Fall Tracking

The Tamale Lady's story looked like a quintessential happy ending, as Virginia Ramos turned the tragedy of getting the boot from Zeitgeist into a permanent Mission home for her peripatetic tamale operation. But it turns out another issue is dragging her down: her mortgage. Ramos, like many low-income homeowners, was a victim of predatory lending, and is struggling as a landlady. An October 1 opening for the restaurant is "in the offing, except for one thing: Virginia's personal finances still need to be addressed," says Christopher Gil of the Mission Economic Development Agency. [Mission Local]