SEATTLE – Housing advocates and lending counselors say they're being overwhelmed with calls for help from desperate Seattle-area homeowners, many on the brink of foreclosure.

It's been a terrible year for 84-year-old Everlena Joplin. In January, her great-grandson was killed in a gang-related shooting. Now she fears she could lose her Central District home.

Last year, Joplin refinanced and took a negative amortization loan. She is only paying interest and, as rates go up, so do her monthly payments.

But because she's only paying interest, her principal is rising too, meaning she's getting further and further behind.

"Was it explained to you that you could end up owing more on your house?" we asked.

"No, that wasn't explained at all," she said.

Mortgage counselor Judy Poston of Solid Ground is trying to help Joplin find a way out.

Poston sees a lot of red flags in Joplin's paperwork. It's confusing and inconsistent. Her income is listed as $7,000 a month, but she really brings in only $1,500 from Social Security and renting out part of her home.

"I'm not an attorney, but I would characterize this loan as a predatory mortgage loan," she said.

While Poston tries to sort it all out, but Joplin's in a race against time. Her payment is going up again in October.

Joplin's not alone. As interest rates reset, thousands of Seattle-area homeowners are facing skyrocketing mortgage payments – payments many people just can't afford.

Joplin has raised three generations in this house and she had planned to stay there for the rest of her life. But that's looking more and more unlikely.

Solid Ground, which helps low income families, says it's getting more than 50 calls a week from Western Washington homeowners who are having trouble paying their mortgages.