It Happened To Us In Idaho – The Nick and Donna Nickerson Family

It Happened to Us

We purchased a property and increased our equity.
We bought a property in 2002. We bought the property to have a place to share with others. It was a ranch parcel with a rustic log home and a few outbuildings. Our family worked hard, developed the property, increased our equity, and built a ranch we could be proud of. Our note was on time and in good standing with Coldwell Banker Mortgage for six years. In 2008, as our IHTU The Battle Begins In Idaho music video illustrates, Chase took over our loan, messed up our records, and acted rude on the phone. 

JP Morgan Chase and PHH Mortgage Services took over our mortgage, messed up our records, and tried to foreclose.
For two years we had nothing but accounting errors and mortgage inconsistencies on our note. JP Morgan Chase refused to send statements or provide payment receipts so we could review our account or document errors and corrections to our account. They relentlessly victimized us with threatening phone calls; dual billing, “triple” tracking (account in good standing, foreclosure threats, modification help available – sometimes all three claims in the same day); force-placed homeowner insurance policies; inaccurate default letters; libel and slander of credit; inaccurate payment records and reporting created by refusing payments and placing payments tendered into suspense accounts; hiding and embezzling escrow moneys; and other such abusive debt collection practices. Communicating with JP Morgan Chase was a nightmare until we met a JP Morgan Chase representative named Kim who worked with us and the research department to get all the records straightened out. Kim confirmed the errors had been corrected and our note was showing current and in good standing as of January 2010. Wells Fargo employee Heather Hummell confirmed JP Morgan Chase reported our account on time. PHH Mortgage Services then took over servicing the beginning of February and everything kind of went crazy from there, as if it could get any crazier. Kim contacted us and warned us something illegal was going on with our account and a lot of other Chase accounts. Kim then disappeared. PHH Mortgage Services refused to accept any payments. PHH Mortgage Services immediately began wrongful and unlawful foreclosure proceedings. This destroyed our credit, reduced our long standing income and pursued the theft of years of equity from our family. We contacted their attorneys, Just Law of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Even after hearing our story, seeing proof of the accounting errors, being told by us and our attorney we wanted to keep the property and had the wherewithal to do so, Braden Howell and Jason Rammell of Just Law told us they had been hired to foreclose and that is what they were going to do.

We continued to pay the second on the property while trying to stop the hostile takeover.
We had a second on the property with Wells Fargo that was larger than the first. Even though the first note was in foreclosure, and we were informed we did not have to, we continued to pay the second note. Though we had lost income because of the fraudulent activities of JP Morgan Chase and PHH Mortgage Services, we made whatever sacrifices we could and continued to pay it. We worked with a representative named Heather Hummel at Wells Fargo who did everything she could to help. Heather Hummel encouraged us to keep on fighting and to not give up. Heather Hummel thanked us for each payment, acknowledged how hard we were working and how much “Wells Fargo” appreciated it. Heather reached out to her managers to see if our first note could be brought in house. We had a long-standing solid relationship with Wells Fargo, multiple accounts, plenty of equity in other assets, but Wells Fargo surprisingly refused. Heather indicated their decision did not make any sense as the bank would generally want to move into first position when possible. Wells Fargo claimed they could not help or intervene because of our damaged credit score. This was absolutely amazing to us. Our relationship with Wells Fargo and our financial reputation was solid and established. In fact, one of their personal bankers, Teresa Koepke, stated our credit score was the highest score she had ever personally seen just before this event began. She was very familiar with our accounts and contacted different departments to secure help. Wells Fargo was familiar with everything we were going through with JP Morgan Chase and knew JP Morgan Chase’s inaccurate record keeping and fraud had caused our credit problem. However, we were told banking practices had changed. New rules had been established because of the bailouts and the Obama administration’s new banking regulations. We were told Barak Obama had passed legislation that prevented anyone who had been late or reported late on their payments from receiving a loan or accessing their equity accounts. Wells Fargo told us they were bound to abide by the new regulations. Jody Lauzon, a Wells Fargo Mortgage Representative, who knew us, our payment history, our income history, our credit history, and had processed a home equity line for us in the past, tried to help. There was nothing even she could do.

We asked others to help.
Wells Fargo employees along with other outside sources like Genworth Mortgage Financial repeatedly told PHH Mortgage Services to work with us to no avail. Genworth Mortgage Financial representatives sent multiple emails and made phone calls to PHH Mortgage Services on our behalf. Even Genworth Mortgage Financial’s legal department looked at the case and stated emphatically there was no financial or other basis for a foreclosure and recommended PHH Mortgage Services work with us immediately. No response was forthcoming from PHH Mortgage Services.

