Inside Foreclosure No. A200642668

Amid The Subprime Bust, A Family Finds A House Of Cards

(AP)  They still owed nearly all of their loan. But their home was worth much less in a real estate market slowed by economic uncertainty and bloated by new construction. The couple couldn't refinance or sell.

The lender "said you're going to have to pay ... or we'll have to go to foreclosure," Tim says. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to go foreclosure because I've given everything I have to give and you can't squeeze blood from a turnip."

The foreclosure notice came last October. The Snearys have not made a payment since.

In theory, if they paid up, they could keep the house. But there is no money or incentive.

A few weeks ago, Homecomings sent a letter. Stay and their interest rate will leap again to 12.8 percent. Payments that were impossible to meet temporarily would become permanent.

An Unexpected Truce With Failure

Officially, it's an auction.

But there is no machine-gun sales chatter at Adams County's weekly foreclosure sale. Bargains are doubtful, so no bidders show up. It ends minutes after it begins.

That's the scene this Wednesday morning, when the Sneary home goes up for sale.

The lack of bids gives Tim and Angela 75 more days to move out. They hope that will be enough to find a buyer who'll satisfy their lender, and keep foreclosure from staining their record.

But even if that doesn't happen, the couple has reached an unexpected truce with failure. After two years of fighting to keep the house, there's soothing relief in losing.

They can stop shouting now, the Snearys say. They can give time they'd spent working to their kids. They'll find new jobs, a place to rent, and try to save.

The Snearys have a long-term plan, too. In a few years, they hope to buy again.

But the next time will be different, Tim and Angela say. They'll stay within their means. They'll borrow more intelligently. And they already know just where to find a deal: They'll make an offer to another family desperate to escape foreclosure.

[ralan40]

Ignorance of the Law is no excuse and neither is ignorance of a bad loan. I'm a President of a Condo association dealing with huge losses because of foreclosures...The problem and fault rests with the Homeowners. The News Media trys to elicit the sympathy of the everyday person but how can anyone feel sorry for these people? Why do people try to shift the blame elsewhere? This couple signed the paperwork, were they forced at gunpoint to sign? The fact is that they didn't have the money and practically birthed a litter of kids on top of that. Here's a helpful "hint from Hell-o-wheez"...DON'T BUY SOMETHING IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT! I'm not denying the fact that the loans are bad and the sales people are pushy. But these people featured here seem to have a problem of limiting themselves, (she obvously doesn't understand the concept of 'NO'). All you Bush bashers and people who think goverment can solve our problems can just go on and on about how the world is such a wonderful utopia now since the Democrats won the last election AND SO MUCH HAS CHANGED in a political News item. The problem here is everyone expects others to take the blame and fix the problem. Here's a concept...hold people personally responsible for their actions

[sclaires]

I have to rent since I cannot afford to buy a home on the disability income I get. Of course I am helping the owner pay the taxes, water, upkeep, but for me it is cheaper then buying. I would love to be able to own a home, but my income during my working years was too low to even consider that. Now the prices of homes have gone out of sight so that whoever buys one has to be able to have more then one job if single and more then two if married. I realized that I could not pay for a home so I did what I had to do and that was rent. Even now though, rental housing has gone through the roof. People need to look carefully at their income and outgo to make sure there is enought left after a house payment to provide for their family. Too many do not do that and then end up in foreclosure because of not thinking ahead. They all want a house to call a home but do not realize the expense involved in getting and keeping one. If someone is talented enough to keep up a house, then some of the expense is not there, but the individual has to be talented to do that.

[mbievtea]

I'm sorry for the Sneary', but let's look at the facts in this story: two people making together $55,000 buy a house at $204,000. Then they make themselves believe that they can afford a house and spend all the money necessary to upkeep and make improvements. Then they quickly have three children in the same time they are keeping their fantasy in which they believe nothing will change. I want to ask the question: how well were they living without the $204,000 house before they bought it? I can *** well bet they didn't have any money -- since they tricked themselves to think they could get a $204,000 house with "easy monthly payments". These people are naive, ignorant, and susceptible to the sales pitch "hey, you don't have to make enough money to buy an expensive house, because here's how you do it and just hold-off paying more money because you'll eventually ... " IDIOTS!!!!!!

[bildooreilly]

Fact is folks the government on every level, school districts, cities, counties, states, and feds steal and hide so much money stolen from us in taxes that if they'd redistribute those surpluses back to who they belong to we the people hardly any of us would ever need to beg for a loan again. They're stealing our money in an official double bookkeeping scam called the CAFR, Comprehensive Annual Financial Report which is the official double book where they list all of their holdings, liquid assets, and profits... The budget is just a shell game where they show us the bills. Fact is our system is so profitable we could all be living in a totally tax free society, still providing all of the same services and getting a dividend earnings check every month or year if things were ran honestly. It comes down to this folks, this is our country, not a few elitists, we're all shareholders in the greatest corporation in the world, the United States Of America.

This is not a conspiracy theory, the real numbers are right in the government(s) very own annual CAFR reports that they've kept hidden through non disclosure since 1946 when they started this scam. There are over 85,000 CAFR's filed every year in the usa by local, and state governmental bodies. Go investigate this on search engines....

[bildooreilly]

Fact is folks the government on every level, school districts, cities, counties, states, and feds steal and hide so much money stolen from us in taxes that if they'd redistribute those surpluses back to who they belong to we the people hardly any of us would ever need to beg for a loan again. They're stealing our money in an official double bookkeeping scam called the CAFR, Comprehensive Annual Financial Report which is the official double book where they list all of their holdings, liquid assets, and profits... The budget is just a shell game where they show us the bills. Fact is our system is so profitable we could all be living in a totally tax free society, still providing all of the same services and getting a dividend earnings check every month or year if things were ran honestly. It comes down to this folks, this is our country, not a few elitists, we're all shareholders in the greatest corporation in the world, the United States Of America.

This is not a conspiracy theory, the real numbers are right in the government(s) very own annual CAFR reports that they've kept hidden through non disclosure since 1946 when they started this scam. There are over 85,000 CAFR's filed every year in the usa by local, and state governmental bodies. Go investigate this on search engines....

[lestb35]

Since Congress has proven over and over again they don't give a rat's *** about people only corporations, maybe our kids and grandkids will not be able to buy property due to the tremendous tax burden and it will be completely under international corporate ownership. That will be the true death of America.

[rray52]

A hard way to learn about the cycles of the housing market, but from the last paragraph they are on the right track.

How about that real-estate agent, a real bottom feeder. After he got his commission he could care less he pushed them into more house than they could afford.

[standlee5]

NO BAILOUT. No matter how much Wall Street whines or lobbyists smooze. NO BAILOUTS. Taxpayers are sick and tired of bailing out these greedy bastirds. Fine them and regulate the h3ll out of them. No bailout.

[snowbrd7]

There's nothing wrong with renting.

[bocaoma]

i really feel sorry for anybody dealing with foreclosure. if you live in ohio, maybe you can qualify for some of the state bond money. check it out & good luck.