Saving A Home – The Power of JALA Teamwork
After years of caring for her grandmother, Shateal Redding Johnston inherited the Jacksonville home her grandmother had built in 1959 and lived in until she died at the age of 95. But soon Redding found herself at risk of losing the home to foreclosure because of fraud perpetrated by relatives. By the time the case came to Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, it took two attorneys and a housing counselor to unravel and rectify a range of issues to stop the foreclosure. “They took the time to listen, to understand, and to come up with a great plan to allow me to be able to save my grandmother’s home,” Redding said. Redding had taken over the guardianship of her grandmother, Susie Mae Foster, after family members stole Foster’s money and forged her name on a reverse mortgage on the home. The foreclosure was based upon this presumably illegally obtained Home Equity Conversion Mortgage. A little over a month before her foreclosure trial, Redding turned to JALA for help. “The Court knocked Ms. Redding’s defenses relating to the fraud right away,” said JALA Attorney Lynn Drysdale. “The Court determined she could not raise the forgery and lack of mental capacity. Her case looked hopeless and became even more and more hopeless as time went on.”