Our family was abused and victimized by those we trusted to help.
Sadly, the battle in Idaho expanded to include our Montana home and our entire financial portfolio. Wells Fargo revealed their true involvement in this attack against our family, and Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC Bank) joined the fight. (You can read about the Montana story on the Montana Our Story page.) We kept fighting, but the fraud, corruption and abuse kept getting bigger and more widespread. Our journey is so long and has so many twists and turns. We have tried to document our story with legal documents, reports, video documentaries, testimonies, and other such evidence. The enormous expenditure of effort and energy required to fight the bad guys has consumed our time and resources.

The worst part is the abuse, the pain, the suffering continued and continues even now.
We finally had a court date on the Idaho Ranch the first week of December 2012. Knowing our story would soon be in front of a judge and jury and the nightmare would be over is what kept us going for most of 2012. Having it over is what we all wanted for Christmas that year. Then the week before trial they moved the trial date to February 2013. It was not the first time justice had been pushed out. It was almost more than we could handle. We were battle weary, but our family unanimously decided and committed that day to fight all the way for our home. The family battle cry became no more silence and no more abuse. Unfortunately, stopping the abuse proved much harder than we expected. We underestimated and did not recognize the lengths our enemies would go in their assault.

Wells Fargo fired Heather Hummel, then denied her existence.
Heather Hummel had been with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. for almost 20 years. Her reputation was one of stellar performance. In fact, she led in the Independent Review department when it was first ordered. Heather’s direct involvement with our account and others experiencing similar abuse uncovered illegal and immoral activity at Wells Fargo. Apparently when confronted with the illegalities surrounding our account, Wells Fargo quickly tried to move her off our account without letting her tell us goodbye or communicating with us in any way. Heather was too honorable to allow her name to be added to the list of those who had failed to stand up for what was right and had done nothing to help us, so she refused. Wells Fargo fired Heather, restricted her from access to our contact information, and denied her existence. We finally made them admit she had worked there, but they denied knowing what department she had been transferred to. All contact with Heather Hummel was lost at that time. (Read more about Heather Hummel). Wells Fargo then, after we had willingly made payments for several years when we had no legal obligation to continue doing so, quit working with us, ceased communication, and closed the account. Wells Fargo then focused on stealing our Montana ranch and entire financial portfolio in a rather comprehensive fraud scheme. The condensed version is they put our Montana Note into a closed trust, refused to accept payments, prevented performance, and had another bank file for foreclosure. (Read more about the Montana story)

We then lost our attorney.
Our attorney directed us to post the following update to this site in late February 2013…

UPDATE FROM ATTORNEY JOHN MITCHELL OF CLARK & FEENEY
The trial scheduled to begin February 25th, 2013 has been vacated! Prior to trial the Court was asked to dismiss the foreclosure action based on improper pleadings, improper service, and deficient/fraudulent documents, and to reinstate our counterclaims. While the Court holds that PHH and its foreclosure action deserves its day in court despite unfavorable law and facts, the Court holds that it will not reinstate the Nickerson counterclaims despite law to the contrary and grotesque amounts of damages being suffered by the Nickersons. An appeal has been filed and amended counterclaims will be pursued. It appears that the level of fraud and cover up is not limited to Chase and PHH! Other entities engaged facilitated and profited in this fraudulent activity. A federal case is in the process of being filed. Federal regulatory complaints have been filed and a federal investigation is underway. We will post more on these entities and their activities soon so stay posted.

At the time of this posting, our counterclaim had been struck, discovery had been closed, an adverse summary judgment had been granted without our knowledge or defense, no appeal had been filed, and our attorney had secretly filed a motion to withdraw from our case. Our attorney, who we believed was standing as a friend to us and as an advocate to justice, had misled and would continue to mislead us for some time about the legal status of both the Idaho and Montana actions. Addiction problems, unbeknownst to us, had created financial and mental health issues that caused him to fall prey to the schemes of the bank. Eventually, he disclosed he had secretly withdrawn from our case in February 2013, regretfully admitted to his negligence, was disbarred, and informed the Idaho Court via affidavit he had deceived us.

Late fall 2013 we inherited a prejudiced case.
We continued the fight as pro se litigants, handicapped by the limited knowledge of the true history of the case. We requested leave to amend our answers and expand the factual record of the case, but Judge Michael Griffin told us to wait for a status hearing. Unfortunately, PHH Mortgage Services converted the status hearing to a summary judgment hearing. Factually, we had and have a good case with a solid evidential foundation. Our ownership is superior in right and evidence in the county records and secured in discovery contradict all claims by PHH Mortgage Services and JP Morgan Chase. However, our post-attorney review of the litigation demonstrated no meaningful discovery or due process ever occurred prior to the summary judgments being awarded. This created impossibility in ensuring our right to a full and fair contest based on the merits. Our attorney knew the story and had volumes of evidence at his disposal, but…

We told our story in a music video and on www.ithappenedtous.com.
We had grown tired of being silent victims. We had turned all the cheeks we had, and knew we needed some help. We created www.ithappenedtous.com to spread awareness and write some songs to tell our story. You can follow our story here at www.ithappenedtous.com. This has been quite an undertaking with everything going on, but we are trying to keep this site updated with key facts that can help you share our story and know what you can do to fight back and keep it from happening to you.

