Kevin E Marchman

Page date = July 13, 2008

My Saturday newspaper (Rocky Mountain News) included a story about Kevin Marchman and his loan problem with a condo he bought in 2006. I encourage you to read the article - it should take 5 minutes. Because of the uncertain shelf life - I have included a copy of the article below.

Lets have a look at the original transaction:

The Details

Condo (Downing Street Station) located at 2900 Downing St, #406, Denver, CO 80205. Transaction date 5/19/06. Purchase price (I use the term loosely) $292,000. Mortgage loan in the amount of $262,800 by (now kaput?) ResMAE.

MLS Listing

Listing History

Deeds Report (Denver County)

This is a builder sale. The unit was completed in 2002, listed on MLS 5/12/03 asking $284,000. Three years later, the asking price had been reduced to $279,900.

Ready to Deal

The listing agent Alyssa Jahns says "Seller ready to deal". After 669 days on market, the property sold $12,000 over asking price. Alayssa reported a seller concession of $8,000.

The loan is reported as 90% loan to value (LTV). The buyer and seller signed a contract which showed a price of $292,000 and someone appraised the property at (or above) the contract price. I have formed an opinion that the appraiser fully understands the appraisal process and the meaning of market value in much the same way as Steffen A Brown does.

After 669 days on market, any idiot can see this property was not worth $292,000. It's clear the contract price was manipulated for the sole purpose of making it look like 90% LTV.

Kevin Marchman (the buyer) was a high level official at HUD - so he is well versed in the art of manipulation.

Clanton Style

Kevin Marchman was appointed to his job at HUD by Bill Clinton. Kevin's next door neighbor (unit 407) is named Bill Clanton. What a coincidence! Or is that someone's idea of a joke? My best guess is that Amy L Hutchings is not an intern - but I could be wrong.

Size Matters

Bill Clanton was somehow able to borrow $388,000 from the good people at Countrywide when he bought unit #407 in May 2003. One of the Countrywide appraisers valued the property (at least) $388,000. Unit #407 is 260 sq feet bigger than Kevin Marchman's unit. But even so, it's hard to justify the big price difference on size alone.

If I'm reading the public records right - Bill Clanton was able to borrow an additional $97,800 on the "equity" (I use the term loosely) on January 31, 2005 from the good people at Wells Fargo Bank NA.

Does anyone see a problem here?

IMHO

Kevin E Marchman is a good story teller. I have formed an opinion that the Federal and/or State government will somehow "help" Kevin E Marchman solve his loan problem.

I have formed an opinion that the mortgage loan(s) on the Bill Clanton unit will have an unhappy ending. I expect several units in this building will run into foreclosure problems. Many of those units will be barely lived in.

End of my comments.

Below is the text of an article published in the business section of the Rocky Mountain News, 7/12/08 by John Rebchook

Expert Snagged in Subprime Trap

You would be hard-pressed to find someone more knowledgeable about foreclosures than Kevin Marchman.

The Denver resident is a former top official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, led the Denver Housing Authority for four years and heads a Washington, D.C., based nonprofit group, the National Organization of African Americans in Housing.

That agency serves as an advocate for affordable housing and for cracking down on "shady lending practices that have burned many of the nations riskiest subprime borrowers."

Yet, Marchman, and his wife, Desiree, got caught up in a foreclosure action.

"I feel like I have an obligation to talk openly about this," Marchman said. "I want people to read this and think, 'If it can happen to Kevin, it can happen to anybody.' "

Here's what happened.

In 2006, the Marchmans bought condo No. 406 in the Downing Street Station at 2900 Downing St. for $292,000. It is now in a $262,800 foreclosure.

They bought the 1,151- square-foot condo across from a light-rail station for their daughter, Noah, who was attending college on the East Coast.

When she decided not to move back to Denver, Marchman decided to rent it.

Marchman was sprucing up the apartment when he noticed fliers in other units from an investment group.

The group, he said, was out of Baltimore, although he doesn't remember its exact name.

The group was supposed to rent the condo, pay the mortgage and when they sold it, they would take 75 percent of the profit, and Marchman would get 25 percent.

"It didn't sound to be too good to be true," Marchman said. "I would not say I was a victim. But I would say I was not told the complete truth."

The condo is saddled with a 9.185 percent subprime loan, and as part of the deal the investment group was supposed to use its financial clout to get a better rate.

The foreclosure was recorded Feb. 13, and Marchman said he learned about it when he opened an envelope from the lender that said he was in foreclosure.

"I was shocked," Marchman said. "And tell you the truth, I was kind of heartbroken. You take this stuff personally. It is like somebody is trying to rip you off."

He said he remembers attending a Denver Foreclosure Task Force meeting last year, and experts testified that you have to open your mail from lenders.

Too many people ignore the first warnings about being in default, making it more difficult to later work out the foreclosure.

Marchman expects to resolve his foreclosure in the next two weeks.

"If I hadn't opened that envelope, I would have thought everything was fine," Marchman said.

"And when you called me and said, 'Kevin, did you know you are in foreclosure?' I would have said, 'What are you talking about?' "

Zachary Urban of Brothers Redevelopment Agency said Marchman isn't the first person sophisticated in financial matters to get caught in a foreclosure web.

"Without mentioning any names, you would be surprised by some of the calls I get from people in power and respect in this state," Urban said. "Even with a comprehensive knowledge of the do's and dont's, you can fall victim to schemes that sound legitimate."

Marchman said he learned a valuable lesson from the foreclosure experience that will make him even more sensitive to people in danger of losing their homes or having their credit ruined, and more of an advocate against predatory lending practices.

"After 30 years in the business, I'm seeing it from the other side," Marchman said.

-- End of Document --

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