Your Voices: Military Family Faces Foreclosure

This is the second installment of Dispatches from the Displaced, in which one homeowner shares his or her story of facing foreclosure to represent the over 10,000 houses that are foreclosed each weekday. Read yesterday's story from Connie in Queen's Creek, AZ here.

Have a story on how a home foreclosure has affected you, your family or your friends? Send it to us at [e-mail], and sign up here to receive updates on the feature as it progresses.

Today's testimonial comes from a military family. Carol Ann Smith has a son serving in Iraq and a husband who served in Vietnam.

I have a daughter who is mentally ill and my husband and I are raising her two children. The cost of her treatment and the care of the children made it difficult to pay the bills. My husband taught Algebra and Geometry in the public schools and I am a second shift computer operator.

In desperate circumstances we refinanced our home with HSBC at a 12% rate, thinking that we could refinance in a year. Then, my husband had a stroke and had to take early retirement. We quit paying our mortgage and filed bankruptcy.

HSBC has offered an 8% rate, but they added $18,000 to our $180,000 mortgage, raising the loan amount to $208,000. The house would not appraise for more that $180,000.

We received this offer in a letter. The payment is still too high. I have tried to call HSBC and left at least 20 or 30 messages, but they do not return my calls (we have signed a waiver through our attorney allowing direct contact.) If they would work with us on the payment, we would be able to stay in our home. It is just frustrating that they won't return my calls.

No one placed a gun to our head and made us make this terrible loan, but we are willing to pay back every cent if they would only lower the rate to make the payment something we can afford. Otherwise, HSBC will own a home that needs quite a bit of work, in a neighborhood where several homes are already for sale.

My husband is a Vietnam veteran and my son is currently in Iraq. We are good citizens that have faced life changing events. I pray for everyone going through the anxiety and stress of losing a home. Ultimately, we are all in this together.

Today, while Smith stares down foreclosure, over 10,000 people will lose their homes. Today also marks the launch of the Home Defenders campaign run by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN. Homeowners in seven cities across the country, including New York and Los Angeles, have banded together to fight foreclosure with acts of civil disobedience. These so-called homesteaders will risk arrest by staying in their homes while banks and law enforcement inevitably attempt to throw them out.

Share a story of how the housing crisis has affected you by emailing [e-mail]. And SIGN UP HERE to receive updates when we publish new stories.

For testimonials from these homesteaders and others facing foreclosure, take a look at Brave New Foundation's new site, Fighting For Our Homes.

Find out more about Dispatches from the Displaced, HuffPost's Eyes&Ears series of reader-submitted foreclosure stories.

Comments

[420]

10:19 PM on 02/21/2009

I have friends who sell these loans. They told me today, they should have never offered those loans. Yes the people who gamble on making it work are at fault. But the guys on the other side of the desk know what they are selling, and they should be ashamed of themselves. I was getting equity loan, but the only way they would give me the loan was to get an additional 100,000 that I did not need. The bait, if you take more $$$ out you get a better loan.
I hate when all us little guys turn on each other, it is the fat cat who can care less about us. They are the enemy, not the dumb homeowner who bits off more than he can chew, or the union worker who get $30 bucks an hour, it is the fat cat making 10 million at our expense. Some people can pull themselves up by the boot strap, others are not built that way.
These people have offered their live for this country, I will bail this group out. And proud to do it.

[mcjorich]

02:09 PM on 02/21/2009

WHY does our government continue to bail out the financial industry, banks, insurance companies, etc, demanding no accounting of the billions of dollars, while people are put out onto the streets? It was my understanding that the initial billions for the banks were to purchase toxic assets, but the banks were not willing to take a loss on them and so Paulson just infused money into banks. Why continue to try to save them, save money, save the People, foreclose on the banks, allow the financials and insurance companies to return the billions in welfare they have taken from the government and take bankruptcy, close their doors. Is everyone aware that we the People can survive without banks? It will be different, but what the heck, take a chance, we can do it.

