Jeff Gelles, Philadelphia Inquirer
It’s not clear how this story will turn out, but right now Patrick Rodgers is living a pay-back fantasy probably shared by millions of struggling U.S. homeowners.
Frustrated by a dispute with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and by his inability to get answers to questions, the West Philadelphia homeowner took the mortgage company to court last fall.
When Wells Fargo still didn’t respond, Rodgers got a $1,000 default judgment against it for failing to answer his formal questions, as required by a federal law called the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.
And when the mortgage company didn’t pay – does something sound familiar? – Rodgers turned to Philadelphia’s sheriff.
The result: At least for the moment, the contents of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, 1341 N. Delaware Ave., are scheduled for sheriff’s sale on March 4 to satisfy the judgment and pay about $200 for court and sheriff’s costs.
Rodgers has even written his own headline: “Philadelphia homeowner ‘forecloses’ on Wells Fargo.”
Has he really? Not quite. But Rodgers, who lives in the city’s Wynnefield Heights section, won at least a momentary upper hand in a fight with Wells Fargo that began nearly two years ago.
Before you leap to conclusions, let’s get a few things straight.
Rodgers isn’t unemployed, or a deadbeat. He’s a music promoter who owns Dancing Ferret Concerts – if industrial, electronic, or goth is your sound, maybe you’ve been to one of his gigs. He says he’s paid all he owes under the terms of his seven-year-old mortgage.
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