Photo not that of the actual client.
At 90, “Edgar” can’t get around as well as he used to. With no car, he relies on taxis to go places, and sometimes when he can’t get a taxi, he walks to Walmart to pick up his medications or groceries.
With no job, friends or family to support him, money is tight – so tight that Edgar was about to lose his home to foreclosure.
Saving Edgar’s home was truly a collaborative effort, beginning with private attorneys Clyde Taylor and Brad Waldrop, who referred the case to JALA and have assisted Edgar with legal issues on a pro bono basis in the past.
JALA in turn reached out to the St. Johns Housing Partnership (SJHP) for help with a loan modification as JALA attorneys prepared to go to court to stop the foreclosure.
When SJHP sent Edgar a letter explaining how they could help him save his home, he jumped into the first taxi he could find to meet with them in person, as he has no internet and doesn’t hear well on the phone.
Realizing that Edgar needed more help than they could provide on their own, SJHP reached out to JALA on Edgar’s behalf. Together with SJHP staff, attorneys at St. Johns County Legal Aid, which is JALA’s St. Augustine branch office, gathered most of his documentation for a loan modification package. This required home visits.
A SJHP housing counselor sent the lender a complete modification package 37 days prior to his sale date and kept in contact with the lender every day leading up to the determination. Three business days before the sale date of Jan. 23, Edgar’s package was approved for a three-month trial modification.
Thanks to JALA, which then successfully fought the foreclosure in court, the sale date was canceled just two days before Edgar would have become homeless.
Had the modification not been processed in time to cancel the sale date, pro bono attorney Rusty Collins was prepared to file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy to save the home under a payment plan, so JALA had even devised a backup plan, although it turned out to be unnecessary.
As all this was going on, the Council on Aging began providing Edgar assistance with house cleaning since he was having trouble keeping up with heavy-duty cleaning on his own, and SHJP began connecting him with other community services.
With the collaborative efforts of all involved, Edgar has been able to age in place as he deserves.
