Sheri Prizant, 71-Year-Old California Mom, Faces Eviction On Mother's Day (VIDEO)

A 71-year-old woman could be getting a most unwanted gift on Mother's Day.

California mom Sheri Prizant faces the possibility of being evicted from her home of 35 years at on Sunday, MSNBC reports. Prizant alleges that she and her late husband were duped into a bad loan, and that they couldn’t keep up with the $5,000 per month payments alongside his medical bills and their fixed income.

"I want to cry," Prizant told MSNBC. "My whole life has really been in this house."

Though seniors have long been targets of mortgage fraud and other deception, the housing crisis further exacerbated the problem. In 2008 and 2009, the Senior Legal Hotline -- a service in California that aims to help seniors deal with foreclosure -- received 600 calls from elderly homeowners seeking mortgage help, many more than in previous years, according to KPBS.org.

The financial struggles of the elderly will like remain a national problem for some time. That's because roughly half of all Americans today are not at all saving for retirement, according to a recent survey.

Even living in a retirement community isn't enough to protect seniors from eviction woes. Sometimes, the senior living center itself can face foreclosure. Bankruptcy at upscale retirement communities in California also saw a boost in 2009, the Los Angeles Times reports. In some cases, that sent seniors, who invested their retirement savings into living at the homes, out onto the street. In other cases, it boosted their dues.

Seniors being victimized by foreclosure isn't a phenomenon limited to California either. Occupy protesters showed up in an aim to stop police from evicting a 62 year-old Atlanta woman and her 83 year-old mother at 3 a.m. earlier this month, WSB-TV reports. The residents and activists alleged that the home was wrongly foreclosed on in October and they've fighting the foreclosure in court.

In Ireland, an elderly couple was kicked out of their mansion last month, the Irish Independent reports. The husband and wife, who are 71 and 63, respectively, claimed that the eviction left them homeless and vowed to camp outside their house until they were let back in.

Sometimes, a public outcry can boost the elderly homeowner's chances of keep their home. That's what happened to 101-year-old Texana Hollis, who, after a campaign by journalists, businesses and volunteers, was allowed to return to the home from which she had been evicted.

Check out some more foreclosure fails below:

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• Columbine Shooting Survivor Fighting Foreclosure With Occupy LA's Help

  Richard Castaldo survived the shooting at Columbine High School 13 years ago and now he is fighting to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/27/richard-castaldo-columbine-foreclosure-occupy-la_n_2198146.html?utm_hp_ref=business" target="_hplink">rescue his home from foreclosure</a>. The people of Occupy Los Angeles are helping Castaldo and others like him to save their homes.

• USDA Forecloses On 78-Year-Old Cancer Patient

  The USDA foreclosed on 78-year-old Texas resident Alicia Ramirez, reportedly <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/06/alicia-ramirez-cancer-eviction_n_1747933.html?utm_hp_ref=business" target="_hplink">after she was diagnosed with cancer.</a> While the USDA has thus far allowed Ramirez to remain in her home, a court order evicting the senior citizen could be issued at any time.

• Foreclosure Victims Lose Belongings After Free Yard Sale Goes Wrong

  The Vercher family of Woodstock, Georgia, offered to give away a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/25/vercher-family-woodstock-craigslist-foreclosed_n_2017738.html?1351188857" target="_hplink">number of household items in a Craigslist ad</a> after their house was foreclosed on. Instead, they ended up losing nearly all of their belongings when people began taking items from inside the house.

• Wells Fargo Offers Cancer Patient 'Assistance' Then Forecloses

  Terminal breast cancer patient Cindi Davis could no longer keep up with her mortgage payments due to the cost of her medical bills. Faced with media scrutiny, her lender <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/14/wells-fargo-forecloses-cancer-patient-cindi-davis_n_1883956.html?1347635836" target="_hplink">Wells Fargo told a local radio station it was seeking "assistance"</a> for Davis just weeks before setting the date to auction her home for December 19th, 2012.

• Coca-Cola Heirs Lose $37.5 Million To Foreclosure

  Descendants of Coca-Cola founder Asa Candler have been hit hard by the housing bust with their <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/17/candler-family-foreclosure-losses_n_1890911.html?1347906436" target="_hplink">real estate development company losing $37.5 million to foreclosure since the Great Recession began</a>. (Pictured: the former mansion of Coca-Cola heir Asa Griggs "Buddy" Candler, Jr.)

