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A foreclosure action has been pending against Mayor Myra Campbell’s home since May 6, according to court documents.

Filed by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the legal action seeks to foreclose on the mortgage taken out by Campbell [above, center] in 2002 to secure a $100,000 loan with a term of 15 years.

“I’ve never hid from this,” said Campbell, who advised her campaign running mates and others of her financial situation.

“I’m a senior citizen on a fixed income. I’m no different than many people in the state” facing a foreclosure action, Campbell said. “The only difference is that now I’m the mayor of Asbury Park.”

Campbell is currently in a loan modification program where she continues to make payments, she said. The lender will soon make her an offer on reducing the loan, which she plans to accept — allowing her to stay in the home at 1403 Mattison Ave., said Campbell.  The foreclosure action will then be dismissed, she said.

The matter should be resolved in September, Campbell said.

The loss of a year’s rental income in 2011 on a two family home she also owns on her lot, as well as unexpected medical bills, caused her to have trouble making mortgage payments, Campbell said.

The crime problem where her home is located in the western section of the city is a big factor in her financial situation, she said. During 2011, Campbell had difficulty finding acceptable tenants because of the crime, she said.

“Unlike others, I did not just walk away from the property,” she said, referring to those facing foreclosure who abandoned homes worth less than their mortgage balance.

There is also a potential lien on the property in connection with approximately $25,000 of Regional Contribution Agreement [RCA] monies for property improvements that Campbell received from the city in 2010.

If Campbell keeps the property for ten years, those monies need not be paid back under the RCA agreement, she said. If her ownership ends earlier, there would be a lien on the property for a pro-rated amount of the $25,000 based on how much of the 10 year period is left, Campbell said.

There are three other mortgages or lines of credit secured by the premises, according to records on file in the county clerk’s office: a $20,000 mortgage from the Mon-Oc Federal Credit Union from 2004, a $100,000 open-ended mortgage from Wachovia Bank from 2005 and a line of credit from Wachovia Bank in 2007.

Campbell was elected to her first council term on May 14 and sworn into office on July 1. She ran on the One Asbury ticket with John Moor, Amy Quinn, Joe Woerner and Talesha Crank. Moor and Quinn also won a term on the council.

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