Opinion: Foreclosure crisis

After reading and hearing about the foreclosure issues facing lenders and homeowners alike lately, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are some misconceptions out there. I’d like to say a few words . . .

While it is true that many of those properties in foreclosure are owned by folks who bit off more than they could chew, there are a good number of properties owned by honest, hard working people that have hit hard times. I hate that some people think that only people who bought with zero down at high prices and bought more than they could truly afford are the ones in foreclosure. Simply not true.

Case in point: I have a friend I’ve known for literally most of my life who bought a house about 20 years ago and has until the past year, had an excellent job. She’s paid her mortgage faithfully for those 20 years and refinanced a couple of years ago to pay off her student loans.

Last year, she lost her job when she had to go back to school to update her degree. Her former employer promised to re-hire after she finished and to date, they have not.

Now, please don’t tell me it’s only dumb idiots who are facing foreclosure or that just because a person is facing foreclosure, they must be a dumb idiot who bought more than they could financially handle and they deserve to lose their home. That totally pisses me off, quite frankly.

Homeowners do deserve some form of help and I certainly hope they are allowed some.

~ Annie