• Mom Evicted On Mother's Day

  After she and her husband were allegedly duped into a bad loan, California mom Sheri Prizant faced the possibility of being evicted from her home on Mother's Day, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/11/sheri-prizant-eviction-mothers-day_n_1507681.html?1336741860" target="_hplink">MSNBC</a> reports.

• CT Family Never Missed A Payment

  Shock Baitch and his wife Lisa of Connecticut <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/30/bank-of-america-foreclosure_n_802861.html" target="_hplink">were threatened with foreclosure by Bank of America</a> after never missing a payment. BofA mistakenly told credit agencies they were seeking a loan modification. "Now I am literally and financially paying for it," Baitch told <a href="http://ctwatchdog.com/finance/bank-of-americas-christmas-present-foreclose-even-though-not-a-payment-missed" target="_hplink">CTWatchdog.com</a>.

• Man Gets Free Home After Lender Shutdown

  Facing foreclosure, Perry Laspina of Jacksonville, Florida ended up with a home practically for free after his mortgage lender was shut down by parent company Wells Fargo, <a href="http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/04/14/foreclosure-foul-up-wins-man-a-free-home/" target="_hplink">AOL Real Estate reports</a>. Laspina got the home "because of the significant decreased value of the property," a bank spokesman said.

• BofA Forecloses On Building With Own Branch Office

  In Boynton Beach, Florida, Bank of America filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the owner of a building that houses one of its own branches, <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2011/05/27/foreclosure-roundup.html?page=all" target="_hplink">South Florida Business Journal reports</a>.

• Threatened Over $0.00 Unpaid Mortgage Payment

  A Massachusetts man was told he'd <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/08/massachusetts-homeowner-receives-foreclosure_n_872518.html" target="_hplink">face foreclosure unless he paid an outstanding mortgage payment worth $0.00</a>. "I'm going to write a check to them for zero dollars and have it clear? I couldn't help but laugh," he joked with local <a href="http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/i_team/I-Team:Man-gets-a-$0-foreclosure-notice" target="_hplink">News 22 WWLP</a>.

• Home Allegedly Ransacked By Mortgage Company

  Chris Boudreau of Brooksville, Florida <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/06/florida-home-ransacked_n_890656.html" target="_hplink">told local news that his house was ransacked by his mortgage company</a>, 21st Mortgage Corporation, who he says even shredded his wife's wedding dress. "When she saw what happened...she was crying her eyes out," <a href="http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/article/199268/8/Mans-home-trashed-by-mortgage-company" target="_hplink">he told WTSP 10 News</a>.

• Mortgage Payment Made Too Early

  A senior couple in Pasco County, Florida faced foreclosure not for missing payments, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/22/senior-florida-couple-faces-foreclosure-mortgage-early_n_933147.html" target="_hplink">but for making one too early</a>. According to a Bank of America representative, they made themselves ineligible for a mortgage modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program when they did not make their payment in the "month in which it [was] due."

• Foreclosure In 'World's Richest Apartment Building'

  Property developer Kent Swig and his soon-to-be ex-wife Elizabeth faced foreclosure from their apartment at 740 Park Avenue, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/26/foreclosure-hits-property-developer-billionaire-building_n_937676.html" target="_hplink">a New York City address often cited as "the world's richest apartment building."</a>

• Untransferred Title Leads To Unfair Foreclosure

  Brian and Khanklink Pyron of Houston, Texas were <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/brian-khanklink-pyron-foreclosure_n_1003339.html" target="_hplink">threatened with foreclosure despite keeping current on their payments due to an untransferred title</a>. "We did everything we were supposed to do," Brian Pyron told <a href="http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/110926-family-hit-by-surprise-foreclosure?CMP=201110_emailshare" target="_hplink">MyFoxHouston</a>.

• Foreclosure On Hurricane-Destroyed Home

  Brad Gana, of Seabrook, Texas was threatened with foreclosure by Bank of America even though his <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/31/foreclosure-crisis-bank-of-america-hurricane-ike_n_1068080.html" target="_hplink">house had been completely destroyed years earlier in Hurricane Ike</a>. "Bank of America is ruthless in their incompetency," <a href="http://www.click2houston.com/news/Bank-Forecloses-On-Home-Destroyed-By-Ike/-/1735978/4718190/-/vpooliz/-/index.html" target="_hplink">he told Houston 2 News</a>.

