Neighbors fight for Lynn family to stay in home

LYNN – Lynn neighbors said they will stand and fight to keep James and Yvette Irwin in their Trinity Avenue home, even if it means blocking the door from potential buyers.The couple, both military veterans with two daughters, said they have struggled for three years to gain a mortgage payment modification, but mortgage service Ocwen has refused payments and set an auction date for the multi-family home for Thursday at 12:30 p.m.Yvette Irwin said Ocwen attorneys keep requesting more documentation to “complete the file,” and she was told the application for a modification will go through. But Monday attorneys said the sell date had not been postponed. Irwin said after years of faulty legal advice, “We don?t know what to believe.”Flanked by signs that read, “Don?t Evict Our Neighbor,” and “Save Our Neighborhood from Wall Street Banks,” James Irwin stood on his porch to address the crowd and promised to stand by their sides if any of them had the same problem. “It warms my heart to see you,” he said. “This is what we need to do, stand up for each other.”Yvette Irwin said with two young daughters, one 13 and one 6 years old, “For us to have to leave right now, it?s not a good thing.”Yvette Irwin said she and her husband fell behind on mortgage payments about six years ago when she had to fly back and forth to Alaska with her then-6-year-old daughter, since James Irwin was away serving in the Coast Guard. Not long after, there was a period of about seven months where the Irwins had no tenants in their home. But now with James Irwin retired from the service and working with Bridgewell and Brightstar, and with the two other apartments occupied, Yvette said they have the steady income and are able to make the payments, if Ocwen would let them.?All they want to do is make their payments, stay in the neighborhood and raise their kids,” said Lynn United for Change organizer Isaac Hodes.North Bend Street resident Bobby Boyd said he is confident the support from Lynn United for Change will help the Irwins, having won his own home back from near-foreclosure when he stood in front of the door so buyers couldn?t look at the house. Boyd said eventually they gave up and left, allowing him to buy back his home. “We?re going to stand here and stand strong with the family, and we?re not going to let it happen without a fight,” said Boyd.Hodes encouraged the crowd to meet back in front of the home on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. He said if the banks opt to work with the Irwins, there will be a message posted on the Lynn United for Change website, http://www.lynnunited.org.