Andy Sobel

Meanwhile, the market provided only heartache for first-time buyer Andy Sobel.He faces foreclosure on a one-bedroom condo he bought for $240,000 two years ago in Rolando, a neighborhood southeast of San Diego State University.

Sobel took out first and second mortgages with adjustable rates to make the purchase, and once the monthly payments started adjusting upward and the value of his condo fell, he said he had no choice but to stop making his payments.

He's now in the foreclosure process and while his condo is up for sale at a much reduced price - as low as $165,000 - he's had few nibbles.

"I was a naive buyer, I'll admit, but no one should have put me in this loan," said Sobel, who works at the San Diego Organizing Project, a faith-based group advocating for low-income families.

Andy Sobel is selling his San Diego condo for $60,000 less than he owes on his mortgage.He's six months behind on his payments, but it's all he can do to avoid foreclosure.He's also writing to Rep.
...
"Please don't let this happen to anyone else," Sobel, 48, says he's writing, and will explain how he was "duped" into buying his first home in 2004 with an adjustable-rate mortgage designed for him to pay only the interest each month, no principal.

Sobel, a community organizer for a non-profit, feels there was no regulation to protect him from the mortgage broker who got him a loan, then changed companies.Or from the lender who wouldn't talk about renegotiating the loan until after the interest rate increased and Sobel had missed three payments.

Andy Sobel is selling his San Diego condo for $60,000 less than he owes on his mortgage.He's six months behind on his payments, but it's all he can do to avoid foreclosure.He's also writing to Rep.
...
"Please don't let this happen to anyone else," Sobel, 48, says he's writing, and will explain how he was "duped" into buying his first home in 2004 with an adjustable-rate mortgage designed for him to pay only the interest each month, no principal.

Sobel, a community organizer for a non-profit, feels there was no regulation to protect him from the mortgage broker who got him a loan, then changed companies.Or from the lender who wouldn't talk about renegotiating the loan until after the interest rate increased and Sobel had missed three payments.
...
Whatever action Congress or regulators take, it'll be too late for Sobel in San Diego and many others like him who got in over their heads.

"I know there are a lot of people like me, families - this ruins some people," Sobel says.

Andy Sobel, Community Organizer

Participants in the training event hosted by ACT included Donald Cohen of the Center for Policy Initiatives in San Diego, Julia Gross of Partnership for Working Families, Sara Zimmerman of the Gulf Coast Accountability Project, John Harder and Andy Sobel of the PICO affiliate San Diego Organizing Project and Madeline Janis-Aparicio of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy.

The money for private hospitals was also removed from the proposal, making the initiative potentially more attractive to voters, said Andy Sobel of the San Diego Organizing Project, a PICO affiliate.

"The model works," said Sobel, referring to the Santa Clara County program.
...
Sobel says the coalition working on the cigarette tax will start gathering signatures from registered voters on Feb. 11. They'll need 120,000 valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot. "Now we have hospitals and groups like American Cancer Society and American Lung Association on board, which are some heavy hitters," said Sobel. "It's looking pretty good that we'll get it on the ballot."

Sobel says the initiative's biggest opponent will likely be the tobacco industry.
...
With the projected $405 million to be spent on children's healthcare, Sobel said each signature equals about $33,000 for kids. "Hopefully, in a year we'll be celebrating," he said.

The money for private hospitals was also removed from the proposal, making the initiative potentially more attractive to voters, said Andy Sobel of the San Diego Organizing Project, a PICO affiliate.

"The model works," said Sobel, referring to the Santa Clara County program.
...
Sobel says the coalition working on the cigarette tax will start gathering signatures from registered voters on Feb. 11.They'll need 120,000 valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot."Now we have hospitals and groups like American Cancer Society and American Lung Association on board, which are some heavy hitters," said Sobel."It's looking pretty good that we'll get it on the ballot."

Sobel says the initiative's biggest opponent will likely be the tobacco industry.
...
With the projected $405 million to be spent on children's healthcare, Sobel said each signature equals about $33,000 for kids."Hopefully, in a year we'll be celebrating," he said.

The money for private hospitals was also removed from the proposal, making the initiative potentially more attractive to voters, said Andy Sobel of the San Diego Organizing Project, a PICO affiliate.

"The model works," said Sobel, referring to the Santa Clara County program.
...
Sobel says the coalition working on the cigarette tax will start gathering signatures from registered voters on Feb. 11.They'll need 120,000 valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot."Now we have hospitals and groups like American Cancer Society and American Lung Association on board, which are some heavy hitters," said Sobel."It's looking pretty good that we'll get it on the ballot."

Sobel says the initiative's biggest opponent will likely be the tobacco industry.
...
With the projected $405 million to be spent on children's healthcare, Sobel said each signature equals about $33,000 for kids."Hopefully, in a year we'll be celebrating," he said.

Meanwhile, the market provided only heartache for first-time buyer Andy Sobel.He faces foreclosure on a one-bedroom condo he bought for $240,000 two years ago in Rolando, a neighborhood southeast of San Diego State University.

Sobel took out first and second mortgages with adjustable rates to make the purchase, and once the monthly payments started adjusting upward and the value of his condo fell, he said he had no choice but to stop making his payments.

He's now in the foreclosure process and while his condo is up for sale at a much reduced price , as low as $165,000 , he's had few nibbles.

"I was a naive buyer, I'll admit, but no one should have put me in this loan," said Sobel, who works at the San Diego Organizing Project, a faith-based group advocating for low-income families.

Meanwhile, the market provided only heartache for first-time buyer Andy Sobel.He faces foreclosure on a one-bedroom condo he bought for $240,000 two years ago in Rolando, a neighborhood southeast of San Diego State University.

Sobel took out first and second mortgages with adjustable rates to make the purchase, and once the monthly payments started adjusting upward and the value of his condo fell, he said he had no choice but to stop making his payments.

He's now in the foreclosure process and while his condo is up for sale at a much reduced price - as low as $165,000 - he's had few nibbles.

"I was a naive buyer, I'll admit, but no one should have put me in this loan," said Sobel, who works at the San Diego Organizing Project, a faith-based group advocating for low-income families.