• $1 Coding Error Leads To Foreclosure

  Utah's Shantell Curtis and her family were threatened with <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/03/bofa-foreclosure-missing-1-already-sold-home_n_1074538.html" target="_hplink">foreclosure by Bank of America on a home they had already sold years prior</a>. On top of that, the whole episode concerned the matter of just a $1 coding error.

• Investigative Journalist Becomes Foreclosure Victim

  George Knapp, chief investigative reporter for Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS, found he was a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/foreclosure-crisis-investigative-reporter-george-knapp-victims_n_1119480.html?ref=business" target="_hplink">victim of the very brand of foreclosure fraud he was investigating</a> for a news report. Him being the reporter, the episode put him in a "very weird spot," <a href="http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/als-morning-meeting/153585/local-tv-station-tackles-mortgage-mess-as-investigative-reporter-discovers-hes-a-victim-too/" target="_hplink">he told the Poynter Insitute</a>.

• BofA Falsely Threatens Paralyzed Man With Foreclosure

  Robert Galanida, a 41-year-old man paralyzed from the shoulders down, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/12/bank-of-america-sends-false-statements-paralyzed-eviction_n_1202463.html" target="_hplink">battled Bank of America for nearly a decade</a> because it repeatedly sent him false statements threatening foreclosure.

• Tracy Morgan Refuses Mother Foreclosure Help

  In January 2012, actor Tracy Morgan reportedly refused to give his mother <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/31/tracy-morgan-foreclosure-mother_n_1244641.html" target="_hplink">$25,000 she needed to avoid foreclosure</a>, instead offering only $2,000.

• Bank Of America Plaza Foreclosure

  The Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta was sold at a foreclosure auction in February after its landlord, BentleyForbes, could no longer afford mortgage payments, <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-14/american-foreclosure-bottoms-at-atlanta-tower-auction-mortgages.html" target="_hplink">BusinessWeek reports</a>. BofA <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/10/bank-of-america-plaza-foreclosure_n_1197040.html" target="_hplink">was a tenant in the building at the time</a> but had no other connection besides sharing the tower's ironic name.

• JPMorgan Tries To Foreclose On Civil Rights Activist

  Even while it promoted a February 2012 campaign to "fulfill" the "vision" of Martin Luther King Jr., <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/07/helen-bailey-foreclosure_n_1260078.html?ref=foreclosure-crisis" target="_hplink">JPMorgan Chase threatened 78-year-old civil rights activist Helen Bailey with foreclosure</a>. The bank ultimately allowed Bailey to stay in her home indefinitely after Occupy Nashville helped bring national attention to the issue, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/02/14/425255/helen-bailey-foreclosure/" target="_hplink">Think Progress</a> reports.

• Foreclosure At Luxury Retirement Home

  Despite being billed as "cosmopolitan living for ages 60+," the luxury <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/02/fox-hill-foreclosure_n_1314970.html" target="_hplink">Fox Hill Senior Condominiums was threatened with foreclosure</a> in March after its lenders said they were backing out.

• Man Fined For Not Mowing His Old Lawn

  David Englett was charged with fines by the city of Arlington, Texas for not mowing the lawn of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/02/david-englett_n_1317276.html" target="_hplink">a house he had already lost to foreclosure years earlier</a>.

• 101-Year-Old Woman Evicted From Home

  Texana Hollis was evicted from her home due to foreclosure in September 2011, then <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/22/texana-hollis-evicted-detroit-woman_n_1222452.html?ref=foreclosure-crisis" target="_hplink">denied a subsequent promise that she could move back in</a> by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It wasn't until April 2012 that <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57409700/texana-hollis-evicted-at-101-allowed-back-home/" target="_hplink">she was finally granted permission to return to the home</a> she's lived in for 60 years.

• BofA Forecloses On Woman After Telling Her To Miss Payments

  According to Pamela Flores, an Atlanta homeowner, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/10/bank-america-foreclosure-miss-mortgage-payment_n_1414988.html" target="_hplink">Bank of America advised her to stop making payments</a> on her loan in order to negotiate a modification. After doing so, the bank foreclosed on her anyway, claiming she'd missed a trial payment

• Mother, Disabled Daughter Forced Out Of Home Even After BofA Modification

  Dirma Rodriguez and her disabled daughter<a href="https://editorial.huffingtonpost.com/entry/?blog_id=2&entry_id=1423883" target="_hplink"> were forced to flee their home in minutes</a> after Bank of America sold it to a flipper at a foreclosure auction, even though the bank had already modified her loan. But not all hope is lost; Rodriguez may get her home back after the Occupy Fights Foreclosure movement intervened.

