I caution you in advance that this is a rambling post.  I tend to ramble when I read upsetting news and it’s everywhere today that 2700 homes were foreclosed every day – every single day – in July, August, and September.  That’s 248,400 homes – nearly a quarter of a million – gone back to the lender in a three-month period.  This number is absolutely staggering to me.  It’s terrible.  It’s astounding.

Where do these people go when they lose their houses?  I ask because so many landlords now check credit history and the timeliness of past house/rental payments, could they even rent after being evicted?  Do they move in with families?  With friends?  In a van down by the river?

The saddest part is that behind every number is a face – sometimes many faces.  My friend is about to lose her home.  Her mother-in-law has a huge house, but hasn’t even hinted that my friend, her husband, and their two small children could move in.  There’s been no comfort given that they’d at least have a roof over their heads until they can make other arrangements. 

Meanwhile, I’ve advised my friend about forbearance and short sales, but she’s gotten nowhere with it.  You see, the bank won’t talk to her since the loan is in her husband’s name.  She asked me yesterday how long they have to get out once a foreclosure takes place and I told her that sometimes the sheriff shows up with immediate eviction papers, along with a team of people to move belongings into the yard.  She started crying.  However, I believe she should have at least 20 days notice that a public auction is being held so she might have time to find another place to save that public embarrassment.

Embarrassment is probably the reason her husband won’t call the bank.  A Cuyahoga County mom republished a handout that she found at her church yesterday about foreclosure.  The first thing it said was "don’t be embarrassed."

There is help out there for people.  If they’d  just reach for it.