Many Hurricane Helene victims are still fighting banks and insurers for help six months after losing everything in the storm.
NEWLAND, N.C. — Many people who lost everything in Hurricane Helene are still battling banks and insurance companies six months after the storm hit, trying to get help as they work to rebuild.
Brittany Eggers and her family barely survived the night Hurricane Helene blew through Newland.
“I heard the first tree crack, looked out the window, and the whole mountain was coming towards us,” Eggers said. “It picked the house up and moved us about 300 yards downhill, the house split or broke in half and my seven year old rolled from my bed outside and under my husband’s track hoe.”
Incredibly, she said they all came out with just scratches, but the home they’d moved into just months before was devastated.
“[The storm] completely destroyed it,” Eggers said. “[I] was in shambles, just a couple of splinters left. We lost everything – the family dog we had for 8 years, all our vehicles, everything.”
Her neighbor, Chris Vance, had a similar experience.
“We walked so many times just looking to find anything valuable, but we weren’t able to recover anything,” Vance said. “I knew I’d get flooded, but I thought I could come back to get valuables, pictures, all the things that mean so much, but when I came back there was nothing here.”
Vance said her entire home was washed away down a nearby river. Although her home is gone, the bank calls her daily, trying to collect what’s left of her mortgage.
“I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to have two mortgages,” Vance said. “My mortgage company is called New Res, and I called them to see if they could negotiate the balance with me. I’ve been here 22 years… they don’t want to help me at all.”
A spokesperson with New Res told WCNC Charlotte that they have to talk to Vance before they can comment.
“It seems like there’d be some kind of help without having to file bankruptcy,” Vance said. “I don’t want to foreclose, but I can’t afford to keep the payment.”
She said the bank is also insisting she pay for a homeowners insurance policy.
“They got onto me because I cancelled the homeowners insurance, and they said if I didn’t reinstate the insurance they would buy insurance and I would owe them.”
Eggers is facing a similar issue but is facing issue. She said that after the storm, the bank promised to help. However, she says the bank has only offered to lower her interest rate on the $200,000 she owes and offered a second mortgage for another home.
“I politely reminded them I’m a nurse, my husband works on water lines, we don’t make enough money to have two mortgages.”
An attorney with New People’s Bank responded to a WCNC Charlotte inquiry about the matter, telling us, “any statements to the effect that the Bank has been unwilling to help the Eggers are categorically untrue.”
But Eggers said that’s not the case.
A spokesperson with the North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks provided this statement about the matter:
“We are committed to working with consumers impacted by Hurricane Helene. To facilitate communication between NC consumers and their bank or mortgage servicer, our office has established a portal that accepts Hurricane Helene complaints. Consumers are encouraged to use this form to let us know about any concerns or issues they may have. The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency may also be a resource for consumers struggling to make mortgage payments.”
Contact Michelle Boudin at mboudin@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
