Paddler
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    Paddler commented on the blog post Fun With Dick and Jane: HAMP Scenarios from the SIGTARP Report

    2010-10-27 05:26:47View | Delete

    DD
    I love reading your articles. Dick and Jane came close to my family situation. In the end it comes down to motivation by the home owner and the bank. We lost my step daughter to suicide and my wife went off the deep end. We spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to heal her. The list of things ($7,000) on a new air conditioner etc. is endless. To make a long story short, we lived in Cape Coral, FL. At the height our house was worth ~ 300K. We owed 240 K. I transferred and my company bought my house as part of the relocation for a short sale price of $140 K. 1st note 165 K second note 80 K. 1 St settled for 130 K 2 nd settled for 8 K. I was able to get $6,500 from the sale to pay down the 2 nd. I had to pay $1,500 to settle the debt. I know how lucky I am.

    The company resold the house three months later for $120 K ( a 20 K loss). Those buyers resold the house less than a year later for 80 K (a 40 K loss). Not only is my story not unique, it is typical.

    Here is my point. Because of a bank snafu or some kind of oversight, my mortgage + tax and insurance went from 1,700 a month to 2,200 a month (30 year fixed). The additional $500 a month was to make up for a short fall in the escrow. This $500 broke me. The bank would not budge. We stopped paying.

    What is my motivation for paying the mortgage? To own a piece of property that can be inherited by my children. This property that I owned had a debt of 240 K and a value of 80 K. With a debt of 240 K, I would end up paying close to 700 K for an asset worth 80 K. Which is more moral, screwing the bank or screwing my family? I saved my family by screwing the bank.