“The House Next Door” tells the story through poignant, personal stories from people directly impacted by the mortgage crisis.
In 2008, the mortgage foreclosure crisis laid waste to many communities, including the Slavic Village neighborhood in Cleveland. In 2017, director John P. Vourlis started working on a movie about the effects the crisis had on his hometown.
Earlier this summer, “The House Next Door” had its pre-release showing at Elizabeth Baptist Church. It is now available for streaming on a number of platforms.The movie tracks the crisis and offers poignant, personal stories of people directly affected. It also attempts, in just under two hours, to give a comprehensive lesson on how the mortgage crisis came about.
Early on in the movie, Norman Lange, vice president of National City Bank, says that real estate is often thought of as investment instead of shelter. The movie then tells story after story of people whose homes are in peril because investment overrides shelter. For those highlighted in the movie, the highlighted real estate is their home, the place they raise their children and come to after a day’s work.
One of those people highlighted is Barbara Anderson. She and her family moved to Slavic Village in 1982. They were the first African American family in the neighborhood. Not only did they endure taunts and threats, their garage was burned down twice. She also escaped foreclosure three times. Her own experience with predatory lenders led her to help her neighborhood crawl out of the clutches of foreclosure. She is still a driving presence as Slavic Village continues to rebuild.
Another player in this story is Blaine Murphy. A home speculator from Florida, Murphy bought dilapidated houses, sight unseen, in Cuyahoga County. Then, through falsified documents, would sell the properties to another buyer. He was arrested, tried and sentenced to two years in prison. Judge Richard McMonagle released Murphy from jail and gave then Councilman Tony Brancatelli oversight of the rest of Murphy’s sentence. Part of the sentence included a clause that Murphy had to live in one of the houses he had purchased. Cleveland.com wrote an extensive piece on Murphy’s story.
Brancatelli was instrumental in bringing “The House Next Door” to Elizabeth Baptist Church for the pre-release showing. Together with Anderson and members of the church, moviegoers were treated to a walk on the red carpet, a generous opening reception, popcorn and comfortable seats.
“The House Next Door” was released on July 16 across several streaming platforms, including Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play and YouTube Movies. During the movie’s final credits, the following quote scrolls across the screen: “There were people here who saw the disaster coming, who warned the Fed, state government, and others about what was coming. They were ignored. 10+ years after this man-made tsunami devastated the area, we look at what happened, at what’s been done to remedy the problem and to see where stings stand today. And we ask the unsettling question, could it all happen again?”
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