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Comments

[kreb022]

01:36 PM on 05/02/2013

$5000 a month mortgage payment? Are you kidding??? There is something very missing from this story. You can't play on the fact that she's 71 years and doesn't know what she is doing. I know some pretty darned sharp 90 year olds you can't put a thing past. There are also many young and middle aged people dealing with foreclosures. I can understand the part about the medical bills but that 5000 dollars a month is just too far fetched. *shakes head*

[ebanks84]

08:12 PM on 06/07/2012

That's why I hate banks who care more about money than they do their customers.

[FloB]

12:52 AM on 05/14/2012

How big is this mansion that a person could have been paying on for 35 years and still owe enough to require a $5000 monthly payment? Since interest on mortgages is now in the 3 - 5 % range and was over 12% 35 years ago, refinancing should have lowered the payments if there was a remaining balance.

[elfin12u]

11:14 PM on 05/12/2012

That's really a shame. I feel badly for her to go through all of this, first her husband's illnesses, his death and now the foreclosure.

I'm wondering why they scheduled the eviction for Mother's Day of all days, with it falling on the weekend and all. That seems really bizarre. I also wonder what the circumstances of the loan were, being that they had been in the home for so many years. I guess they didn't have enough equity for a reverse mortgage?

Very sad indeed. Maybe her story will elicit an intervention of sorts. Wishing her the best and a Happy Mother's Day despite her circumstances.

[rdk70816]

05:23 PM on 05/12/2012

$5000 per month loan? Was she duped or dumb? What was the worth of her collateral? Toss her out into the street!

[dumocraps]

06:38 PM on 05/12/2012

I totally agree with you.

[rltballer]

09:08 PM on 05/13/2012

How very Christian and republican of you.

[rdk70816]

10:11 AM on 05/14/2012

Can she pay $5000 per month for her mortgage? If not, get out.There are other accommodations, elsewhere. She could rent a room with her children.

[Hrover]

02:26 PM on 05/12/2012

They did not see that payment would be 5,000 per month, There is more to this story.

[fortressfountain]

09:16 AM on 05/12/2012

Older people are more trusting of corporations and the system as it was. It is not the peoples fault. This is not an isolated incident but common occurence. This brings the value of everyones real estate down. People do save but are penalized the dollar is worhless and no interest rate. Investing is volile. People lose big and are not given welfare like the banks. Geez maybe for fathers day we can find some male victim.

[Carl Caroli]

09:24 AM on 05/12/2012

"Older people are more trusting of corporations and the system as it was."
My sentiments exactly, and all the predators came out of the wood work to take advantage of them after loan requirements were relaxed by the idiots in congress taking bribes to get elected and then doing the bidding of their corporate masters. We've lost our way in this country.

[larry cifuentes]

11:44 AM on 05/12/2012

Here it is for Dad's day;

An Eighty Seven year old male, is told by his financial planner, should have been gone at Eighty Four.

[Gilbert Albright]

09:14 AM on 05/12/2012

Hey she is a Legal Adult and responsible for her actions. But according to the Huffpost and the Media being a Women and a Mother is always an excuse for being stupid and irresponsible.

Women are always portrayed as "victims" instead of irresponsible adults when they get trouble in life. As if they are "little girls" that didn't know any better. Poor things. They should be let off easy, not held accountable LIKE MEN!

This story is another example of this. Making excuses for this "poor thing" and blaming it all on the Big Bad mortgage company and bank.

[GetRealSoon]

11:07 AM on 05/12/2012

If you think the story's about pity and have no questions about the math or the loan being legal, then I'd seriously rethink who's the damsel in distress.

[barbra1971]

12:49 PM on 05/12/2012

What excuse do you have for banks bailout? Let's hear.

[Gilbert Albright]

09:08 AM on 05/12/2012

Once again a pandering headline on Huffpost. And it is always about some FEMALE being a victim of something. From reading Huffpost you would think Men are never a victim of anything. They constantly run "poor little woman" stories begging for pity. Where are the same stories for Men?

In line with Feminist thinking, Men aren't deserving of pity, so Huffpost sees no reason to post similar stories about Men.

[NevaforLeadership]

07:41 AM on 05/12/2012

A lesson that financial responsibility is not a left or right issue. It is a personal issue.

