|
NORTH PORT -- Sisters Kathleen and Linda Maggi don't know where they will sleep tomorrow.
The home they had built by St. Petersburg-based Construction Compliance Inc. at 2490 Altoona Ave. in North Port is in foreclosure. It will be auctioned off Monday in a Sarasota courtroom.
The mortgage holder is Bradenton's Coast Bank, and the loan was arranged by Tampa's American Mortgage Link.
The Maggi sisters -- Kathleen is 64, Linda is 59 -- have lived together all their lives and have no immediate relatives.
They contracted with CCI to build the $167,000 home in July 2004. They were promised a completion by January 2005 by the now-defunct home builder.
The two women had good credit. They had inherited enough money from their parents to put $9,000 down in a cash deposit.
The house was not delivered until February 2006. It was issued a certificate of occupancy, but the home had no heat or hot water. The kitchen was unusable because tile work had not been completed.
For three days, the sisters slept in their van in the garage with their three dogs.
During the 13-month delay, the sisters -- both with severe health problems -- were forced to live in a $1,500 rental unit and store their personal belongings. They figure that the delay cost them about $30,000. They also lost a $3,500 deposit for furniture because their home was not ready in time.
The sisters said American Mortgage Link promised a fixed-rate mortgage with monthly payments of about $1,000, but by the time they moved in, their loan documents -- on which the sisters claim their signatures were forged and facts falsified -- were amended to a much more expensive adjustable-rate mortgage. Their monthly payments rose to $1,500.
They said the bank is trying to collect payments that should have been paid by CCI during construction, a story common among customers wrapped up in the saga of the failed St. Petersburg builder. American Mortgage Link and CCI have not returned phone calls seeking comment.
Kathleen Maggi lives on Social Security but her loan documents show a monthly income of $8,500. Linda Maggi works at a Wal-Mart and her income also was listed as $8,500 a month. They were identified as husband and wife on the loan.
Realizing that they could not afford the house, they listed it for sale a month after moving in. For a year, they have lived in the unfurnished house and have not had a single potential buyer despite the efforts of three Realtors.
"We've lost everything," Linda Maggi said. "We've sold everything, our jewelry, our parent's jewelry, the silverware, all of it.
"We thought this was our last house."
The sisters sleep in an empty room on borrowed beds.
The beds were picked up Thursday.
They have looked into moving into low-income housing, but there is no room and it might require them to give up their dogs or to pay a $400-per-dog deposit on top of the first and last months' deposit -- money that they do not have.
They can't afford a motel and have no idea where they will sleep Monday night.
"Probably the van again," Kathleen Maggi ventured.
During the past year, Kathleen Maggi suffered an embolism requiring hospitalization and her sister had both knees replaced.
Neither have "really slept" in months, they say, and have had to forgo their prescription medications for months at a time.
Four years ago, they were homeowners with excellent credit. Tomorrow, they will be without a home for the first time in their lives.
Their credit is shot, and they are being hounded by debt collectors to the point they won't pick up the phone.
"You never think this will happen to you," Linda Maggi said. "I always thought God would give us a hand."
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070408/NEWS/70408001
|