Forclosed homes

[MrsFlipFlops 2]

Back in the day it was encouraged to have 3-6 months of financial reserve to live off of in case anything happens.

[Boo Boo Kitty 3]

Susan I am sorry you are going through this! I agree with you 100%!!

We too are in the same place. When we got our mortgage 9 years ago my husband worked a very good job and I did as well. He was hurt in a motorcycle accident by an asshole. Well we still have yet to see the big check we have been promised by the attorney and he hasn't worked a day since the accident and NEVER will again.

SO it isn't fair to think that people are loosing their homes because it is their fault. You know what, life happens and sometimes life sucks.

We are trying to hold on everyday. I think the only reason our mortgage company works with us is because there will be a big check someday, they know it!

I am not saying that some of it isn't their fault. But you can only plan life ahead so far, What is 6 months gonna do for ya?

[*susan* 1,709]

Back in the day it was encouraged to have 3-6 months of financial reserve to live off of in case anything happens.

While that is wonderful wisdom, it doesn't always work out. We had enough in our savings at the time I lost my job to cover 4 months. But, that didn't help once we had used that up from my being out of work for so long, then out again due to illness, then my husbands commissions dropped, my pay cut, etc. Not to mention when I became ill, I had not been at my new job long enough for it to cover most of my medical expenses, including medications which came out of pocket. You can plan all you want, but sometimes life still sticks it to you.

Thank you to everyone else who has expressed their support for me and my family. It really means a lot. After I put that out there, I was quite embarrassed to have done so. It is embarrassing to be in this situation, no matter what brought us to it. But, at the same time it really hurt to see someone complaining about overgrown lawns in their neighborhood without even thinking about how the people who lost those homes must feel and what they are going through.

[Kat817 19]

I'd guess to say we had what we thought to be about 3 months expenses in savings, and we had some CD's--and we stretched that waaaaay longer than 3 months, but in no way were we prepared for almost a year! And in our case his short term disability was all we qualified for so it paid for 26 weeks---6 months. If not for it, we would have been totally hosed! But even with that, it was base pay, and we had stupidly become accustomed to overtime pay, so it was a VERY rude awakening!

Many people like Susan are embarrassed finding themselves in these situations they would have never expected, and the depression, makes it to where you don't care if the lawn is kept up, you are going to lose the house anyway....it is a horrible place to be in I am sure.

I have no doubt many people made bad decisions, and choices. But most of us here did that with the amount of food we put in our mouths each day too-----I hated being put down because of that bad choice too! Understanding goes a loooong way. And yes it goes both ways, I do understand your fears and frustrations....I just hope they don't eat away at you until you can no longer enjoy what you DO have.

Kat

[Scarlett O'hara 0]

Maybe I should have explained a little more. People seem to be giving me a little beating. Some of what I said may have been taken the wrong way and I did not mean to offend.

Please believe me, I am not passing judgement on anyone. I have been close to loosing my own home due to illness/loss of job. Maybe I was 'lucky' because it all happened 5 years ago when the mortgage company was not taking 1,000's of phone calls a day asking for help and they had time for us. I am sorry that those compaines don't have the balls to hire more people to take the calls now and maybe do a little good for some.

I have gotten alot of comments about the overgrown yards. I am not blaming the former owners who left! I am just plain tired of looking at overgrown lawns, weeds, bushes ect... I have RA so I can't push a lawn mower, and we also have 2 young kids and not alot of free time to become gardners for 5 empty homes. When it was 1& 2 homes, we did quite a bit. Now we are just plain overwhelmed.

I pay taxes that are supposed to take care of these things. I am genuinely concerned that the banks and my city are letting these homes fall to ruin. I am constantly contacting my city rep's and filing complaints to not much avail.

Anyone ever drive by or through a city that used to be a nice decent place to live with decent homes that are now abandoned ~ burnt out, never to see their glory days again? Maybe one home on the block with a family in it trying to keep it together? I live very near to Detroit and I see it everyday. I hear stories from my grandparents who lived downtown in its heyday and they talk about how beautiful and alive it was to live there.

That's what I am afraid for! 5 out of 9 homes ~ only 4 more of us left.

I have a right to feel pride in where I live! I can worry that these empty homes are going to attact crime on my street. Thats not saying its the Jone's fault for leaving!

