America's Foreclosure Epidemic

Yes, we have become a part of the horrific statistics.  Blessedly, we were able to pull our beloved ranch out of the horrific word...foreclosure...in twenty five days!  And it still cost us a bloody fortune.  But that is not what prompted me to write this post.  It is the two ladies that have told me of their impending foreclosures in the last week that have prompted me to write this post.  To be honest, I was just going to keep my mouth shut out of embarrassment, really.

But then I got to thinking how this whole thing went down.  And I delivered a load of hay back to a friends house in a sort of "poor" neighborhood in our area, and saw all of the empty houses.  And then my neighbor stopped by to pick up an antler set that she had once given me; she needed it back to decorate and try and sell because her house was being foreclosed upon.  The same house that she had cared for her dying mother in, and that she has about 15 animals in...All for $5,000.

Then I get a call on the RV that we have for sale, due to the foreclosure, of course...who ends up to be a gal that I used to work with at the food pantry.  Her house has already been done, they're out.  See ya.  Well, gee, she's hoping the judge will be real nice and see that she's got a family and twenty years of stuff and let them stay through the holidays.  Then they can go live in an RV somewhere nice, that'll be a great learning environment for three high school boys, I'm sure.

So, these are the reasons I write today.  If I sound a little pissed off, well I am.  I've got to tell you, we were funneled right into this system from the get go.  Those modifications that they offer, be careful (and believe me, I was)...they are almost designed to fail it seems.  I have heard that from almost every single person (including our attorney and the Colorado Foreclosure hotline, unofficially, of course) in the same boat.  And never, ever make partial payments, or payments once you have been put into any legal situation.  You will never see that money again, it goes into a suspension fund, luckily we learned this through friends and did not make that mistake.

I want to give you a quick example so you don't think that I wasn't paying attention like often happens.  A year or so ago when I knew we were getting behind, I did the stand up thing and got us on a modification.  We did all they said, went through the trial period, great... and then one day (perfectly legal, according to the hotline) before our first regular payment was due they told us it was $400 more.  Well, already times were tight, we started off on a bad foot, they add a ridiculous late fee, my back, blah, blah...the story goes down hill from there.

But again, this isn't about just us, what's really breaking my heart is watching my little community waste away, and feeling like there's not a damn thing we can do about it.  I actually caught myself saying to Tom last night "If we owned all of the houses, than the government couldn't."  And as crazy as it sounds, it was the first thing that has made sense to me in a long time.  What the hell does the government want with all of these piece of junk houses that only hold the love of one family, but the value to whom (or none for that matter)?

Is it all to make our trillion dollar debt look that much smaller on paper?  So that they can say they have those assets with a dollar amount that they determine the value of?  I mean it was all a big scam, the way we had to pay off the attorneys.  One day it was one amount, the next day...$520 more.  And Tom had to pay it through a glass box; I guess that is because so many people have gone nutso on the folks, they've learned they're lesson and put up choke proof barriers!

Now I know that we can't go giving everybody free rides...I'm not that much of a bleeding heart.  But most of these people are hard working honest people that have just come across hard times, mostly due to this economic hell hole we are in.  Which no one can really point their fingers at who's fault it is, and to be honest I really don't give a damn anymore; it's time to quit pointing fingers and getting our asses to work saving our neighborhoods.

And I don't really love the idea of the government owning all the homes in my hood, I don't know about you.  I like real estate to determine the value of real estate, not the government, especially since I own quite a bit of real estate in this hood.  But I do have a few thoughts rattling around in this head of mine to try and put a stop to this vicious cycle.  We can't just stand by and watch the neighborhood go to the wolves, so to speak.  At least I can't, or won't.