We will all have enter that new paradigm. We cannot rely on corporations, governments or even families to take care of us. We must take care of ourselves, and that involves taking the time to find about finance, so that we are not "duped" into any inappropriate loans.

[Dotecu]

06:17 AM on 05/12/2012

There is always a line where people aren't putting away savings for retirement. I bring in more money now (as a senior) than I ever have before and it isn't enough to make ends meet. Just 20 years ago, planning for the kind of money I have coming in now would have let me live pretty good in my old age. But because of what the good old boys in Washington and State governments have done, what I make now is not enough to pay the bills. They have no idea what they are doing to us. Don't blame the seniors for not planning because if we planned the government has found a way to take it away from us.

[NevaforLeadership]

07:58 AM on 05/12/2012

Perhaps you could expand for us exactly how the state and central governments jeopardized your financial situation. How they took away from you. Then we will be in a position to respond.

It's really important to drill down on the real causes of our situations. The blame game never solves issues. It merely takes up space in our minds that would be better occupied with solutions.

I believe seniors have been led down the garden path since WW2, with a paradigm that included retirement and government care. That paradigm is not sustainable -- never was. You say you are making more now in your senior years, but for many it is not possible to save for retirement on their low paying jobs.

That's where the new paradigm comes in: lifetime financial management that, depending on our individual circumstances, could involve one or a combination of more savings, return to school, new careers, career and financial planning, goal setting, second incomes, passive income, investment plans, etc.

We all know what you mean about more money covering less. Inflation can have very ugly consequences, a result of both economics and sheer greed; but there is nothing we can individually do about that. We have to find a way around it.

Very tough for seniors who were sold that post WW2 bill of goods.

[Jason Fairchild]

05:15 AM on 05/12/2012

Why are some of you so suprised, these are the elected officials that you keep returning to office year after year, they promise to protect you from this, however as soon as they head to Washington D.C. and that 1st money evelope slides across thier desk, you can for get honesty. I have another idea, since we bailed out wallstreet, why don't the government make them bail out the American people now, I know, it was just a thought. They are to busy stuffing the pockets of thier CEO's and elected KLOWNS.

[NevaforLeadership]

08:14 AM on 05/12/2012

Who is "they"?

Don't get me wrong. I am just as abhorrent of outrageous, disproportionate executive compensation as you are.

Nevertheless, the pay that a CEO is making as head of, say, Company A, doesn't affect your personal finances in any way, unless you are a shareholder of Company A. It could increase the price of the goods that Company A produces, but these days, there is usually Company B round the corner with cheaper goods.

I believe outrageous executive compensation did play a role in inviting the greed that crashed the economy; however, for those who have planned their career and financial lives, the crash was just a glitch in the journey.

I think you know that "the government bailing out the people" is not a good solution. You just have to look at what is going on in Europe to understand that. The government is we, the people, and left, right or centre government, there just is not enough money.

Hopefully, you are young enough that you can start a successful life plan, setting goals in the various categories of your future (financial, career, family, etc.), break them down into short-term goals, then daily goals and be disciplined and driven about completing those daily goals.

Looking to others -- governments, corporations, families or individuals -- to look after us is a losing proposition. That is true whether liberal or conservative governments are in power. We need to empower ourselves.

[tccat4]

04:13 AM on 05/12/2012

Who gets talked into a $5000.00 a month mortgage, that about a $500,000.00 loan. Cheaper to sell the home and rent a condo. Where are their family, many older Americans cant afford the money to pay for higher taxes and their bank mortgage. I know one woman that signed up for a reverse mortgage. She died a few months later, leaving her daughter with a 179,000 owed to the bank. She cleaned the mothers house out and turned it over to the bank. I cant see anyone in their 70's taking out a 500,000.00 mortgage. Then complain when they cant make the 5000.00 a month payments. Invest in an financial adviser, before making a big decisions like this.

[MSROADKILL612]

03:18 AM on 05/12/2012

sad - but only relevant word is eviction - sadly happening to so many

MOM -71 -MDay coincidence?

relevance?

maybe divorced single - 25 - parole release anniversary wouldnt work so well?

[sylvabugg2]

02:03 AM on 05/12/2012

Loans of any kind are a money trap, trust me, I learned the hard way. There's an old saying that goes, "Never rob Peter to pay Paul". If you feel you need a loan, you're doing something wrong. Live within your means, economize. I have learned to do just that and I will never take out another loan again, ever.