“Ma’am, are you aware that your house has been sold?”

Over the phone.  That’s how Golden Valley resident Rose McGee learned that her home was sold at a sheriff’s sale.  

After losing her job in 2011, and falling behind on her mortgage payments, McGee says that she was working with CitiMortgage to get on a modification plan when she realized that she might lose her home for good, a house that’s full of 20 years of love and memories.

In the early 1990s, Rose McGee, and her then-husband Bill, bought a home together in Golden Valley. The couple wanted space for their four children, and a place to make memories together.

“It’s spacious and has nice qualities,” McGee said of her house, “but, it’s nothing fancy.”

Over the last 20 years, and through countless graduations parties and get-togethers, life happened.

McGee’s husband, former chief public defender for Hennepin County, passed away in 2000. Years later, McGee lost her job as an employee for Achieve Minneapolis. She slowly began slipping on her mortgage payments, but was able to utilize the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). But for McGee, HAMP wasn’t enough.

After months of back and forth phone calls and letters with CitiMortgage, on June 4, 2012, McGee learned that she would be evicted from her home. That’s when the real fight began.

McGee linked up with groups that pledged to help her stay in her long-time home. Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), Jewish Community Action (JCA), Occupy Homes MN, and politicians like Rep. Mike Freiberg and Congressman Keith Ellison agreed to work with McGee to encourage CitiMortgage and Fannie Mae to let her stay in her home.

On Jan. 10, McGee was scheduled to attend an eviction hearing. McGee said the court hearing lasted only two minutes because new attorneys from CitiMortgage agreed to get McGee on a mortgage modification plan--something she’s been asking for all along.

McGee credits the media and the community for the baby steps taken toward saving her home. McGee hopes her fight is over, so she can finish a book she’s been writing and get on with life, but only time will tell.

“This process is teaching me the importance of fighting – really fighting for what you believe in,” McGee wrote in a post on Occupy Homes MN. “No one in this society should have to go through the nonsense that I have been experiencing for the past year.”

Related:
Community Rallies Around Resident's Fight To Save Home