For the past several weeks I’ve noticed that most of the Facebook discussions between my “friends” are spirited disagreements about politics. With almost an entire year to go before the election, I have to say that I’m already growing weary of all of the lies and mudslinging that is going on. I find myself wondering if my friends will still be friends by the time the presidential election is over.
Having just arrived at the Sheraton, I was people watching while waiting in line at the check-in desk. I like to while away my time such as this trying to guess what the people around me do. The well-dressed youngish man in front of me held himself with an air of self-importance. Lawyer from New York, I thought to myself. The flashy woman beside him, his apparent travel partner I guessed to be his girlfriend, a realtor. The middle aged man with the horn rimmed glasses and receding hairline with a slight rounding of shoulders behind me; raleigh accountant. The young man in jeans and a T-shirt that said “Redskins” behind Mr. Accountant I guessed to be his son. I wondered what event brought all of these people to this location at this point in time.
When we moved five years ago, we listed our house in New England for sale. The house is in a great location, a popular tourist area. We had no reason to believe that it would not sell quickly. So, we listed it for sale with a well-known real estate agent, expecting the offers to simply pour in. She told us that the house was worth twice what we thought it was worth, and she convinced us to list it at a high price.
So, we signed a one-year exclusive contract with her, and sat back and waited for the hundreds of buyers to come pouring through the door and waging a bidding war! Little did we know that the only thing that the real estate agent would do to sell our home was to give our papers to her secretary to have it posted on the MLS and their website.
In the year that the house was listed with her, the house was shown only three times. Having anticipated a quick sale, we bought another house, which we are currently living in now. Then my hubby was in a bad car accident last fall, which left him unable to work, and no money is coming in yet from the insurance settlement. Mainly because we haven’t gone into settlement yet, my hubby is still going through medical treatments and procedures.
So, long story short, we have run out of money to pay the mortgage on the house in New England. I sent a letter to the mortgage company for that house, requesting special hardship forbearance. I explained the circumstances that the house was for sale, my hubby was injured, that we could make up the payments when the house sold or my hubby went back to work.
The mortgage company denied our request, saying the reason for the denial was that we did not make enough money to pay the mortgage! Talk about a Catch-22! That’s why I sent them the hardship forbearance request!
What is even more upsetting about the denial is that this particular mortgage company is “the one” that has been in the news almost every week, in stories about how hard they are trying to help their customers avoid losing their houses!
So, we have stopped making payments on that house, and are hoping that an offer comes in from a buyer before the mortgage company forecloses on it. I was really hoping to avoid foreclosure because we have had excellent credit our whole lives, and the foreclosure will mark us with bad credit ratings for seven years, which will make our lives a lot more difficult.
Not long ago I read an article that stated that “real men” don’t wear funny tshirts. That statement really surprised me – I’ve bought funny t-shirts as gifts to a lot of the grown men in my family for years, and the men have always loved them, and worn them. I can understand that they would not be appropriate to wear to the business office, but on a day off and you’re running errands, or at a cook-out/picnic, why not?
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