Politics and Money

[Elroy Jetson]

Donald Trump's billionaire Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spent almost two years trying to force a 90-year-old woman out of her home over a 27 cent debt.

According to court papers, OneWest Bank NA sought to foreclose Ossie Lofton's house in Polk County Florida on November 25, 2014.

Last year, One West Bank merged with CIT Bank, who continued the case against Mrs Lofton, until the case was dismissed on October 7, 2016.



Ossie Lofton took out a Reverse Mortgage on her Florida home, pictured, from OneWest bank who sent her a bill for $423.30 to cover insurance payments on the property, pictured above



When Lofton sent a check for $423, the bank demanded the remaining 30 cents. Mistakenly, she issued a check for 3 cents, prompting the bank to issue this foreclosure notice.



Steven Mnuchin (pictured with fiancee Louise Linton) led a group of investors who bought the bank which spent almost two years attempting to take Mrs Lofton's home from her over a debt of 27 cents

Mrs Lofton had taken out a reverse mortgage on her home from OneWest to fund her living expenses in her retirement. According to [url=http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/trump-treasury-foreclosed-homes-mnuchin-232038]Politico[/url], the bank sent her a bill for $423.30 to cover insurance payments on the property.

She returned a check for $423. In response, the bank, which was still owed 30 cents, sent out a second demand.

Mrs Lofton, who is 90, made a minor mistake, and sent the bank a check for 3 cents. Having lost out on 27 cents, the bank foreclosed.


Fortunately, lawyers at the Florida Rural Legal Services took up Mrs Lofton's case and the bank, which had since merged with Cit Bank NA, dropped their action. Lynn Drysdale, who represented Mrs Lofton said: ' I don’t know that they’re the worst, but I certainly think it’s criminal the way these servicers are treating elderly homeowners.'

When the banks merged, it is reported Mnuchin made more than $10 million from the deal and is still on the board of CIT Bank.



Mnuchin, pictured, is a former Goldman Sachs executive and Hedge Fund manager

Less than a month after his presidential win, Trump's populist appeal has started to clash with a cabinet of billionaires and millionaires that he believes can energize economic growth.The prospect of Mnuchin leading the Treasury Department drew plaudits from many in the financial sector. A former Goldman Sachs executive who pivoted in the early 2000s to hedge fund management and movie production, he seemed an ideal emissary to Wall Street.

When asked on Wednesday about his credentials to be Treasury secretary, Mnuchin emphasized his time running OneWest - which foreclosed on thousands in the aftermath of the housing crisis caused by sub-prime mortgages.

'What I've really been focused on is being a regional banker for the last eight years,' Mnuchin said. 'I know what it takes to make sure that we can make loans to small and mid-market companies and that's going to be our big focus, making sure we scale back regulation so that we make sure the banks are lending.'

Donald Trump, pictured, said he is delighted to have Mnuchin as his Treasury Secretary



The combination of OneWest's profitability, government guarantees and foreclosure activities drew the ire of activist groups like the California Reinvestment Coalition. It found the bank to be consistently one of the most difficult to work out loan modifications with even though OneWest never drew a major response from government regulators.

By June of 2014, five years after taking over OneWest, Mnuchin sold the bank for $3.4 billion at a tremendous profit.