbara's behalf against the bank and its contractors. After almost two years of litigation, the bank agreed to waive Barbara's mortgage debt, pay for the damage to her home and pay her attorneys' fees.

Photo: Barbara and her son on the patio