And yes, everyone has their own story.

Am I so very mad at the family who bought a car instead of paying their house payment? YES I AM. They told me that was the plan & I just stood there and bit my tounge. They were "tired of owning, renting is easier ~ besides we want a new car" Then they proceded to GUT the house ~ all appliances, fixtures, copper pipes, doors. Just lovely to live next too. Thanks guys for leaving us with that. People are beating the (former) door down to buy that one.

We have also had some forced to move out of state for work, and divorces. Those, yes I feel sorry for. Made sure I said good bye too. Miss them everday. Am still in touch with one of them (they are doing well in Florida).

That's what's going on over here!

p.s. I think when people are talking about the Gov. forgiving these debts ~ In the 1940's this happened and that's what the Gov. did. This country cannot survive with such a huge population having forclosed homes on their credit like that b/c this country thrives on people living off credit.

[libra 13]

Susan, I'm so sorry you're going through this. I was exactly where you are six months ago.

For the record....mortgage companies suck!

We bought a house and I had gotten a job to help with the bills. Unfortunately, I have a sick child and his immune system couldn't handle daycare. I had to quit my job to stay with him. My husband has his own business and some months are tough. We need to pay the staff before we can pay ourselves. It's been a struggle every month. We've come close to having our car repossessed and been late on mortage payments.

We've always paid our bills on time and are not the type to live beyond our means either. It's sadly a sign of the times and basically falling on hard times.

It's not right for anyone to lose their homes, especially when you think of children, who may not necessarily understand, being forced to leave their homes. It's just so sad.

I came close to selling my engagement and wedding rings to pay the mortgage. I can't bear the thought of my son being taken from the place he calls his home. It's such a hard place to be and I sympathize with anyone that has to go through it.

[di1138 8]

Maybe I should have explained a little more. People seem to be giving me a little beating. Some of what I said may have been taken the wrong way and I did not mean to offend.

Please believe me, I am not passing judgement on anyone. I have been close to loosing my own home due to illness/loss of job. Maybe I was 'lucky' because it all happened 5 years ago when the mortgage company was not taking 1,000's of phone calls a day asking for help and they had time for us. I am sorry that those compaines don't have the balls to hire more people to take the calls now and maybe do a little good for some.

I have gotten alot of comments about the overgrown yards. I am not blaming the former owners who left! I am just plain tired of looking at overgrown lawns, weeds, bushes ect... I have RA so I can't push a lawn mower, and we also have 2 young kids and not alot of free time to become gardners for 5 empty homes. When it was 1& 2 homes, we did quite a bit. Now we are just plain overwhelmed.

I pay taxes that are supposed to take care of these things. I am genuinely concerned that the banks and my city are letting these homes fall to ruin. I am constantly contacting my city rep's and filing complaints to not much avail.

Anyone ever drive by or through a city that used to be a nice decent place to live with decent homes that are now abandoned ~ burnt out, never to see their glory days again? Maybe one home on the block with a family in it trying to keep it together? I live very near to Detroit and I see it everyday. I hear stories from my grandparents who lived downtown in its heyday and they talk about how beautiful and alive it was to live there.

That's what I am afraid for! 5 out of 9 homes ~ only 4 more of us left.

I have a right to feel pride in where I live! I can worry that these empty homes are going to attact crime on my street. Thats not saying its the Jone's fault for leaving!

And yes, everyone has their own story.

Am I so very mad at the family who bought a car instead of paying their house payment? YES I AM. They told me that was the plan & I just stood there and bit my tounge. They were "tired of owning, renting is easier ~ besides we want a new car" Then they proceded to GUT the house ~ all appliances, fixtures, copper pipes, doors. Just lovely to live next too. Thanks guys for leaving us with that. People are beating the (former) door down to buy that one.

We have also had some forced to move out of state for work, and divorces. Those, yes I feel sorry for. Made sure I said good bye too. Miss them everday. Am still in touch with one of them (they are doing well in Florida).

That's what's going on over here!

p.s. I think when people are talking about the Gov. forgiving these debts ~ In the 1940's this happened and that's what the Gov. did. This country cannot survive with such a huge population having forclosed homes on their credit like that b/c this country thrives on people living off credit.

Perhaps if our country was not spend BILLIONS of dollars that we are borrowing from China and other countries on a war we could take care of our own..... just a thought......