Just the View from My Trailer Park.
Thank you.
MJ Richards

[LVorBust]

06:32 PM on 02/20/2009

I find it funny that people are referring to these homes that the initial mortgage was $180k as McMansions. I'm from Las Vegas and in the last 5 years it was impossible to buy a modest three bedroom home for less than $250k in a neighborhood that was good to raise a family. I think maybe realizing that housing prices for a basic home were quite different in other parts of the country might help some understanding.

I don't like the idea of bailing out people who made very poor choices. I do believe in accountability and if it were a situation where it was a few people that made poor choices, then yes, they need to suffer the consequences. However, things aren't simple and the complexity comes from the fact that there are A LOT of people that made these poor choices and not a few.

Unfortunately, the number of poorly informed people that got into outrageously unpragmatic loans has made it so everyone, even renters are affected. So even the most responsible of us are suffering because of it. I'm not happy with it, but I'd rather see my renting friends employed again. I'd like to stop living in fear wondering if we'll ever get out of this crisis. If I have to suffer anyway, I'd rather suffer on the path that leads all of us, deserving or not, into a healthier economy.

[katielady]

05:53 PM on 02/20/2009

Bush cut benefits and refused to raise pay for the military.. Republicans have long refused to pay servicemen.. CHECK THIS OUT!!! They should be part of the stimulus bill.. We owe these brave people a roof and care for their families. We treated the returning servicemen from Korea badly, those returning from Viet Nam were treated dishonorably.. Time to put up..

[Luvial]

06:03 PM on 02/20/2009

Bush? Bush is no longer President. Get over it.

This is all happening on Obama's watch. The only thing different between Bush and Obama is the "Mission Accomplished" banner behind Obama when he gives his speeches about how he is fixing things.

[RuthlessDictator]

06:51 PM on 02/20/2009

Obama has only been President for a month and you know that.

I.dio.t!

[TequilaMockingbird]

07:00 PM on 02/20/2009

This all started years ago.. and what we are experiencing now is a direct result of Reagan's Me Generation and People being sold on the idea that a free market was free from risk.. Competition would provide the best health care and the best way to plan for your retirement was to give someone you didn't know your money and trust that in 30 years you would have amassed a small fortune and the person you gave it to would give it back..

It might please and console you to blame Obama but to quote Jack Handy..“I guess we were all guilty, in a way. We all shot him, we all skinned him, and we all got a complimentary bumper sticker that said, "I helped skin Bob."”

[TrueIndy08]

01:06 AM on 02/21/2009

katie, sorry.... our military has seen pay raises every year since Bush has been in office, small, but they still got raises... It was under Clinton that the military was slashed! I would know, I am married to a Marine...

I am NO FAN of Bush, but thought I would clear this up....

[Luvial]

05:47 PM on 02/20/2009

Christ threw the moneylenders out of the temple. In Obama's America the moneylenders are throwing the people out of their homes. Trillions for the moenylenders. The street for American families.

[LuckyBlessed]

07:06 PM on 02/20/2009

This might be funny, if it weren't so true.

[Chlowina]

10:58 AM on 02/21/2009

no no no no no... as in biblical times, gauging the actual time frame for a period is always in question. Again, Obama's America inherited, and was given custody of the moneylenders throwing people out of their homes. This began long ago.

[Meggie]

04:28 PM on 02/20/2009

With proper health care available to ALL citizens, this family would not be in this situation. It's disgusting that we think any part of this is OK. This is christian? At least, "conservatives", quit fooling yourselves about that!

[LuckyBlessed]

07:10 PM on 02/20/2009

But if we had Single Payer health care, that would mean money out of the hands of insurance and pharm companies. There is too much lobby blood money to stop the health care hemoraging of over 15% of our GDP.

