Foreclosures

My wife and I have managed, so far, to hang onto our spot of land and mobile home. I suppose we could have a brick home if we put our mind to it but we are so thankful for what we have right now. It is still fresh in my mind how we pulled onto this property in our little red car. There was nothing but red slate rock and trees. Our stuff was in storage. We parked the car and started over from nothing but our love for each other.

I think that is the case for many people. Banks see real estate and value and fluctuations in the market. Real people see a home where long hours and sweat have forged a place to call 'our place'. You cannot sell that on the courthouse steps 'for a song'.

I do not usually read the legal section of our local paper. I am not really interested in people changing their names, new corporations or the legal double-talk there. This week I did look closer. I was amazed at how many foreclosures there were. Ten and a half pages of legals and most were foreclosures. Our county is not densely populated, nor is it a rich county. (Well, except the government acts like there is a lot of money here.)

As always, people will figure out a way to make money off other people's misery. So have they done with the rash of foreclosures. I see it like this: people struggle to keep their home, they get behind and plead with the bank or mortgage company to give them enough time to get back on their feet. They pour their heart out about how they have three children, they have just gotten a new job and can get back on track with just a little time. The company listens with cold attention. When the homeowners soul is lying prone on the desk the answer comes. "NO."

It may be that there are some companies that are making sincere effort to let people keep their home. After all, we have been in extreme circumstances. You'd think we would all be pulling together. It did not happen. The government took tax payer money after the banks cried their eyes out to Congress and the president. They took that money and rebuilt their companies without regard to compassion for the very people who put up the money for their bailout.

It may seem unfair to make such statements but I feel that they are justified. All you have to do to prove it is drive up and down the road. Look at the signs and check out the legals.

When a person is kicked out of their home, the story does not end. They will be hit with all kinds of fees and perhaps even have to pay some of what they owe on the home they no longer have. They will be beaten until no more blood comes out. It is just not right. I know, in the past, there have been deadbeats who lost their homes because they were just to lazy to work. Our recent, current situation is not the same.

The old adage that "you can only borrow money when you can prove that you do not need it", is still true. I do not see banks and mortgage companies returning the favor showed to them by our government and the American people. It is still checks and balances and how we look on the stock market. People are pones in the game of money marketing.

Say, I am mean. Say, this does not sound like the speech of a kind person. Well, I cannot help it. I have a home but many people are 'who knows where' because they did not get any compassion. They do not have an internet account so they can speak up for themselves. They are out there trying to rebuild their lives, no thanks to all this money that is going everywhere except where it should go.