The Sun-Sentinel ran a human-interest story about a woman facing foreclosure:
“Lester bought her house in Fort Lauderdale shortly after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003. She says she owes $315,000 on it. She can't afford to pay it anymore. If she tried to sell the house today, she says she would probably get $240,000. If she tried to rent it, she figures she'd get $1,300 a month, but her monthly payment is $2,700.”
“Meanwhile, the cancer resurfaced last year. Now her credit-card accounts are being closed. There is at least one lawsuit for nonpayment filed against her. She can't work, because she's still recovering from a second round of chemotherapy and an operation. Her family and friends have helped as much as they can.”
“It's not a nice picture. And so, she shared it. Lester made her story into a video and put it up on YouTube. She sent out a press release about herself. ‘I put it out to the universe,’ she said.”
“The problem is obvious in hindsight — and it belongs to Lester, her lender and to the cancer that prevents her from getting a full-time job. When her home went up to $340,000 in value, she says her lender allowed her to borrow $325,000 against it. Now it's not worth enough to salvage the loan.”
While I feel terrible for Lester's health problems, BCPA.net shows that she only paid $128,000 for her house in 2004. This means that she pulled $198,000 out of her small 2/1 home in just three-and-a-half years. Click here to watch her video. After watching, let me know what you think in the comments area below.
The Miami Herald provided more evidence that population growth in South Florida is a myth (see my previous post on this subject)
“Miami-Dade County faces a 'brain drain' of middle-class blacks who are fleeing because they're anxious over job prospects, poor schools and a lack of affordable housing, according to a new study being released today.”
“Florida International University political science professor Dario Moreno, the study's author, said the exodus bodes ill for Miami-Dade's economy.”
“’Miami-Dade is losing middle-class African Americans. I was shocked that the numbers were so bad.’”
“The latest Census data available affirmed the same trend. About one in four blacks leaving Miami-Dade are black, while just one in 14 new Miami-Dade residents is black."
"Concerns over affordable housing have surpassed education as the community's most critical issue, the report noted. Also, the percentage of blacks who live below the poverty level remained unchanged, while unemployment leaped to 14.9 percent, up from 7.3 percent in 1983, Moreno said.”
More South Florida companies are reporting poor earnings due the housing crunch. The Miami Herald reports:
“Ocean Bank -- the largest commercial bank chartered in Florida -- lost $33.7 million in the second quarter after taking losses on real estate loans that had gone bad.”
“The red ink at Ocean Bank was a further sign that Florida's real estate problems have begun to spill over into the rest of the economy.”
“Ocean Bank, which lent heavily in the condo market, said on Friday that losses for the second quarter that ended June 30 rose to $33.7 million after the bank increased its loan loss reserves to $77.5 million in June. The company, in contrast, earned a profit of $24.4 million in the second quarter of 2006.”
“Miami bank analyst Ken Thomas said the losses at Ocean Bank were an indication of tougher times for the banking sector. ‘This again is a sign that the good times in banking are gone,’ he said. ‘It's one thing to report decreased earnings like BankUnited and BankAtlantic did in recent days. It's another to report a loss.’”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Stumble It!
6 comments:
In her video, the woman said that she spent all of the money she pulled out of her house to fix it up. How can anyone spent $198k fixing up a 2 bedroom house? I don't buy her story. I bet she drives a brand new car, eats out all the time, and takes nice vacations. She used her house as an ATM and now she panhandling hoping to get bailed out.
We turn up our noses at the homeless folks begging for money on nearly every major intersection in South Florida, yet we're supposed to fell sorry for this woman who somehow spent $198k in 3.5 years?
Is this a joke? Any money she would collect would just prolong the agony. The real sad part, other than Wendy's cancer, is that there are hundreds if not thousands of people here in south Florida with the same financial problems as Wendy, but they still have a job and continue to "hang on". I feel sad that she is going to lose her house but do not feel compeled to send her any money. It is sad...
"About one in four blacks leaving Miami-Dade are black"
I'm pretty sure 100% of them are still black after they leave!
This is freakin' hilarious. I wonder if that Mural on the fence cost $97,235.08 to paint? It looks like maybe she used some real gold and diamonds for the sun and clouds... nice work!
And, I bet she's got enough to pay for her PO Box!
This is not the same as someone who bought their house at $595,000, only to watch it go to $500,000 in a year or less, they NEVER had any chance to pull out even $1 of equity to paint $100,000 wall murals, and now their house is on the market for $100,000 less than it's worth because their adjustable rate mortgage just started to.. "adjust". These are the real F@CKED buyers. It doesn't quite count when you F@CKED YOURSELF!
I would feel sorry for those people more than her, and on top of that, it it came down to it, they should foreclose and file bankrupcy too if they are that F@CKED and need to get out - that is why these "ways out" are provided to us - it's like a get out of jail free card.
Once you use that card though, it's time to learn from your mistakes and wise up.
I had a bankrupcy 4 years ago from a business that failed and man, it would have nice to get a PO Box and make a puff-story YouTUBE video about saving my assets and showing how 2 motorcycle accidents in 2 weeks also kept me from doing too much work for a few months - cancer is not the only way to gain people's sympathy.
What I would like to is other cancer survivors in a similar situation who are actually working anyway or who had to foreclose from a similar situation. Let's hear what they have to say.
I agree.
This lady's solution is bankruptcy. If somehow, she avoids foreclosure, she will still pay almost $3,000 for a crappy 2/1 in a marginal part of Ft. Lauderdale.
Instead, she could file bankruptcy and rent a MUCH nicer townhouse in a MUCH better part of town for less than $1200 a month. The bankruptcy would also wipe out all her medical bills and credit card balances that she undoubtably has.
Why is she allowing herself to be a slave to that massive mortgage payment on some bricks and mortor.
She got good advice from the lawyer. She should take it.
She responded to my comment saying that she spent the 200k on fixing up her home, and her hospital stays
Post a Comment