[Scarlett O'hara 0]

If the gas prices would just go down ~ how much relief would that give us all ~ I know I would feel rich!!

[MrsFlipFlops 2]

I don't mean to sound cold hearted. And I don't mean to imply that anyone who has trouble is irresponsible, but no one here can deny that MANY are! I work in finance in retirement services. Perhaps I'm burned out with this topic... but I deal all day long with people who want to take loans, withdrawals from their 401(k)s, and early retirement from their pension because of their overextending, living on credit ways. America already has issues living within our means, we don't know how to save. And then we expect the government to come in and fix it for us. It's not fair for people like me who lived frugally during the good times to have to pay for the people who couldn't control themselves when they got good rates and more credit than they could handle.

Back in the day, middle class did not mean big house, two car, cell phones, cable TV lifestyles. Yet now we think we're somehow "entitled" to these things. I want nice furniture and good vacations as much as the next guy, but I know I need to mend my husband's clothes, repair the car when there are problems, and eat ramen when it's necessary.

There is a chronic saving problem. There's a chronic living beyond our means problem. Living on credit is living on phantom money. It never existed. By forgiving loans, then we're creating the SAME problem for ourselves again. It the same reason why oil is so high. We keep saying we need new solutions for energy. Well, yeah, we did... twenty years ago. Now we're being FORCED to find new solutions. I'd personally rather have the option to make a decision and not be forced by economics.

[*susan* 1,709]

Libra, I hear you. I love our neighborhood. My daughter has a ton of friends here. Everyone knows each other and everyone looks out for everyone else's kids. It is safe and it is home. I don't want to take her away from that. I thought about selling my rings as well, unfortunately, that is not enough. I can make my monthly payments. The problem is I can't catch up what got behind, and the stupid mortgage company just keeps adding more and more late charges to it. It is just beyond what we can handle. We were served papers last week stating we have 20 days to respond. I have been working with Countrywide since October trying to get this straightened out. When I called them on the day we were served, I was told not to worry, that is just something that is automatically done and they have on file that we are working on a loan modification. Well, how can you not worry when these are official papers, filed with the courthouse and we now have every vulture in the county knocking on our door offering to buy our house and "save us from foreclosure". I am actually planning on spending most of tomorrow on the phone with them and bug them to see if it can't be resolved within the next few days, because this is just eating me up. To be honest, I am now at the point where I just want to know, are you going to work with me or not. If not, then I think I may sell to one of the "vultures" in order to avoid the foreclosure on my credit report. Either way, I just want it to be done.

BBK, I am so sorry to hear about your husband and the circumstances that have brought you to where you are as well. Just like with Libra, these are all unforeseen circumstances that none of us could ever have predicted would happen. I hope your check comes in soon and will keep my fingers crossed for you.

[Lunabeane 2]

Susan, you really have to stay on top of countrywide. Have you considered contacting Bank of America? Bank of America recently acquired Countrywide and they seem to be more approachable and are will to provide more options. I see that you are in Jacksonville...I am in PA and Countrywide has done a number on the real estate here. Fortunately, our real estate is much more affordable here so we were able to survive the initial crunch but our neighbors were not so lucky. In fact...three families have relocated to florida to take on contruction and labor jobs.

I have a couple of links that will get you in contact with people that are fighting with Countrywide...but I can't stress enough that you don't want to take their word on anything. Get everything in writing with them. The mistake that we made was making the stupid decision to take a home equity line of credit to renovate our home. The Countrywide representative assessed our home at 25% over what it was worth and then gave us the home equity line at 10% with a promise that we could roll it into our mortgage after 1 fiscal year, dropping us down to 4.3%. Well...at one fiscal year we called and they told us that our house wasn't worth what they said it was...well no shit!!! We knew that... but were prepared to pay 10% for a year, not FOREVER! We currently are going after the appraiser that signed off on the home equity home appraisal. Bank of America is much more receptive to our situation and we aren't in jeopardy of losing our home.

Let me know if you want the information that I have.

[Lunabeane 2]

Susan, if you haven't already done so, perhaps you should call the Attorney Generals Office regarding your situation. See if you or your husband are eligilbe for a program in your area.