[overseas]

03:52 PM on 02/20/2009

everyone has to calm down and keep something in mind here, it is practically impossible for HSBC to be doing anything illegal here. This is a highly regulated market. Keep in mind that there is a reason behind every cent of the $18K that they want to tack onto the mortgage. No doubt these amounts consist of Delinquent Interest which the borrower is behind on as well as NUMEROUS advances that they have made for the borrower such as Property Tax, Insurance and Maintenance payments which HSBC probably had to come out of pocket for to prevent the government from placing a lien on the property. Ms. Smith owes this money to HSBC, it certainly didn't come out of thin air.

[mcjorich]

02:30 PM on 02/21/2009

I'm sorry, I thought that WAS the problem, that HSBC and the rest of the banks, banking houses, financials, DID create that money out of THIN AIR, by sucking people into toxic loans, with the bundling of worthless paper, the credit default swaps, creating tranches, the old Machiavellian bait-an-switch, so HSBC, et al, could then suck out of the People and the system as much money as they could and their rapacious greed knew no bounds. American financials' GREED has sent this monetary toxicity around the world.

So let us not blame the victims of bankers' avarice for this miasma. The financial sector knew what they were doing, the victims of their greed and lies depended on them for clarification and guidance and for their trust were guided to financial ruin. And the difference between illegal and immoral doesn't make it any less wrong.

Just a View from my Trailer Park. Thank you.
MJ Richards

[cltclt]

03:08 PM on 02/20/2009

The Rush talking points are turning the working class against each other. I still work two jobs and I'm still in my home (30 year fixed mortgage), yet 2 foreclosures in my neighborhood are being sold by the bank for $45,000! less than the appraised value. My property tax has not gone down though my house is worth less. I wouldn't blame this family for this situation if they lived on my street. Why weren't more people up in arms about the 800 billion TARP plan that Bush and Paulson lied about the reason for and then gave to the bankers with no strings?

[Luvial]

05:49 PM on 02/20/2009

Right. I am waiting for my home assessment to go down, too. But I am not holding my breath. Government never cuts any spending.

[LuckyBlessed]

07:14 PM on 02/20/2009

Very good point. The only reason I can come up with is that very few common folk have seen the rich bankers up close and personal. They don't know how these people think, particularly think about the common folk they are living off of.

[holeybuybull]

01:34 PM on 02/20/2009

First: This is not a military family, but a family with a member(son) in the military.
Second: Math deficiency - HSBC added $18,000 to a $180,000 mortgage, resulting in a $198,000 mortgage, not a $208,000 mortgage. Apparently, our education system has been broken for decades.

[ForObamaInDallas]

02:26 PM on 02/20/2009

I suspect the extra $10k was from the 12% financing they had just mentioned in that paragraph, making the total become $208k.

[ForObamaInDallas]

02:27 PM on 02/20/2009

Oh, and this most certainly is a military family. Did you not notice that her husband is a vietnam vet?

[holeybuybull]

02:41 PM on 02/20/2009

So your logic is that even after leaving military service and being employed in the private sector, you are still a military family? There was no mention in the story of where the $10,000 discrepancy came from, but you "suspect"? Stick to the facts that are provided.

[TequilaMockingbird]

12:43 PM on 02/20/2009

part 2



Society measured /Measures You by your Credit Score and the more debt you accquired and paid regular interest on the better a Person you would Become.. Entities that are not even prospective lenders use them to judge your worthiness for Employment ,Auto Insurance and even Utilities use them to assess deposits for service. Borrowing money for things you can't afford to pay cash for became a way of life for most and not only was it shoved down our throats, We were Penalized for not Participating.

