For most people having their home foreclosed on is a violation of their life, it’s not unlike being broken into or personally assaulted. Unlike selling a house, which is a conscious decision you plan for, often look forward to because it can mean a positive change in your life. Our society doesn’t make the trauma any less poignant. Loss is synonymous with defeat and failure, it implies that who ever loses is somehow at fault because they’re weak or somehow flawed in what they do or think. So here you are, average American, and you decide to buy a home. This isn’t just someplace to live, like an apartment, you invest in it, and it becomes part of you and your family. You decorate it inside and out and it becomes an extension of your collective personalities. This is the place you come to relax, a safe haven from the world, it’s like a trusted friend. When you bought the house you and your significant other (if you have one) sat down went over your finances and determined that you could afford it. After all, you’ve got a good job with a solid company and as you gain experience your value as an employee will increase…won’t it? A couple years down the road your wife’s work relocates but she can still get there even though it means more than twice the travel. Neither one of you gets the expected pay raises you were counting on to offset the rising cost of food, gas, property taxes, the list goes on. Then the company you work for does layoffs, or moves over seas or closes altogether. Still, you’re not worried, after all, you’ve got years of experience a great resume, you’ll have another position in no time. Six months later when your unemployment runs out and you’ve sent out a couple hundred resumes you’re really worried. One thing leads to another and you start getting nasty letters from the bill collectors, utilities and worst of all, the mortgage company. You try to talk to people and you get some extra time. But still no job. Now you’re seriously behind, you stop everything you can live without, get rid of the second car, use up your 401K. Still no job. The folks at the mortgage company tell you unless you do something they’re going to foreclose. You ask what you can do and they tell you that your only option is a work out. You need to come up with a large lump sum and make your regular mortgage payment and an additional amount over and above that for a period of time. But you can’t come up with the lump sum and you weren’t able to make a regular mortgage payment, never mind additional money. Agencies that are supposed to be there to help homeowners keep telling you to sell but with the economy and the housing market being the way it is chances are you won’t make a sale before you lose the house. The housing market has collapsed and thousands of homes are on the market either for sale, bank owned or in foreclosure. The people you talk to want to know what happened. Why didn’t you plan better? Why didn’t you have more money saved? Why don’t you have a job? Can't you just borrow from a friend or relative? They have jobs, they have homes, and they can pay their bills. You feel that somehow, you haven’t done everything you could, you’ve failed and these people must be smarter, stronger, better than you.
Guess what? They aren’t. It just hasn’t happened to them.
I don’t know anyone who asks to have the company they work for close or move off shore or burn to the ground.
No one asks to have a family member get ill and use up all their savings on medical treatment.
They don’t ask for skyrocketing costs, stagnant pays, or lack of opportunity.
It’s very easy when you have a job, to tell someone who’s looking for work what they’re doing wrong.
It’s very easy when you have a home to go to, to tell people who are facing homelessness where they failed and to just move on.
It’s very easy when your life hasn’t been turned upside down, to tell a person whose reality has been shattered, that this is really a great opportunity to get a fresh start.
This is a traumatic event; it’s not unlike being the victim of a fire, flood or some other disaster. Some people lose everything, some escape with bits and pieces of their lives. But it isn’t the same. Fires, floods, tornados…people can’t prevent them…people who loses their houses to foreclosure are made to feel like they could have done something but simply chose not to.
Maybe it’s time we choose to change the way we think.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Regarding Anonymous Comments
As of today I will NOT publish any comments from anonymous posters. I'm not ashamed to put my name on what I write. I welcome your views and opinions even if they differ from or go against mine but I don't think it's too much to ask that you put your name on those thoughts so I and others reading them know who you are. If you can't sign your posts then please either keep them to yourself or start your own blog.
Monday, August 18, 2008
In Response to Anonymous
Dear Anonymous
Regarding your response to my last posting...and I apologize for the delay in posting it and this reply as well.