Consumers who believe they have been victimized by Countrywide should call the Attorney General’s fraud hotline at 1-866-966-7226 or may file a complaint online at: http://myfloridalegal.com.

A copy of the lawsuit, filed last night in Broward County Circuit Court, is available online at: http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/MRAY-7G5G7L/$file/CountrywideComplaint.pdf.

News Release - Florida Attorney General Files Lawsuit Against Countrywide Financial

Countrywide didn't get my house SUCCESS!!!! - Home Loan Forum - Loan Safe

Free Foreclosure Help - Loan Modification - Mortgage Help

Example Hardship Letter

Law.com - Saying They Were Tricked, Borrowers Fight Back With Lawsuits

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/business/29lend.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

State of Florida Sues Countrywide:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/business/01lend.html

[BayCityBandster 1]

susan, just adding my support and UNDERSTANDING about your situation. it could happen to anyone, especially with the economy the way it is. i am scared too. i will pray for you to keep your house. please keep us posted as i will be thinking of you and yours.

scarlett, i am sure you didn't mean it the way it sounded; it's just a sensitive subject for many of us right now.

[Scarlett O'hara 0]

It is a sensitive subject and although it is not personally happening to me, it is a part of me, of all of us. Sometimes you feel like your the only one ~ I am glad to see everyone reaching out, sending kind words and maybe even helping some!

[libra 13]

This was in the news this morning. Just to show how bad the foreclosure situation really is. It's truly frightening to see how many people are in trouble.

US foreclosure filings surge 53 percent in June

By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Business Writer

3 HOURS AGO

WASHINGTON - The number of homeowners stung by the rout in the U.S. housing market jumped last month as foreclosure filings grew by more than 50 percent compared with June a year ago, according to data released Thursday.

Nationwide, 252,363 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice in June, up 53 percent from the same month last year, but down 3 percent from May, RealtyTrac Inc. said. One in every 501 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing last month.

Foreclosure filings increased from a year earlier in all but 11 states. Nevada, California, Arizona, Florida and Michigan continued to have the highest foreclosure rates.

Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac monitors default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. More than 71,000 properties were repossessed by lenders nationwide in June, the company said.

While foreclosures continue to rise nationwide, efforts in some states to give borrowers more time before losing their homes appear to be working.

In Maryland, where a new law has increased the time to finalize a foreclosure to 150 days from just 15, foreclosure filings dropped by almost 18 percent from last year's levels. In Massachusetts, which last year passed a similar law, filings dropped almost 3 percent.

Still, the combination of weak housing sales, falling home values, tighter mortgage lending criteria and a slowing U.S. economy has left financially strapped homeowners with few options to avoid foreclosure. Many can't find buyers or owe more than their home is worth and can't refinance into an affordable loan.

Economists project 2.5 million homes nationwide will enter the foreclosure process this year, up from about 1.5 million in 2007.

Analysts say the mortgage industry's effort to assist troubled borrowers is being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the foreclosure crisis, and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said earlier this week that many foreclosures are "not preventable," citing borrowers who "took out mortgages they can't possibly afford and they will lose their homes."

Lawmakers and government officials have been struggling to come up with a response to soften the blow for the U.S. economy. Congress is working on legislation that would permit the Federal Housing Administration to provide new, cheaper mortgages to distressed homeowners who otherwise would have difficulty refinancing into more secure government-insured loans. Lenders would have to be willing to take a substantial loss by reducing the amount owed on the loan.

The Bush administration announced Tuesday that it would be ready on Monday to implement an FHA expansion that lets borrowers who've fallen behind on their home payments _ because of mortgage rate resets or other economic hardships _ get more affordable loans.

In the RealtyTrac report, metropolitan areas in California and Florida accounted for nine of the top 10 areas with the highest rate of foreclosure for the third-straight month. That list was led by three California cities: Stockton, Merced and Modesto. The Cape Coral-Fort Myers area in Florida was fourth.

In Nevada, one in every 122 households received a foreclosure-related notice last month, more than four times the national rate.

In today's market, about 50 to 60 percent of borrowers nationally who receive foreclosure filings are now likely to lose their homes, said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president of marketing, compared with a typical rate of about 40 percent.

"For more and more homeowners who are getting into foreclosure," Sharga said, "there is a much higher likelihood that they are ultimately going to lose the properties to the bank."