Anonymous Donor Pays Mortgage of Man Who Lost His Home in Mudslide

In March last year, a mudslide killed Tim Ward’s wife and some of his pets; he lost his home that day, too. Ward suffered severe injuries, including a crushed pelvis, but on top of all the tragedy, he also needed to figure out what to do about the mortgage he had on a home that no longer existed.

It seems Ward finally found some relief in the wake of this disaster, because an anonymous donor has offered to pay off Ward’s $360,000 home loan, NBC News reports. Apparently the donor read a newspaper article about Ward’s strife and contacted the lender.

Ward and his late wife lived in a farmhouse near Oso, Wash., which experienced the major landslide on March 22, 2014. The slide killed 43 people, including Brandy Ward, and 42 homes, with an average market value of $164,717, were destroyed, according to the Seattle Times. Thirty of the homes were primary residences, none of which had landslide insurance, and nearly all of them belonged to low-income families, the Seattle Times reported.

Ward was negotiating with his loan servicer, Chase Bank, about the repayment of the VA mortgage he had on his destroyed property. The anonymous donor contacted Chase Bank about paying the loan, NBC reported.

The gift could save Ward from what may have been a messy financial future. He is renting a home at the moment, and the mortgage is in forbearance, meaning he isn’t making payments while in negotiations with Chase, but that loan continues to accrue interest, and it would be costly to have to pay it off while also paying for his living space. Declaring bankruptcy is an option for getting rid of the debt, but bankruptcy severely damages a person’s credit for many years.

Victims of disasters may not be able to count on the generosity of strangers — Ward told NBC he’s thankful for his Good Samaritan — but they should seek help from relief agencies and see what help their lenders may be able to offer, so victims can better control the damage they encounter. They may also want to keep an eye on their credit reports periodically to make sure the debts in question are being reported correctly, and to dispute any errors as they arise. Consumers are entitled to a free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting agencies.