Stebics might have been in financial trouble
Mortgages on the Plainfield home of Craig and Lisa Stebic exceed the home's value, public records show.
While it is not uncommon for couples going through a divorce to find their main residence drained of its value, the records indicate that the couple may have overextended themselves financially.
Sun file
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Lisa Stebic was reported missing May 1, and her family has since celebrated Mother's Day and her 38th birthday in her absence.
The mother of two was last reported seen by her estranged husband at 6 p.m. April 30 in the Plainfield home they shared, at 13244 Red Star Drive. It is believed that her purse and cell phone were with Lisa at the time she left; however, neither her credit cards nor cell phone have been used since her disappearance.
Within the past week, reports have surfaced that Craig Stebic recently was laid off from his job as a pipefitter, and Lisa Stebic was moving forward with a petition to evict Craig from the couple's shared home.
According to Lisa Stebic's petition, she earns less than $10,000 a year as a lunchroom worker and Craig Stebic had earned more than $80,000 annually at his union job.
While only liens on a property are public record, the couple's history of taking multiple mortgages on their Plainfield home and later refinancing for larger amounts shows they were looking for cash.
Assuming Craig and Lisa Stebic had no other outstanding debt such as credit cards or student loans, they are paying as much as $3,000 per month for the two outstanding mortgages on their property when taxes and homeowners insurance are included. Utilities and other household expenses, such as groceries, would be additional expenses the couple would have to cover each month.
The Stebics' Plainfield home that was purchased in 2000 for $208,411 now has $313,000 in mortgages on it, according to records from the Will County recorder of deeds' office. Many homeowners liquidate the equity in the homes, a mortgage broker said.
"A lot of people have used their homes as ATMs," said Dennis Papiernik, CEO of Naperville-based Added Value Mortgage.
But that could be a dangerous proposition when a home no longer has any equity in it, Papiernik said. Each time the Stebics' Plainfield home increased in value, Craig Stebic took a second mortgage on the home.
According to documents obtained from the Will County recorder of deeds' office, those smaller second mortgages would later be rolled into a larger refinanced mortgage, the latest in 2002 for $248,000. But once again, a second mortgage was taken out two years later, drawing the equity from the home to the tune of an additional $65,000.
To qualify for the $248,000 mortgage without insurance, the Plainfield home would have had to been valued at $310,000 or more during the refinance in 2002, Papiernik said.
But the Will County assessor's office only values the property at about $260,000 in today's dollar. According to Zillow, a real estate sales tracking Web site, comparable properties in the same block of the Stebics on Red Star Drive in Plainfield are selling for about $283,000.
"One of the challenges with second mortgages is sometimes they don't get appraisals," Papiernik said.
With $313,000 financed on the home, the couple may be overextending themselves in their credit-to-income ratio, Papiernik said.
"As a broker, I cannot do loans above the value of the property," he said. "You don't want anyone upside-down on the house. You can't refinance, or if you transfer, you have to come to the table with a lot of money," he said.
Contact Jennifer Golz at jgolz@scn1.com or 630-416-5278.
