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Woman, 90, Shoots Self Before Eviction

Fannie Mae Forgives Loan

POSTED: 3:54 pm PDT October 3, 2008
UPDATED: 6:07 pm PDT October 3, 2008

A 90-year-old Ohio woman, facing eviction from the home in which she has lived in for 38 years, shot and wounded herself this week, according to Summit County Sheriff's Department officials.

Addie Polk was found lying on the floor of her home with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to her shoulder when police came to the home on Wednesday to serve an eviction notice, Akron police spokesman Lt. Rick Edwards said on Friday.

Officials said when the deputies knocked on the front door of her home, they did not get an answer. Police then heard a banging noise coming from the second floor of the home, local station WEWS reported.

A neighbor arrived and said he was concerned about the homeowner, so he got a ladder and entered the home through a second-floor bathroom window. She was found in her bedroom.

Polk has become a grim symbol of the U.S. home mortgage crisis. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, even mentioned her on the House floor Friday during debate over the latest economic rescue proposal.

"This bill does nothing for the Addie Polks of the world," Kucinich said after telling her story. "This bill fails to address the fact that millions of homeowners are facing foreclosure, are facing the loss of their home. This bill will take care of Wall Street, and the market may go up for a few days, but democracy is going downhill."

According to court records, four years ago, the homeowner took out a loan against her house.

The home was appraised at $28,000. As of last year, she owed more than $45,000 on the loan.

Fannie Mae said it will set aside the loan of a woman who shot herself as sheriff's deputies tried to evict her from her foreclosed home, according to CNN.

On Friday, Fannie Mae spokesman Brian Faith said the mortgage association had decided to halt action against Polk and sign the property "outright" to her.

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