Reported By Kelli Cook
OCOEE -- Imagine having your newly-elected Congressman sit in your living room and say he was personally going to join in your fight to save your home from foreclosure when he got to Washington.
That's exactly what happened to one Ocoee couple when then Congressman-elect Alan Grayson paid them a visit last December.
"I thought great we have the congressman coming and stuff, this is going to be good."
Cheyenne Bowers and his partner David Paxton thought they had gained a valuable ally.
They were in a fight to save their home. He thought a pledge from an eager incoming freshman congressman to help them out through numerous programs might do the trick.
"Expansion of existing federal programs like the FHA loans and the VA loans be more readily available at better terms than we've seen up to this point," said Grayson in December 2008.
The non-profit ACORN along with Grayson invited the media into Bowers and Paxton's home to talk about fighting the foreclosure crisis, particularly fighting Bowers and Paxton's foreclosure nightmare.
Bowers and Paxton says after the cameras left, so did the promise for help from the congressman.
Their home has been foreclosed, put up for auction and they face eviction.
But Congressman Grayson tells a very different story.
"I think in the end he lost his house, but we kept him in his house for a year and I think that is quite an accomplishment," Grayson said.
Grayson says he referred Bowers and Paxton to housing counselors, found him an attorney and attempted to get him disability benefits.
But despite all the programs and promises from politicians, it all came down to Household Financial who simply would not budge.
In their home is a paper trail of their 3-year fight to stave off foreclosure.
They tried to work with their lender Househould Financial, asked Sen. Bill Nelson for help and turned to non-profit groups like ACORN and HOPE NOW for help. But at the end of the day Bowers and his partner Paxton were high risk. They had no income. They were disabled, both facing life-threatening illnesses. Bowers needed a liver transplant and Paxton.
"I have a bunch of aneurisms going up and down my spine," Bowers said.
In the end, no one could force the lender to stop the foreclosure process.
"I'm not some sort of super hero, I don't have magical powers. I can't keep people in their homes if they're not paying their mortgages indefinitely," Grayson said.
Grayson also says Bowers and Paxton are one example of why he fought for a foreclosure mediation program in Orange County requiring lenders to come face to face with a homeowner to try to work out a solution.
But he says Mr. Bowers’ case was too far along to qualify.
The couple’s home went up for auction last Thursday, but they had no buyers so that bought them some more time. They are currently still in their home.
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