When we moved two years ago, we listed our house in New England for sale.  The house is in a great location, a popular tourist area.  We had no reason to believe that it would not sell quickly.  So, we listed it for sale with a well-known real estate agent, expecting the offers to simply pour in.  She told us that the house was worth twice what we thought it was worth, and she convinced us to list it at a high price. 

So, we signed a one-year exclusive contract with her, and sat back and waited for the hundreds of buyers to come pouring through the door and waging a bidding war!  Little did we know that the only thing that the real estate agent would do to sell our home was to give our papers to her secretary to have it posted on the MLS and their website. 

In the year that the house was listed with her, the house was shown only three times.  Having anticipated a quick sale, we bought another house, which we are currently living in now.  Then my hubby was in a bad car accident last fall, which left him unable to work, and no money is coming in yet from the insurance settlement.  Mainly because we haven’t gone into settlement yet, my hubby is still going through medical treatments and procedures.

So, long story short, we have run out of money to pay the mortgage on the house in

New England.  I sent a letter to the mortgage company for that house, requesting special hardship forbearance.  I explained the circumstances that the house was for sale, my hubby was injured, that we could make up the payments when the house sold or my hubby went back to work. 
The mortgage company denied our request, saying the reason for the denial was that we did not make enough money to pay the mortgage!  Talk about a Catch-22!  That’s why I sent them the hardship forbearance request!
What is even more upsetting about the denial is that this particular mortgage company is “the one” that has been in the news almost every week, in stories about how hard they are trying to help their customers avoid losing their houses!So, we have stopped making payments on that house, and are hoping that an offer comes in from a buyer before the mortgage company forecloses on it.  I was really hoping to avoid foreclosure because we have had excellent credit our whole lives, and the foreclosure will mark us with bad credit ratings for seven years, which will make our lives a lot more difficult. 

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I don’t know about you, but I really do NOT appreciate getting telemarketing calls at all hours of the day and night.  I have put my name and phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry, but I still get many telemarketing calls coming in anyway.

One of my biggest annoyances is the credit card companies calling me, trying to sell me Payment Protection Insurance.  They say that for only a few dollars a month, they will give me insurance that will pay my credit card payments for me in the event that I become too sick or injured to work.  I have heard that there are so many stipulations and exceptions to those policies that people that buy the policies have a hard time collecting on them. 

I always tell them that I am not interested in buying their insurance.  The telemarketer always tries to “overcome” my objections and puts more pressure on me to buy the insurance.  Why won’t I buy it?  Because I am on a monthly pension, and therefore my income will not stop even if I do become too sick to work!  I keep telling them to put me on their “do not call list” but the calls still keep coming in!

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My sister’s hubby was injured in a car accident a couple of months ago.  The accident was not his fault, and he has hired a lawyer to help with the settlement process.  He was badly injured and has not been able to work.  The doctors have not given him a date when he will be able to work; it might be up to a year.

In the meantime, bills need to be paid.  They are in jeopardy of losing their house because they are falling behind on the mortgage payments.  They’ve gone to the local banks and requested a loan to help out, but have been turned down because they currently have too little income to qualify.  (Because hubby can’t work right now due to his injuries.)  So, I have suggested that they look into looking into companies that do lawsuit finance advances.

Lawsuit finance advances are different than loans.  You only pay them back if you win the case.  Their interest rates ARE higher than bank loans, but they are an option to consider if you can’t get a bank loan.  A big advantage to an advance is that you don’t have to pay anything to pay it back until the lawsuit is settled, whereas in a bank loan you have to make monthly repayments immediately. 

I suggested that she shop around and see what kind of interest rates she might be able to get.

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