California Priest Helps Fight Foreclosed Homes
April 24th, 2009 by 
Joseph Smith
Here is a priest who not only looks after the spiritual needs of his flock but their housing needs as well. He helps them not only to get saved from sin but also helps them save their houses from becoming foreclosed homes.
Father John Lasseigne serves as priest in an area where 1 house in every 9 housing units is hit with a foreclosure filing: the community of Pacoima in Southern California. He leads the Mary Immaculate Catholic Church.
Lasseigne said many of his flock were victims of predatory lenders. The lenders enticed them with loans that had very low monthly payments at the start, but which shot up into unaffordable monthly payments later.
The priest said he first learned about the problem of forclosed properties when a family approached him and asked him to pray for them so they would not lose their home to foreclosure.
He partnered with the community organization One LA and started conducting sessions to teach residents on how to save their houses from becoming foreclosed homes.
In a recent session held at a local school facility, local officials and mortgage lenders attended and saw hundreds of families worrying about foreclosed homes.
A family man Luis Dimas spoke and related how his monthly payments shot up from $2,800 to $4,800. He said he has been approaching his lender for months to work out a loan modification without success.
Others like Juan Jacobo, whose house is already added to inventories of foreclosed homes, and Juana Rodriguez, who is struggling with her subprime loan, also described the difficulties they are facing.
Jacobo said he is thankful that community events are held to highlight what families in the community are facing. He said lenders need to see that families are prepared to fight to save their houses from becoming foreclosed homes.
Yvonne Mariajimenez, a lawyer working with the Los Angeles County nonprofit group Neighborhood Legal Services, also spoke and cited the threat faced by the families and the low level of wages received by many of the people in the community.
Lasseigne said he has helped over 300 families connect with their lenders for loan modifications. He said his mission is to bring God’s message to the people and at the same time help them with their social needs.
The priest averred that many of the families are victims of financial entrapment. They did not fully understand the papers they signed when they got their mortgage loans. They did not know that high-risk subprime loans can lead to a nightmare of foreclosed homes.
