San Bernardino brothers trying to save home from foreclosure after losing parents

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) -- Three brothers in San Bernardino have already lost their parents and now are asking for help to save their home from foreclosure.

Memories are all the Ascencio brothers have left now of their parents.

As young children, they lost their mother to cancer.

Then two years ago, while on a church retreat their father died of a heart attack.

"I was only 19 when my dad passed away and I was planning on going to college when he passed away," said Luis, now 21. "But when I got that phone call I knew I had to go straight to work."

Paulo said the dual tragedies made him grow up fast. There wasn't much time for fun - it was all about working to keep the house and take care of his younger brothers.

Together Paulo and Luis took care of their youngest brother, who is still in high school. But when Paulo lost his job due to cutbacks, they couldn't make the mortgage payment.

He found a new job and sold his car to makeup the past due payments on the house.

But when he went to pay, the mortgage company demanded the payment plus an additional $5,000 to reinstate the loan.

On top of that, Paulo says he didn't know to transfer the home to his own name when his father died.

"They basically told us that we had to go through probate and everything so that's what the fundraiser is for," Paulo said.

The brothers started a GoFundMe page to raise the funds needed to pay for a probate attorney and save their home from foreclosure.

Since they have only until the end of this week to come up with some of the money to reinstate the loan, a friend suggested they share their story using #abc7eyewitness.

"It is just crazy to think we are that much closer to losing a home we almost own," Paulo said.