Foreclosure victims often are not victims. A majority of them have simply overspent, or mishandled their funds. Very few foreclosure victims have no one else to blame but themselves.
Octomom is a great example of a pattern I see in numerous foreclosure cases that come across my desk. A classic mishandling of funds, mixed with entitlement victim mentality, and not being perceptive, are some of the causes. Another cause is an unrealistic balancing of personal budgets which leads them into foreclosure.
Often I can walk through a foreclosing home days before it gets auctioned off, and calculate enough items the homeowners could have sold to save their homes, before they fell so far behind.
The true victims are the neighbors whose home values have plunged due to the foreclosing neighbor. As the foreclosing home owners haven’t paid their mortgage payments for months, their neighbors who diligently paid their mortgages, have their homes fall further underwater. This is to the point now where most folks are not eligible to refinance, even though they have perfect credit, and have paid their mortgage on time for years.
It is time to start placing the blame on the foreclosing neighbor that has a housing slump, and not the banks or financial institutions, for falling house prices. A lot of times the foreclosing property owner will just keep postponing their foreclosure which drives the housing market down even further!
Octomom spent her mortgage money at the hair salon on expensive Brazilian blowouts , and other items such as cable, and internet, that were not necessities.
Profiling several foreclosure victims over the years, I often see they have bloated life styles with large cable, internet, cell phone packages, gardeners, newer cars, nice electronics, over furnished homes, collectibles, the list goes on. When I explain to them to reduce their luxury items, cancel services, sell items, and save money, their argument always is they need the items for their job search, or they are too busy searching for a job to do it. Never the less, I never see them looking hard for a job, but are indeed spending more time being in denial. Examples can be anything from wasting their time on Facebook, chatting on internet sites, watching TV, and playing online games, internet dating, or basically doing anything to avoid reality.
A second trait I see they have more mouths than they can afford to feed by choice. In the Octomon case she has more kids than she can afford. I often see foreclosed victims have pets that they can’t afford, and these pets eat more expensive food than myself. When chatting with family members, I always find out prior to going into foreclosures when times were good, they always took their friends out for dinner and picked up the tabs at lavish restaurants, They even bought expensive gifts for loved ones for the holidays, rather than having kept up with their mortgages, or put money away in a rainy day fund. They also have had a hard time exonerating expensive habits, such as novelty food items; Starbucks coffee, bottled water, freshly squeezed boutique juices, expensive packaged meals from the freezer aisle, fine wines, or cigarettes.
People who are not in denial of their financial situation would change their habits and be proactive. In taking the initiative, they sell their homes and belongings to keep a roof over their heads. Homes do not get foreclosed on over night. It takes months before the banks auction off a home, and often this situation is viewed as a last resort. Most foreclosure victims didn’t pay their mortgage for five months to several years, having enough time to rectify the situation if they really wanted to. They could do this by simply short selling, working an agreement out with the banks, getting a job, selling off items to pay the difference, getting renters, and cutting their budget. There are many options that could have kept them from being a victim if they chose to be smart about it.
The true victims are the neighbors who can’t refinance, who have good credit, and pay their mortgage on time. Not the irresponsible foreclosing home owner, who expect that the next “housing gimmick” will bail them out.
