For nearly 10 years, we have been fighting our mortgage company to protect our home and our future. After multiple payments were not credited, the company filed a wrongful foreclosure action against us and forced us into bankruptcy. We took our case to trial and proved violations of federal and Delaware consumer protection laws. We won at trial, and when the ruling was appealed, the district court of appeal ruled in our favor again.

Even after those victories, the damage has continued. Since 2016, the mortgage company has reported us as late every month for payments we proved they received. That has destroyed our creditworthiness and affected our daily lives in real ways. We have been unable to secure traditional loans for a car, for home improvements, and most devastating of all, for student loans for our children.

In August 2023, our hardship grew even worse when a 5,000-pound tree fell onto our house, front porch, and garage roof during an extreme storm. Our homeowners insurance paid immediate out-of-pocket costs for tree removal and cleanup, including $12,000 for cleanup and $10,000 for heavy equipment to remove the tree from the structure. But because the insurance check required dual endorsement, our mortgage company kept the funds, claiming we were behind on payments that we later proved they had received. Even after being ordered by the court and the Delaware DOJ to return those funds to us, we still have not received all of the money.

We are also battling our insurance company for additional money for storm damage estimated at $80,000 to $100,000, and we have filed a lawsuit against the insurance company as well. Over the past three years, we have had to use what funds we had to make some of the repairs ourselves.

We have lived in our home for 33 years, and after pouring our savings into this 10-year battle, we are still facing the financial strain of continuing to fight back. We are now preparing a civil suit for compensatory and punitive damages, and our legal expenses now include both the mortgage case and the insurance dispute. Being made whole matters to us, but our primary goal is holding violators accountable and helping other homeowners facing similar injustices find the strength to fight for themselves.

We have always believed that powerful banks and insurance companies should not be above the law or free to ignore consumer protections simply because they have greater resources and influence. This fight has never been only about our family. We hope our case helps show that homeowners deserve to have their rights respected and that no one should be forced to accept this kind of treatment without a fight.

• Donations will help pay for:Attorney fees
• Court costs
• Other out-of-pocket expenses related to both legal matters

Any support ether through a donation or by sharing this fundraiser, would mean so much to our family. Your help will give us a chance to keep pursuing accountability after years of defending our home and rebuilding from the harm this has caused. If any funds are not needed for our personal legal fight, we hope to use them to advocate and rally lawmakers to hold violators accountable.

• Thank you
• -Deborah and Kenneth Ashcraft