[JPL] Jazz legend's home saved from foreclosure, for now

[Jim Wilke]

Ernestine is a long-time friend, and a much-loved person in Seattle  
who's done dozens of benefits for all kinds of organizations,  
education, children.   When she herself needed help, the community  
and her many friends  immediately rallied and came to her aid.  I  
talked with her on Sunday before a benefit that evening and she is  
very moved and touched by the support she's receiving.

The immediate crisis is averted but she still has financial woes  
ahead and more plans are being made to help her out of this financial  
morass.   She's still working, though at 79 not as much as she used  
to.  She's made some recent appearances at Dizzy's with Frank Wess,  
et al and still does short tours.

You hear about predatory loans - this is a prime example.   Note the  
last paragraph!  I doubt any of these people are as widely known as  
Ernestine.  Their stories will likely have different endings.  The  
Urban League and several pro-bono lawyers are looking into the matter.


Jim Wilke
Jazz After Hours, PRI
www.jazzafterhours.org


>
>  Jazz legend's home saved from foreclosure, for now
>
> By MANUEL VALDES -- 5 hours ago
>
> SEATTLE (AP) --- Jazz vocalist Ernestine Anderson's home has been  
> saved from foreclosure --- for now. Thanks, in part, to music  
> legend Quincy Jones and contemporary jazz artist Diane Schuur.
>
> More than $43,000 poured in --- including donations from Jones and  
> Schuur --- after recent news stories about the Seattle jazz  
> legend's financial woes, said Carmen Gayton, a friend of Anderson's  
> family.
>
> The money to stop the foreclosure was delivered Monday, Gayton  
> added. She declined to say how much Jones and Schuur had donated.
>
> But Gayton said Anderson, 79, needs more money in order to be able  
> to decrease the monthly payments on her principal loan balance of  
> nearly $460,000. Gayton added that a financial manager is working  
> pro-bono to look for ways to restructure Anderson's loan, which has  
> monthly payments of more than $4,400.
>
> Gayton also said Anderson will try to sell a second house next door  
> to the home she's trying to save.
>
> Anderson, who once sang with the likes of Jones and Ray Charles,  
> was more than $30,000 in arrears in payments and penalties last week.
>
> Gayton has said Anderson's monthly income is $1,000 from Social  
> Security, and at her age, her performances are limited.
>
> After 30 albums and four Grammy nominations, Anderson is one of  
> Seattle's most respected names in music, part of a jazz scene the  
> flourished in the city well before grunge and alternative rock took  
> the stage.
>
> Donations ranging from $5 to $5,000 streamed in after her story  
> broke, Gayton said.
>
> "We're incredibly grateful for all the people who went to the bank  
> or mailed a check," she said.
>
> Anderson is one of dozens of people facing foreclosure in her  
> Central District neighborhood. More than 200 houses face  
> foreclosure in Anderson's zip code, according to Realty Trac, a Web  
> site that tracks foreclosures.
>
> --