It Happened To Us Music Video Part 1 – The Battle Began In Idaho

It Happened To Us Music Video Part 2 – The Battle Expands To Montana

Both our music and documentation videos can also be viewed by clicking on IHTU Videos on the main menu of this site and by visiting our It Happened To Us youtube channel, www.youtube.com/ithappenedtous.

The Idaho injustice system ignored our pleas for justice.
Part 2 of It Happened To Us In Idaho chronicles the journey through the injustice system as pro se litigants. The record and facts are clear. Laws have been broken. Justice has been thwarted and unjustly held hostage. Our family has been abused. Our property rights have been denied. Our right to a defense and due process have been quashed. We are still in possession of our Idaho ranch and intend to stand against any unlawful seizure by PHH Mortgage Services based on these fraudulent proceedings and their false claims. This is theft, not foreclosure.

We have fought and will continue to fight all the way.
Our family has suffered immeasurable and indescribable financial, emotional and physical loss fighting this battle. We have lost more than words can express – time, health, testimony, business opportunities, income, peace, dreams, life. The loss has permeated every area of our life and our family’s lives. The fight continues…

Every home in America needs to see what these companies have done, and how much pain and suffering they have caused, not only to us, but to millions of others. We want America to see the injustice, and realize we are not the only ones the big banks have done it to, or are going to do it to, if we the people do not stand up and stop them. Look in the legal section of your paper. How many foreclosures were posted this week? Last week? Last month? The foreclosure crisis is not over for them, or for us. Many of these homeowners will never even have an opportunity to appear before a judge to challenge the lawfulness of the actions being taken against them. Many of them are, like us, innocent. We did not default or walk away from our obligations. We did not fail to perform. We did nothing wrong. PHH Mortgage Services and JP Morgan Chase targeted us and refused performance. Performance refused excuses the debtor.

Our family is just a normal, natural-born, conservative, English-speaking, God-loving family who believes in liberty and justice for all.

We believe in religious liberty. Every American should have the right to believe or not to believe.

We believe in property rights. No American should have their property stolen from them without cause or right. As United States Chief Justice John Jay stated, No power on earth has the right to take our property from us without our consent.

We believe in due process. Every American should have equal access to justice. Liberty and justice are for all. This includes the Nick and Donna Nickerson Family.

We worked hard and have given our all to stop this attack on our homeland. We are here on this site asking for your help, because those who are supposed to help have looked the other way, chosen not to get involved, and ignored our pleas. Please get involved and help us stop our ministry ranch from being unlawfully seized. It happened, and it can happen to you.

If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered…Next to the right of liberty, the right of property is the most important individual right guaranteed by the Constitution, and the one which, united with that of personal liberty, has contributed more to the growth of civilization than any other institution established by the human race…I believe the banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.
Thomas Jefferson

Our family has fought all the way, but each day begins a new day and a new chapter of fighting. We are unwilling to be silent or silenced victims. We wish none of this had happened. We did not ask for this battle and did nothing to deserve this battle. Nonetheless, this battle has come to us so we are resolved to fight for our family, our home, our way of life, and to preserve our good name. Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide, in the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side.

A NOTICE TO THE BANKS FROM THE NICKERSON FAMILY
Chase, PHH, Wells Fargo, HSBC, your accomplices, we are inviting the world to watch your abuse. We have tried to fight all along, but, make no mistake, today is a new day. No more silence. No more abuse. With the eyes of the world watching, the real fight begins. Before God and man, we launch what may prove to be the most determined offensive attack against banksters in the history of the United States. With cause and with right, we go to war.

Therefore, we, the Nickerson family, because we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, declare that to secure these rights, we will make our voice be heard against the tyranny and oppression of the perpetrators of the mortgage holocaust that plagues this country. It is our right and duty to tell our story until the highest authorities in this land stop the hostile takeover of home ownership by banksters who have become our most dangerous domestic and foreign enemies. We will fight these property right terrorists all the way with the weapons of resolve, publicity, justice and prayer; and today, tomorrow, or in eternity, with the help of truth and justice, we will win.

So help us God,
The Nickerson Family

https://www.ithappenedtous.com/our_story_id.html