They have been married for 51 years and she said " I have always trusted his decisions. I am an immigrant from Austria who made out on the last train before the Invasion. Now I just don't know". She suffers from an auto immune disease, back breaking osteoporosis, and is a survivor of breast cancer. " I haven't been able to get out of bed for months and he keeps up with all of this ".
"This" is her multimillion dollar home. The home they have lived in for 42 years. "This" is where they just celebrated the holidays with their kids and grand kids. "This" is where she laying with her disease.
I said " Do your kids know about this?"
"Yes" she said. "They can help us a little but their kids are in private schools. I don't know why this is happening to us. We have given so much back to the community. I was awarded the highest award in the state for my volunteer work. My husband was a surgeon and he would often would do pro-Bono work when others could not afford the medical attention. I want to keep my house.....please save me my house it will break my heart if we can not keep this house"
I got the call at 6:00 pm. I called back. That is when the lovely couple of 51 years told me that the foreclosure date on their house was in 7 days. I asked them what happened and I got silence on the other end. Really, what happened? I asked did you call the bank? I still had silence on the other line. I then hear a response and he asked me "Should I have called you?" The answer is yes. I had to think fast. I told him to meet me at the office first thing in the morning and we will call the bank together.
Was it too late? When I met him in the morning he explained that he had started a business 2 years earlier after retiring from medical practice that failed because of law suits and bad luck. He had recently started a new business that paid him only every other month. We went over his financial profile to see what the real story was and he could not remember much. The man is in his late 70's and the sole care taker for his wife. We struggled through the financial profile and we sat quietly looking at the phone. Since he can barely hear or stop shaking I made the phone call.
It was as I thought. The bank said it was too late. The only option was a full reinstatement of his loan in the amount of $45,000. After all he had a $2 million option ARM loan. Shaking and barely breathing he said once more " Should I have called you?" The answer is still yes.
He went home to tell his wife and I was left with the memory. They have no retirement, no savings, and virtually no income. How does a wealthy affluent family get to this? Well, in this case it was 1 bad lawsuit that financially crushed them. His ability to recover was stunted by taking care of his wife. He slipped into a trance and the world kept moving along with out him. He woke up 7 days before the foreclosure sale and realized he can sleep no longer.
I called the bank back and asked if they would just listen to the story. I acknowledged that they may not be able to help, but was there a way to postpone the sale at least for 2 weeks so that the couple of 51years has some time to move. The bank listened, got a manager, and gave me a list of items they need in order to consider a postponement. They too do not want to see this family suffer anymore. But in his trance of the past few years he could not provide 2 of the 4 items the bank was requiring. He could not provide a 2008 tax return or W2 since he owned the company that was sued he did not have the money for an accountant. And since he did not have an accountant he also did not have pay stubs. The bank has not made a decision as to what they are going to do yet, but I felt I needed to share this story with you because whether you are in the industry or you know someone who may be financially strapped, please reach out to them and tell them to seek professional help. Realtors, attorneys, CPA's, or HUD counselors can all help. It is never a good idea to wait. Even just one late payment, unexpected medical bill, or small reduction in income can turn a household upside down. Please take from this true story -DO NOT WAIT TO SEEK PROFESSIONAL ADVICE REGRADING YOUR HOME OR FINANCES.
Thank you for listening- Brandi Jones- www.brandijones.com
Comments(0)