Foreclosures Silencing the Muses

The cold grip of REO foreclosures is silencing the muses and delivering the deathblow to jazz. It is a shame for everybody that the famous jazz singer Ernestine Anderson is under a foreclosure threat. Her targeted house is in the central district of Seattle. This is another example of how working class localities are one of the worst REO foreclosure hit zones.

Today Ernistine Anderson is 79. She had once tuned in her nightingale voice with music legends like Quincy Jones as well as Ray Charles. Today she is lagging behind in mortgage dues to the tune of over $30,000 including penalties and fees. This is as per public records noting. There is $450,000 principal due on the loan. Further details are as yet unavailable.

Here admirers, friends and family members are pitching in for a last minute try to bail her out and save the house that is her home from becoming a REO house. An appeal has been sent out to all for donations. The aim is to raise $45,000 within a week to make up for the payments that are overdue as well as taxes unpaid. Leading the campaign is Carmen Gayton who is a well wisher and friend of the Andersons. Once they get this reprieve they hope to win time to find out a way for Anderson to survive the attack and pull along.

The president of the Urban League of Seattle, James Kelley is optimistic that counseling agencies will find a way out for Anderson to get the loan for which she has dish out $5,000 per month. Her monthly income at the moment from Social Security is $1,000. Considering her age and limited performances it will difficult for her to stretch herself further. It is understandable that she should never have taken the loan. The whole issue is very sensitive as the house has been the home of her parents since 1946. Anderson speaking to King’s Television in Seattle said that although her singing had taken her to many places, this house was her “home base”. She emotionally referred to the many people who had been wonderful to her. “People I don’t know” she said.

The family thinks that Anderson most probably became a victim of predatory lending. It is scheduled for public auction on 11th July 2008. Associated Press was unable to contact her over the telephone. With 30 albums and four Grammy nominations, Anderson is a respected name in Seattle.