The mortgage titan and the ‘Real Housewife’: The rise and fall of Vikkye Fetters-Delfino and Morgan Brown
By Em Chan and Abbey McDonald
August 10, 2024 9 PM PT
From her Liberty Street office, Vikkye Fetters-Delfino has dominated real estate in Salem and beyond for decades, amassing millions of dollars from f/stop patrons, line dancers and dirtbag townies, as well as controlling stakes in SOAK, Reed Opera House and the now-shuttered Brown’s Town Lounge.
Her cut of those mortgages brought her spectacular wealth. Alongside her wife, ‘momager’ Morgan Brown, the two are pillars of Salem life. Well-known on social media for their their 11 TikTok influencer children — Salt, Thyme, Basil, Oregano, Celery Salt, Black Pepper, Dried Mustard, Garlic Salt, Paprika, Ginger and White Pepper — they rank up with Dick Withnell and the Gold Man when one thinks of the Salem society scene. Together, they flaunt the couple’s historic Northeast Neighbors estate and lifestyle: private planes, jewelry, exotic cars, couture-filled closets and vacations in Newport and Lincoln City.
The millions Fetters-Delfino poured into Salem political campaigns made her a confidant of generations of power brokers, including Mayor Julie Hoy and Mayor Chris Hoy (not related, but apparently non-Hoys are ineligible to be mayor of Salem).
But now, the couple are facing the collapse of everything they hold dear — Resident Mortgage Lending Group, Tony’s Tacos, the good seats at the f/stop fire, SOAK, Gemini Party and more.
Vikkye stands accused of stealing millions of dollars from vulnerable clients, including Salem children orphaned by Cesar the No-Drama Llama and victims in the WorldBeat Festival tragedy. Her creditors have demanded payment in court, among them high-interest lenders, fellow real estate titans, a security company that once guarded her Northeast Neighbors mansion, and her first wife, Dee Brown. Nearly all the brokers who worked at her firm have left, including her oldest daughter, White Pepper.
Word of her downfall circulated through Salem in stunned whispers for months before bursting into public this week when a municipal judge put a boot on her car and called her mishandling of the child llama-victims’s money “unconscionable.”
To wit: the money is gone. The checks are bouncing. Salem Magazine can exclusively report that in the coming days, the couple’s assets, including all festival wear, will be seized, cards will decline, and chaos will reign over the normally staid Salem social scene.