A Sad State – Home Owners Giving Up and Walking Away
There was an article in the March RealtyTrac Newsletter that really made me sad.
It talked about the large number of people just giving up and walking away from their homes. They no longer believe they can stop the foreclosure on their homes. Their frustration rises when their homes are declining in value and they have little or no equity left.
This is happening more frequently in those states with the highest number of foreclosures – California, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Michigan and Arizona.
The owners no longer have hope. They don’t see any way to get out of the financial crisis they have experienced. When I hear this, I wonder what the impact is on their families. What are their kids experiencing? Do they have the same worries and fears that their parents do? What are the long range consequences for them?
Frequently when a homeowner in foreclosure sees another homeowner give up and walk away, they find it easier to do the same thing. They don’t want to fight as hard to keep their home. They think that their neighbor fought hard and it didn’t work for their neighbor. So it’s not going to work for them. They just throw in the towel and walk away.
I live in the Chicagoland area and I was glad to see that my area is bucking the trend. Owners here are not giving up and walking away as frequently as in other areas. The article in the Mark RealtyTrac newsletter commented that the reason for this is that lenders want to keep homeowners in their homes. They are more open to working with them.
There was another bright spot in the article.
A homeowner in California was considering walking away from his home. Before he did, he did some more research. He found that the lender had made a mistake on his mortgage. He actually was not in default. The attorney representing the lender sent the homeowner a check for $30,000 and had the credit bureaus remove the negative comments in his credit. His credit scores were restored.
I firmly believe that if more study of this is done, it will be found that most of the homeowners who are walking away from their homes either have done nothing to try to stop the foreclosure or tried to represent themselves. They found that it was too much for them to handle.
If you are in foreclosure, don’t just sit there and think that this is a bad dream that will go away take action. Don’t try to represent yourself. Get in touch with lawyer specializing in foreclosures or find a lay expert who has detailed knowledge of all aspects of foreclosures. Have them review your situation and tell you what action to take. Even have them represent you.
You want to take control of the process and do all that you can to save your home. When you have a lawyer or an expert on your side, you know that they will be there supporting and guiding you.
Much Success,
Mark Elkins
