She proved the documents were forged. The court agreed. She lost the house anyway.
It started simply. She followed her loan servicer’s instructions and stopped making payments to qualify for a modification. They foreclosed instead.
What she found in the paperwork would consume the next seven years.
At the Helm is a legal memoir told from inside the case — built on court records, transcripts, and sworn testimony. Representing herself, Leena went to court 64 times and proved the documents used against her were forged. The judge called the evidence “compelling” and “uncontroverted.” The outcome did not change.
How is this even possible?
This is not a story about losing a home. It’s about what happens when the rules are followed — and still don’t matter. My fight is not over. The question is what happens next.
#2 in Amazon Hot New Releases — Criminal Evidence
The local paper just covered my story. Seven years later, Julian is still paying attention.
The appeals are pending. The case is not over.
“This could happen to all of us.”
— Linda W., Amazon review
“Ms. Hannonen is a heroine who has taken on one of the most evil and corrupt institutions — and what she exposes is beyond concerning for everyone’s freedom.”
— Catherine B., Amazon review
“This book gave me more insight than any attorney I’ve ever contacted.”
— Cynthia S.C., Amazon review
Sign up for updates on the litigation, new court filings, and media coverage — plus other cases involving the same actors: U.S. Bank, Gottschalk, SLS/NewRez, and the forged instruments that started all of this.
The Homeowner's Guide to Fighting the Mortgage Machine
The book documents what happened. The course teaches you what to do about it.
Nine modules. The documents you need, the fraud patterns to look for, the statutes that govern who can actually foreclose, and the courtroom procedure that gives you a fighting chance. This is not legal advice. It is the education the system assumes you will never get.
The live Zoom calls are where the course becomes a clinic. Every month, Richard runs a live mock courtroom — real arguments, real objections, real language. You don’t watch. You train. In your first month, weekly calls with Leena and Richard put you inside the strategy before you ever walk into a courthouse.
Built by two people who lived this. Leena took her own forgery case to trial pro se. The court found the forgery evidence compelling and uncontroverted, granted Cancellation of Instruments, and found violations of UCL § 17200. Two appeals are active. The fight is not over. Neither is this course.
Richard Mendez has been investigating mortgage fraud for over twenty years. None of this requires a law degree. All of it requires preparation. Order now.
Breaking Through
This book tells the story of what happened in the courtroom. These paintings tell the story of what happened to me. For years, my art studio became the only place where the noise stopped. After another day buried in legal briefs, I would walk into the studio and paint. Not because I was inspired—but because I needed somewhere for the fear, anger, grief, and exhaustion to go.
Without that outlet, I honestly don’t know what would have become of all of it. Some people numb themselves. Some give up. I had paint. These paintings quite literally helped save my sanity.
The white horse wasn’t painted to illustrate this chapter. It emerged because some emotions refuse to stay contained. It charges through the chaos because sometimes moving forward is the only choice you have. I don’t just see a horse. I see survival. Maybe that’s why these paintings belong in this book. They aren’t decorations. They’re a record of a person who refused to let bitterness have the final word. If this piece speaks to you, perhaps it was always meant to.
She Lived Anyway
A woman who carried pain in her body and turned it into language.
This portrait isn’t about myth or martyrdom.
It’s about endurance. About making beauty while suffering. About refusing to disappear.
I painted her not as an icon, but as a mirror.
For anyone who has lived inside a broken system, a broken body, or a long fight that never asked permission. Frida didn’t paint to be palatable.
She painted to stay alive. She endured. So do we.
SOLD
Petals of Passion
There was a time when life’s weight dimmed my colors. The brush sat still, and the fire that once fueled my art felt buried under layers of survival.
But slowly, piece by piece, stroke by stroke, I began to find my way back—back to the light, the rhythm, the why.
Petals of Passion was born from that return. Every bloom in this painting carries the energy of rebirth—the fierce will to thrive again. It’s not just about flowers; it’s about what happens when the soul rediscovers its fire. Can you feel it too—the moment life cracks open, and the light rushes in?
Old Soul Rising
Strength doesn’t always look like force.
Sometimes it looks like patience.
She’s not swimming. She’s ascending.
She doesn’t rush the tide.
The tide moves for her.
A study in quiet power and earned resilience.
Created for you who understand that presence doesn’t need volume.
Flow. Adapt. Rise.