Oregon Halfway House Faces Foreclosure; Owner Signed Over Deed To Contractor Who Now Can't Pay Mortgage

In Medford, Oregon, KOBI-TV Channel 5 reports:

• [F]or one Medford man, finding himself on the brink of foreclosure has been a surprise. That's after the home he's about to lose has served the community it resides for over twenty years. Gene Haag has worked with Jackson County Corrections in housing and guiding former prisoners since the eighties. The success rate is incredible, but it's all on the brink of being lost to a deal gone wrong and down-trodden economy.

***

• [H]aag and his wife face foreclosure on the home they and hundreds of ex-cons have lived in since [1986]. And the reason for the foreclosure came as an unexpected turn of events. In an attempt to pay off their mortgage the Haag's turned over their deed to a contractor who'd purchased part of the land. The contractor promised to return two acres of it and the home once he finished work on the property. But that was two years ago and the recent economic reversal hit the contractor and the deeded property.

• Now he can't pay off his lender who will auction the home on Tuesday. The lender is taking it all. Haag says he regrets turning over the deed, but says this house is more than just a home. Its millions of dollars we've saved the community.

For more, see "My Families All Gone" Says Former Prisoner.