Help Val Save Her Home, Studio & Archive
Donation protected
The goal of this campaign is to raise money to save my home. My name is Valerie Santagto, professional photographer, home renovator, designer, educator, and single senior citizen. I am in need of Financial help.
A little background:
I was born and raised in New York City where my photo career began in the early 70s. high-fashion world of Manhattan and London, evolving into assignments with Andy Warhol and British Vogue.
After several years of traveling and working in Europe I returned to NYC. My interest in the Hopi Indian culture inspired me to relocate to Santa Fe New Mexico in 1981. I began developing new images which were simultaneously romantic, surreal and iconic.You can see a selection of my work on this site and at http://www.photosantagto.com
21 years later I'm relocated to Albuquerque where I continued to benefit from my commercial and fine art success and eventually bought my current home. Over the last few years the downside economy has had a devastatingly negative impact on my business and therefore my income, to the extent that I'm behind on my mortgage payment so severely that I am looking at impending foreclosure.
Being a single senior with no outside financial aid from a husband or family, I jokingly say everything comes from "The Bank of Valerie".
Very few people are aware of just how bad my situation has become.Thank goodness I had things that I could sell. I feel ashamed that it has come to this, having to use food stamps, using LHeap to help with utilities and being forced to sell my assets to pay for necessities. I am very proud of all my hard work and the success I've had, which is why it has been difficult to ask for financial help.
This is a humbling situation to be in. Just like millions of fellow Americans I am facing the distinct possibility of losing my home in foreclosure. I have endeavored to try every avenue available to me to prevent this from occurring, including 2 failed attempts at a loan modification from Indymac my loan servicer and then from Fannie Mae the owner of my mortgage. No matter how organized and timely I was, they kept dragging things out, losing my paperwork, giving me false information, switching representatives repeatedly and ultimately they both denied me a modification. Lastly, Indymac sold my loan to another service company (Ocwen) with only a 2 week notification. It has me at my wit's end.
I hired an attorney a year ago to help me with this frustrating and desperate situation. However, he wouldn't go after the bank for clear chain of title (who holds the deed to my property), robo signing and fraud. He said New Mexico judges don't like that avenue of persuit, although, throughout the country people are using this platform to keep their houses.
I would appreciate and welcome anyone who wants to share real information that can assist me or anyone who can hire me to do photography work so I can pay my bills and build up some capital. Monies I raise will be spent paying for a new Attorney who can help me fight the bank so I can get a modification and KEEP MY HOME and sadly move if need be. In the mean time I am continuing to downsize by selling my assets, some of which are perks for this Home Rescue campaign. Truly it's a question of, are we supporting the banks or the people. Please support my campaign so that I don't become another American hobo.
I'm hoping this crowd funding campaign will be successful and become the miracle that I need to save my home, business and photo archive.
This is my well-kept secret which I finally decided to share with the world.
A little background:
I was born and raised in New York City where my photo career began in the early 70s. high-fashion world of Manhattan and London, evolving into assignments with Andy Warhol and British Vogue.
After several years of traveling and working in Europe I returned to NYC. My interest in the Hopi Indian culture inspired me to relocate to Santa Fe New Mexico in 1981. I began developing new images which were simultaneously romantic, surreal and iconic.You can see a selection of my work on this site and at http://www.photosantagto.com
21 years later I'm relocated to Albuquerque where I continued to benefit from my commercial and fine art success and eventually bought my current home. Over the last few years the downside economy has had a devastatingly negative impact on my business and therefore my income, to the extent that I'm behind on my mortgage payment so severely that I am looking at impending foreclosure.
Being a single senior with no outside financial aid from a husband or family, I jokingly say everything comes from "The Bank of Valerie".
Very few people are aware of just how bad my situation has become.Thank goodness I had things that I could sell. I feel ashamed that it has come to this, having to use food stamps, using LHeap to help with utilities and being forced to sell my assets to pay for necessities. I am very proud of all my hard work and the success I've had, which is why it has been difficult to ask for financial help.
This is a humbling situation to be in. Just like millions of fellow Americans I am facing the distinct possibility of losing my home in foreclosure. I have endeavored to try every avenue available to me to prevent this from occurring, including 2 failed attempts at a loan modification from Indymac my loan servicer and then from Fannie Mae the owner of my mortgage. No matter how organized and timely I was, they kept dragging things out, losing my paperwork, giving me false information, switching representatives repeatedly and ultimately they both denied me a modification. Lastly, Indymac sold my loan to another service company (Ocwen) with only a 2 week notification. It has me at my wit's end.
I hired an attorney a year ago to help me with this frustrating and desperate situation. However, he wouldn't go after the bank for clear chain of title (who holds the deed to my property), robo signing and fraud. He said New Mexico judges don't like that avenue of persuit, although, throughout the country people are using this platform to keep their houses.
I would appreciate and welcome anyone who wants to share real information that can assist me or anyone who can hire me to do photography work so I can pay my bills and build up some capital. Monies I raise will be spent paying for a new Attorney who can help me fight the bank so I can get a modification and KEEP MY HOME and sadly move if need be. In the mean time I am continuing to downsize by selling my assets, some of which are perks for this Home Rescue campaign. Truly it's a question of, are we supporting the banks or the people. Please support my campaign so that I don't become another American hobo.
I'm hoping this crowd funding campaign will be successful and become the miracle that I need to save my home, business and photo archive.
This is my well-kept secret which I finally decided to share with the world.
Organizer
Valerie Santagto
Organizer
