The New Face of Foreclosure

Well, it finally happened. Last week the sheriff showed up with out walking papers. Not that we're surprised, after not being able to make that oppressive mortgage payment for the last 6 months, we kind of knew this day was coming. We've set up an appointment with a counselor for next week, but there's really not alot of hope in saving the house (unless they can somehow figure out how to significantly drop our monthly payment).

But even more shocking to me is the number of people you run into every day who are going through this same situation! I had a meeting with a few other adults this past Monday, and started frankly discussing this, and every one of them could relate. People are losing jobs, or the luckier ones are just getting their hours cut back. Some are dealing with other very expensive issues and are being forced to make a choice between a roof over their heads and their children's well-being. Or medical care.

My question is this: all this TARP money that our fine government has chosen to give to these banks, what are the banks doing with it? What did the US government expect them to do with this money? Is that money ever going to show up and help the people who will eventually be responsible for repaying it? Will any of that TARP money help us stay in our home? I guess that remains to be seen.

You may ask why we don't try to put our house on the market. Well, I just don't see selling our house as a viable option at this time. We live in a development that still has open sites, and the new builder is building for cheaper than what we owe on this house. We had a realtor do a walk-through and give us a quote, and he said he had a 50% chance of selling, and that it would almost have to be a short-sale.

So are we just another casualty of this recession? Will the mortgage company work with us? Will we end up living in a tent city (or worse, the back room of the store)? We shall see...