Occupy the Board Room!

Wish You Were There! | 33  

Hi Peter,
Glad you’re my new pen pal. I was wondering what to write about, since I don’t know you personally, so I thought I’d tell you a little story. Once upon a time a family bought a house. It was nothing to scream about, just a modest 925 square foot, 2-bedroom place where they could live together happily. But it was expensive because they live in a pricey town. Their scummy mortgage broker convinced them they could afford this house, and they were so excited they jumped at the chance to get it. They managed the payment for four long years, racking up credit card debt here and there when things were tight and they needed groceries. One day they realized they just couldn’t make it any more. They owed too much in credit card debt, and their home was underwater in value. So, they asked their mortgage company, Citimortgage, to help them out with the new loan modification plan offered by the government. Citimortgage said, “Sure, you qualify! Just ay this lower payment for three months and then we’ll make it permanent.” The family was ecstatic and paid the lower payment for three months, then six months, until, eight months later, Citimortgage told them they made a mistake and the family actually didn’t qualify. This was awful news, but the worst news was that Citimortgage expected the family to pay the difference from the eight months of lower payments, which equalled $18,000. Of course, the family didn’t have $18,000 and so they had to sell their house. The family begged and pleaded with Citimortgage to modify their loan so they could stay, but the bank refused. Eventually, the family did follow through with a short sale, selling the house for more than $200,000 less than they originally paid for it. Why would the bank sell the home for so much less rather than work with the struggling family? Maybe you can tell me the moral of the story. Thanks, -Andrea