Love's Real Stories

Some people are not happy with the trend toward protecting the victims of foreclosure. They see the trend as pandering to the irresponsible.

“I disagree with the term ‘victim of foreclosure’,” said one caller.”Most of these people bit off more than they could chew, and now they want somebody else to fix their problem.” She said she was sympathetic with people who lost jobs and had other legitimate reasons for foreclosure, but they were in the minority. “People give up too easily these days,” she said. “They won’t work their way out of their problems.”

More than one person emailed me blaming the collapse of the U.S. economy on irresponsible foreclosure. Their theory is home prices were driven too high by people buying more than they could afford, and then too low when those people lost their homes. “They shouldn’t have owned those homes in the first place,” said one. “Yes, loans were easy and banks were loose, but people should know better than to buy more than they can afford.

Didn’t their parents teach them not to take candy from strangers?”

One man mapped out the foreclosures in his neighborhood: “My next door neighbor refinanced his place to the hilt, took the money and ran,” he said. The house was abandoned for months before the bank foreclosed, and was a mess when it finally sold. “It sold for half what it would have in good condition. That affects the value of my house,” he said.

The house across the street from him was a “strategic default.” He said the family bought another home, and then let this one go back to the bank. “They just wanted to move and take advantage of low interest rates. They owed more on it than it was worth, so they just walked.” It’s been vacant for months, an eyesore, and selling low as a distressed property.

“The government keeps making new laws so the banks can’t foreclose fast enough and people get off free. Hey, my financial situation sucks, but I’m not going back on the deal I made.

It’s people like me that should be rewarded!”