[TequilaMockingbird]

12:42 PM on 02/20/2009

Me and Mine have been fortunate. My Husband is an Accountant and was interested in Lean Accounting Principles before they were 'cool' and so we have lived that way for the past 15 years.. No Credit Cards, no car payments, no revolving credit of any type... if we wanted something and couldn't afford it right then, we saved for it.. if we couldn't manage to save for it, we figured we either didn't really want it or we couldn't really afford it.. It hasn't been easy and we haven't until now received any glowing commendations from friends and family. Usually I actually had to try and justify to friends and co-workers Why.. We as Professional People making a decent salary paid cash for used vehicles and rode our bikes, didn't/don't have a Credit Card for some vague 18% interest emergency, shopped the Goodwills and refused take on a mortgage without managing to save at least 20% for a Down Payment (60 Grand) because there are NO Good Mortgages without Money Down for People that have rejected debt and have very little credit history. We were considered eccentric and unrealistic and subject to many lectures about the importance of Having Credit (which requires you to go into debt in order to get it).. .. and We have paid a certain price for our choice not to be herded into debt.

[ForObamaInDallas]

02:28 PM on 02/20/2009

My friends and I call it living on a "cash basis" only. Who knew there was a name for it, i.e. "Lean Accounting Principles?" Makes what I've been doing for the last several years sound so efficient, rather than frugal and cheap. :D

[TequilaMockingbird]

03:43 PM on 02/20/2009

LOL I know.. I am a Trendy Depressionista instead of a cheap@ss..

and my old bowls and vases from the Goodwill are American Art Pottery now and my furniture pieces from the St. Vinnie's are suddenly beautiful Eames era classics!!!! and my insistence that "if you have taste,patience and a little creativity you don't need a lot of money to have great things" doesn't sound so much like a defensive excuse anymore..

As a Person who has lived by Lean Accounting Principles... Are you resentful about what on the surface does appear to be mass scale reward for mass scale stupidity?

I probably would be if I didn't sleep so well at night and Well, Cash really is King right now and while I may not have much Credit.. I do have some Cash..

[TequilaMockingbird]

12:40 PM on 02/20/2009

I suppose it is easier to think of some homeowners as ignorant greedy fools than it is to face to the real problem which is Stagnant wages and Spiraling Prices equal the Targeted Persecution of The Working Poor.

[somsoc]

11:48 AM on 02/20/2009

The actions of the banking industry are criminal. The only way to stop this behavior is to nationalize the banks. On the other side of the ledger our military, particularly the enlisted ranks should receive a base pay increase of 100% across the board and those from E-1 thru E-3 should see an increase of 150% with scaled increases in the immediate ranks, E-4 and E-5, above them. Our military members should not be living on poverty incomes.

Finally, the base starting scale for Veterans disability benefits for combat related disability need to be increased by 125%, again, a wounded Veteran should not have to live the rest of his or her life in an hand to mouth, pay check to pay check, second-hand store existence. If you think I exaggerate, go to any VA hospital on any week day and just sit in the lobby for an hour and observe the patients coming and going. They resemble the homeless on our streets, many of them are, many are wearing cloths from second hand stores because on the benefits they receive that is all they can afford. Is that what President Lincoln meant when he said "...to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphans..." ? I doubt it.

[gloriousbeing]

10:35 AM on 02/20/2009

Really, people, please do not act like the banks, wall street, government haven't encouraged the American people to buy, buy, buy stuff they can't afford. We live in a world that glorifies $$$$ and encourages everyone to have everything because through deregulation those same bank CEOs, Wall street suits and government fat cats will get a stock payment, tax break or some other socialized credit that will further line their pockets. And, then when middle America behaves the same way they are being "irresponsible" and shouldn't be helped. People like Rick Santelli make me sick. As long as it was going his way, then hey, it was all good. If he keeps this stuff up, middle America is gonna rise up and kick his a$$.

[LuckyBlessed]

07:19 PM on 02/20/2009

Excellent point. The only way we made more money, I mean we FNMA, Freddie, Banks, Brokers, Account Reps, Execs, Rating Agencies, etc, is if we made more loans, more, more, more,

[Dredd]

10:27 AM on 02/20/2009

Why don't we invade ourselves?

It is a great stimulus:

http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/02/war-great-stimulant-lets-invade-us.html