Senior's home saved from foreclosure

By PAMELA YIP / The Dallas Morning News
pyip@dallasnews.com

Forrest Brannon has great faith in God, but it was sorely tested recently when he faced losing his Dallas home to foreclosure.

Brannon, a 79-year-old veteran, said his mortgage payment more than doubled in a year from $379 a month to more than $800 because of late fees and an increase in the adjustable interest rate.

He got behind on his mortgage and then received a notice of impending foreclosure.

Texas' fast-track foreclosure process, which is the quickest in the country, left Brannon with only about a month to save his home.

But that was enough time for John Thurston, a mortgage broker at Acceptance Capital Mortgage Corp. in Dallas, to get involved.

After reading about Brannon in The Dallas Morning News in December, Thurston contacted Brannon and offered to help.

Brannon's home had been set for a foreclosure sale Jan. 6, but Thurston got that extended to Feb. 3. He got another extension to Feb. 10.

In the meantime, Brannon obtained a reverse mortgage from the federal government's Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program and paid off his original mortgage.

The program enables seniors who are homeowners to tap their home's equity through a lump sum, a monthly amount or a line of credit.

Under the program, the borrower doesn't have to repay the reverse mortgage until he moves, sells the home or dies.

When the loan must be paid, the borrower or the heirs will owe no more than the value of the home if they sell it to repay the loan.

The best part about Brannon's situation is that while his new loan totaled about $54,000 – short of the estimated $73,000 he owed on his mortgage – First Franklin Loan Services, which processed Brannon's mortgage payments, agreed to accept a reduced payoff, Thurston said.

So Brannon "will never have to make another payment on his mortgage," he said.

"All he has to do is to make sure he keeps insurance in force on his property and pay any taxes that are due," Thurston said.

First Franklin spokesman Bill Halldin said privacy concerns prevent him from commenting on Brannon's case specifically.

"Generally, we attempt to work in all situations to reach a resolution whenever possible that allows the homeowner to remain in their home," he said.

Brannon said he'll be forever grateful to Thurston.

"John did his Christian, American duty, and I haven't had to give him any money," he said.

"This is the way America was established. We are helpers of one another," he said.

Brannon said he knew God would take care of him.

"If I'm to keep the house, the Lord will make a way," he said.

"If I'm not able to keep it, the Lord will have something else for me."