I am obviously neither sophisticated nor a scam artist. If I was I wouldn’t be in this situation. I do at least have the integrity and courage to put my name on what I publish. I AM posting your comments because you are entitled to your opinion and people reading this have a right to know that there are other points of view in the world. I freely admit on the house site and here that my husband and I HAVE made mistakes. I was NOT ‘taken out of bankruptcy’ I had the bankruptcy discharged. By the way we had very little unsecured debt, so we weren’t living in the lap of luxury. The exact amount of money involved in the ‘legitimate program’ was not disclosed and is incorrect. We did have the option of selling our house back in 2005 at which time it was worth quite a bit more and in a much more secure market. By the way, the person who invested in our equity did so by way of an “Uninsured investment” which had no FDIC or bank guaranty of loss and because he or she would be get almost 100% return on their “investment” at the end of those 2 years. We did “Get back on our feet” and tried to ‘finance’ our way out of the “Investment” which, by the way, had we been successful would have seen said investor end up with a tidy profit. BUT, because of the somewhat questionable way the ‘legitimate program’ was managing the title to our property, no bank or finance company would lend us money. The reason being, as we were finally told on our fifth attempt. “No one is going to lend you money on that house…you don’t own it!”
No, I don’t feel ‘sorry’ for the person who "bought a piece of our homes equity." The person knew they were taking a substantial financial risk but with the promise of quick turn over and significant profit which was their temptation. So it seems that they were also suckered in by the ‘legitimate program’ run by people who make their money by pulling in both homeowners in trouble and investors looking for easy money.
Also…I’m not the only person in Massachusetts who was involved in this ‘legitimate program.’ There were many others who lost their houses when the ‘legitimate program’ sold them and got not only the amount owed to the ‘investor’ (Who in these cases made their 100% profit) but a tidy profit from the sale for themselves. There is and was no “big payday” for us. All we wanted was to get the title to the house back and to warn people about becoming involved with such “legitimate programs” unless they are aware of ALL of the terms of the programs. The “legitimate program” we were involved with WAS determined by the State Attorney General to be in violation of MGL 940 CMR 25.00.
Our house isn’t a huge, hundreds of thousands of dollars house. It’s a small house in a working class neighborhood with a city lot worth less than $100K in this market. In other words a little old house on about 1/10th of an acre of land, actually 50ft x 90ft plot of land. As to hard working people, my husband and I are. He’s been working at the same factory for over 12 years. I worked my way up the ladder at my last job and have been working since I was 14. I never expected to be out of work this long. I never expected to be out of work period. I even followed the advice of the DET and went back to school but since I finished classes in December of 2007 have not found a position yet. I’ve at least had interviews but no job yet. Yes, we’ve made bad choices; one of them was becoming involved with this ‘legitimate program.’ We have to take responsibility for signing papers that we didn’t fully comprehend. (Then again all the attorneys we spoke to including the ones who finally got our title back, couldn’t understand them either and said they seem to have been written to be intentionally confusing and misleading) That mistake taught us a hard lesson. Ah…but can’t the same be said for our investor? Did they not knowingly take a risk by investing? Isn’t our investor also responsible for his or her own reality which he or she CHOSE to create? Are they any more deserving of sympathy because of their involvement? They did lose money on this one investment…but isn’t that the point of high risk investment? Taking a risk on something with the potential of above market yield? They did lose some money; and we can still lose our home unless we manage to change our situation, even if that means asking others for help. We don’t want anyone’s sympathy, we don’t want a free ride, we want what any self respecting individual does, an opportunity.
Yes, with any luck the REAL truth will come out, if someone has the guts to say something…and Karma usually has very little to do with it.
Regarding your response to my last posting...and I apologize for the delay in posting it and this reply as well.
