Worried homeowner: Sestak office did more for me in 2 weeks than 2 attorneys in a year and a half

James and Lisa Mignogna of Prospect Park are raising two teenagers after having cared for Lisa’s mother until her death from breast cancer in 2005. Lisa’s hours at work have been cut and after 18 months, James is waiting for his employer to get him full-time work. Living on roughly $1,600 a month, they struggle to make their monthly mortgage payment and recently received a sheriff’s-sale notice, even though they had been accepted for a loan modification last month.

Donald Strohl bought his Drexel Hill home 17 years ago. An installer at Exelon, the sole household provider refinanced several times to pay bills and credit cards. After an injury in September 2007, he went out of work, had surgery this past July and hopes to return to his job at Exelon soon so his family will no longer need to rely on food stamps to survive.

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While the circumstances of these people’s financial woes differs, they are united by a common fear. It’s a stomach-churning feeling that grips them each day as they complete a task considered mundane by the majority of the American population: Opening the mailbox.

They bear a cloud of shame for their predicament, and they face stress every day. Even the night is no solace, as unanswered questions haunt what should be their sleeping hours.

To no avail, many tried to contact their lenders on their own before landing at the congressman’s office. Without the authority of a federal officer, their pleas were rebuffed.

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Delaware County has had 2,568 properties on the sheriff’s-sale list through this month, and although the sales of many of the homes are postponed, the length of the list has been steadily increasing.

“To come out of this is hard,” Sestak said. “This is a very strategically important moment for America. These are good people. The system just let them down. They just need a helping hand.”

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For the Mignognas, Strohl, Bettcher and the Fuciles, their journey brought them to Sestak’s door.

“Your office did more for me in two weeks than two attorneys that I had hired in a year and a half,” Strohl said.

Bettcher said she was unsuccessful trying to refinance until she called Sestak.

“Two days later, I got a response,” she said. “I’ve probably talked more to (Sestak’s office) than my family members in the past few months to keep me from becoming a statistic.”

Partly because of this, Sestak has kept his office open seven days a week.

In 2007, his office fielded 49 housing-related calls. Last year, it jumped to 224. This year, he expects to take more than 500.