I am obviously neither sophisticated nor a scam artist. If I was I wouldn’t be in this situation. I do at least have the integrity and courage to put my name on what I publish. I AM posting your comments because you are entitled to your opinion and people reading this have a right to know that there are other points of view in the world. I freely admit on the house site and here that my husband and I HAVE made mistakes. I was NOT ‘taken out of bankruptcy’ I had the bankruptcy discharged. By the way we had very little unsecured debt, so we weren’t living in the lap of luxury. The exact amount of money involved in the ‘legitimate program’ was not disclosed and is incorrect. We did have the option of selling our house back in 2005 at which time it was worth quite a bit more and in a much more secure market. By the way, the person who invested in our equity did so by way of an “Uninsured investment” which had no FDIC or bank guaranty of loss and because he or she would be get almost 100% return on their “investment” at the end of those 2 years. We did “Get back on our feet” and tried to ‘finance’ our way out of the “Investment” which, by the way, had we been successful would have seen said investor end up with a tidy profit. BUT, because of the somewhat questionable way the ‘legitimate program’ was managing the title to our property, no bank or finance company would lend us money. The reason being, as we were finally told on our fifth attempt. “No one is going to lend you money on that house…you don’t own it!”
No, I don’t feel ‘sorry’ for the person who "bought a piece of our homes equity." The person knew they were taking a substantial financial risk but with the promise of quick turn over and significant profit which was their temptation. So it seems that they were also suckered in by the ‘legitimate program’ run by people who make their money by pulling in both homeowners in trouble and investors looking for easy money.
Also…I’m not the only person in Massachusetts who was involved in this ‘legitimate program.’ There were many others who lost their houses when the ‘legitimate program’ sold them and got not only the amount owed to the ‘investor’ (Who in these cases made their 100% profit) but a tidy profit from the sale for themselves. There is and was no “big payday” for us. All we wanted was to get the title to the house back and to warn people about becoming involved with such “legitimate programs” unless they are aware of ALL of the terms of the programs. The “legitimate program” we were involved with WAS determined by the State Attorney General to be in violation of MGL 940 CMR 25.00.
Our house isn’t a huge, hundreds of thousands of dollars house. It’s a small house in a working class neighborhood with a city lot worth less than $100K in this market. In other words a little old house on about 1/10th of an acre of land, actually 50ft x 90ft plot of land. As to hard working people, my husband and I are. He’s been working at the same factory for over 12 years. I worked my way up the ladder at my last job and have been working since I was 14. I never expected to be out of work this long. I never expected to be out of work period. I even followed the advice of the DET and went back to school but since I finished classes in December of 2007 have not found a position yet. I’ve at least had interviews but no job yet. Yes, we’ve made bad choices; one of them was becoming involved with this ‘legitimate program.’ We have to take responsibility for signing papers that we didn’t fully comprehend. (Then again all the attorneys we spoke to including the ones who finally got our title back, couldn’t understand them either and said they seem to have been written to be intentionally confusing and misleading) That mistake taught us a hard lesson. Ah…but can’t the same be said for our investor? Did they not knowingly take a risk by investing? Isn’t our investor also responsible for his or her own reality which he or she CHOSE to create? Are they any more deserving of sympathy because of their involvement? They did lose money on this one investment…but isn’t that the point of high risk investment? Taking a risk on something with the potential of above market yield? They did lose some money; and we can still lose our home unless we manage to change our situation, even if that means asking others for help. We don’t want anyone’s sympathy, we don’t want a free ride, we want what any self respecting individual does, an opportunity.
Yes, with any luck the REAL truth will come out, if someone has the guts to say something…and Karma usually has very little to do with it.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Looking for a Miracle
This is the time of year when strange and wonderful things happen. A time for magic and miracles, when the extraordinary becomes the ordinary.
Over the last few months we have been trying desperately to find some way to save our home. While finishing the last of the college courses for my Associates Degree, I’ve been applying for jobs. We’ve got a group of Attorneys working on a law suit and trying to get the title to the house back. I even set up a web site to try to collect enough money to buy the house back from the people trying to sell it out from under us. Unfortunately, as the holidays hurtle towards us, we still have no answers. Getting through school has taken way to long, jobs are still way to scarce, the law works way too slowly and I couldn’t even find 1,000 people willing to donate a dollar each to us, never mind the 165,000 we needed to buy the house back. Christmas is just days away; people are rushing around shopping, going to parties, saying Happy Holidays. My husband and I haven’t had a happy holiday since 2002, when I had a job.
To the hand full of people who stepped up to help us by donating money, thank you so much. You have no Idea how much it means.
To the two media sources, TV 38 and WCCA TV 13, who saw fit to publicize our plight, thank you, for having the integrity to report news, not script it.
To the media sources, celebrities, corporations, government officials and individuals I appealed to over those months, who chose to ignore us and our plight, I sincerely hope that you, your friends, families and loved ones never find themselves in the same kind of untenable situation. Or, if any of you do, that you find more sympathetic and generous people than we did. (If you read any of the letters or information I sent and posted you will know that we aren’t just losing our home in an ordinary foreclosure.)
Our house, our home, is set to be auctioned off on January 9th 2008.
Partly because of those same holidays, I just don’t see any way out of this dilemma, there isn’t enough time. The Attorneys would have to get the title to the house back, I’d have to get a good paying job and we’d have to work something out with the bank in just over ten business days. Things just don’t happen that quickly in our modern, fast paced world. Sadly, fifty or so years ago you could have…things were less complicated,
So, unless someone out there has a miracle in their pocket, we’re out of time, out of luck and out of hope.
Oh, regardless of everything we’ve been through, and are going through,
Happy Holidays.
Over the last few months we have been trying desperately to find some way to save our home. While finishing the last of the college courses for my Associates Degree, I’ve been applying for jobs. We’ve got a group of Attorneys working on a law suit and trying to get the title to the house back. I even set up a web site to try to collect enough money to buy the house back from the people trying to sell it out from under us. Unfortunately, as the holidays hurtle towards us, we still have no answers. Getting through school has taken way to long, jobs are still way to scarce, the law works way too slowly and I couldn’t even find 1,000 people willing to donate a dollar each to us, never mind the 165,000 we needed to buy the house back. Christmas is just days away; people are rushing around shopping, going to parties, saying Happy Holidays. My husband and I haven’t had a happy holiday since 2002, when I had a job.
To the hand full of people who stepped up to help us by donating money, thank you so much. You have no Idea how much it means.
To the two media sources, TV 38 and WCCA TV 13, who saw fit to publicize our plight, thank you, for having the integrity to report news, not script it.
To the media sources, celebrities, corporations, government officials and individuals I appealed to over those months, who chose to ignore us and our plight, I sincerely hope that you, your friends, families and loved ones never find themselves in the same kind of untenable situation. Or, if any of you do, that you find more sympathetic and generous people than we did. (If you read any of the letters or information I sent and posted you will know that we aren’t just losing our home in an ordinary foreclosure.)
Our house, our home, is set to be auctioned off on January 9th 2008.
Partly because of those same holidays, I just don’t see any way out of this dilemma, there isn’t enough time. The Attorneys would have to get the title to the house back, I’d have to get a good paying job and we’d have to work something out with the bank in just over ten business days. Things just don’t happen that quickly in our modern, fast paced world. Sadly, fifty or so years ago you could have…things were less complicated,
So, unless someone out there has a miracle in their pocket, we’re out of time, out of luck and out of hope.
Oh, regardless of everything we’ve been through, and are going through,
Happy Holidays.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Disappointed
I really don’t know which is more disappointing. Loosing the house on October 30 or not being able to find 165,000 people willing to donate $1.00 to a fellow human being. I’ve contacted TV stations, radio stations, news papers, corporations, politicians, even people on the street. I’ve sent out hundreds of emails and I have to say the return has been really pathetic.
The estimated population of Massachusetts in 2006 was 6,437,193. If only 1 out of every 40 people in my own state donated $1.00 I would have enough money to save the house.
The estimated population for the entire US in 2006 was 299,398,484. That amounts to one person out of every 1814.
Donations that I’ve received from countries outside the United States have accounted for almost 1/3 of all the donations I’ve gotten to date. Have we as a nation become so stingy that we can spend $1.00 in gas to drive to our favorite coffee shop for a cup of coffee but we can’t make a charitable gesture to our fellow man?
Our house has become more than just a home to us; it’s become a symbol of our being able to triumph over a fraudulent monster that’s preying on ordinary people. People like us, people like you. How can you not care? How many of you out there are saying, there but for the grace of God go I? That’s happening to me now, that happened to me and I wish someone had stood up then or I know someone who’s in that situation. When someone stands up and says ‘Enough! I’m not going to let these people get away with taking advantage of me or anyone else like me any more.” We should rally around that person and show some support. I’ve seen very little support. I’ve gotten sympathy, thank you very much but I don’t need your sympathy. I have asked over and over, if you can’t or won’t donate a dollar, please give us some publicity, Talk about us, create a link to us from your web site, contact your local news paper or TV station and suggest they do a story about us. I’ve also asked that any media that covers us asks the people listening or watching to contact us if they’re being victimized by a foreclosure rescue scam. We will do what we can to help you.
When did an obtuse 19 year old woman with a blinking circuit board and a wad of clay become more news worthy than an average citizen taking on modern day gangsters who are bilking thousands of people out of millions of dollars?
The estimated population of Massachusetts in 2006 was 6,437,193. If only 1 out of every 40 people in my own state donated $1.00 I would have enough money to save the house.
The estimated population for the entire US in 2006 was 299,398,484. That amounts to one person out of every 1814.
Donations that I’ve received from countries outside the United States have accounted for almost 1/3 of all the donations I’ve gotten to date. Have we as a nation become so stingy that we can spend $1.00 in gas to drive to our favorite coffee shop for a cup of coffee but we can’t make a charitable gesture to our fellow man?
Our house has become more than just a home to us; it’s become a symbol of our being able to triumph over a fraudulent monster that’s preying on ordinary people. People like us, people like you. How can you not care? How many of you out there are saying, there but for the grace of God go I? That’s happening to me now, that happened to me and I wish someone had stood up then or I know someone who’s in that situation. When someone stands up and says ‘Enough! I’m not going to let these people get away with taking advantage of me or anyone else like me any more.” We should rally around that person and show some support. I’ve seen very little support. I’ve gotten sympathy, thank you very much but I don’t need your sympathy. I have asked over and over, if you can’t or won’t donate a dollar, please give us some publicity, Talk about us, create a link to us from your web site, contact your local news paper or TV station and suggest they do a story about us. I’ve also asked that any media that covers us asks the people listening or watching to contact us if they’re being victimized by a foreclosure rescue scam. We will do what we can to help you.
When did an obtuse 19 year old woman with a blinking circuit board and a wad of clay become more news worthy than an average citizen taking on modern day gangsters who are bilking thousands of people out of millions of dollars?
Monday, September 17, 2007
Creative = Deceptive?
When did the word 'Creative' become synonymous with deception? In some cases it isn't even as subtle as deception it's outright illegal. I looked up Creative and found it was equal to words like Imaginative, Resourceful, Inventive, Productive and Inspired. These words all seem to imply positive helpful and constructive qualities. Deception, on the other hand relates to Scam, Scheme, Con, Swindle, Racket, Cheat and Fraud. That last group of words doesn’t sound very inspiring does it?
Lately we’ve been bombarded with a plethora of ‘Creative’ services and ventures. Creative marketing, Creative financing, Creative investing…Granted most of the questionable ideas revolve around the Real Estate scene. But ultimately doesn’t it really all come down to money and how to make ones self wealthy?
I guess the ‘Creative’ part comes in when some imaginative, resourceful and inventive individual discovers a loophole, flaw or inconsistency in an existing law.
By carefully manipulating or interpreting the wording of the law they manage to pervert the intent of that law to suit their own purposes. Unfortunately for the people they victimize it may take quite some time before justice catches up with these ‘Creative’ thinkers. As some one who has been on the victim side of one of these schemes I can tell you it isn’t very pleasant to learn your trust has been abused by someone who not only wants to profit from your misfortune but wants to take it all and leave you with less than you started out with.
There is a fine line between what’s legitimate and what’s questionable from not only a legal but possibly more importantly a moral standpoint.
Most of us want to make money and live a comfortable life. When you get involved in any kind of money making venture make sure to ask your self what the real cost will be.
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