By PAMELA ROBINSON, Register Staff Writer
Gainesville Daily Register
Valley View —
Facing foreclosure is a nightmare that many people, some even here in Cooke County, have experienced.
Recent statistics on foreclosures show that the loss of homes is probably not ending anytime soon, especially with an economy that is who knows where on the scale of balance.
CNN Live reported Saturday morning on the nationwide “foreclosure meltdown,” saying that one out of 78 homes in the country is at risk for foreclosure. The report said foreclosures are headed to a record high and that in the first six months of 2010, 1.65 million homes were in foreclosure.
The stress and shock of staring foreclosure in the face may be exemplified for many by a local Valley View resident, Delena Brumlow, who is in the final countdown of days before being removed from her property.
Brumlow has owned and lived on her 10-acre property for six years, but factors have combined and brought her to the point where she is now packing to go who knows where when her lender comes for her house.
She said she originally lost a good job after a car accident in February of 2008, which brought on a concussion, broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. Another car accident in November of 2008 further complicated her health issues.
“It just really messed up my life,” Brumlow said of the repercussions of the accidents.
Brumlow said while she was recuperating in 2009, she was looking for another job as she had to give up her present job because she could not return to work as soon as they needed her. She said her health situation was greatly complicated by a bad reaction to a prescription medicine.
To add to the issues, she and her husband of several years separated in December of 2009, which greatly exacerbated the financial stress and ability to pay the mortgage due to loss of a second income.
Then in June of this year, she said she lost her unemployment benefits when Congress voted to end the emergency unemployment benefits.
“That money really helped me to pay the mortgage and the bills,” she noted.
Since then, getting the mortgage paid each month has not been a reality for Brumlow.
“I was thrilled when a bill was passed to help the unemployed make their mortgage payments, but soon my hopes were again dashed,” she said, “because my bank said ‘You don’t qualify.’”
Her home has been up for sale all year and she even recently lowered the price, but with the real estate market down, there have been no buyers, let alone lookers.
Brumlow brought out a list of resources for assistance that she wrote down from her visit to Workforce Solutions Texoma. She said she went down the list and called all of them, for help with utilities, electricity, mortgage payments and food, but said she is not eligible for benefits with any of them.
Searching the internet looking for resources that might help and trying to work things out with the bank who holds her mortgage loan have not brought any success.
“I have tried many different ways for assistance with my mortgage, food, utilities, etc.,” she continued, “but to no avail. It seems I am not qualified for any assistance.”
She said she has even written her state representatives, but has not heard back from any of them.
“I’m the person in society that falls through the cracks,” she continued. “I just don’t fit into the right categories.”
Some of those categories include being a single-parent family, a minority, pregnant, having a very low monthly mortgage payment and being involved in a natural disaster, she noted.
A mortgage loan representative with a local bank weighed in on the situation that the mortgage lender faces when a customer cannot pay their mortgage bills.
“We of course make every effort to help keep the payments current,” he said. “Once we have exhausted all of our options, if they still cannot make the mortgage payments, we have no choice but to foreclose.”
The payments for taxes on the house and the property insurance on the loan are almost always delinquent as well, he continued. The bank ends up having to pay for the insurance to keep the property protected.
“We are responsible to recover our money,” he added, “to maintain the strength of the bank. We do not like to foreclose. It is always a losing situation for the bank. We would always rather work with the customer.”
He recommended that property owners talk to their mortgage lender early on, because most people wait and then fewer options are open to them.
Meanwhile, Brumlow’s house is filling up with boxes as she packs to go who knows where.
“I’m about to become homeless,” she stated. “Because of my animals, I have no where to go.” She has two horses, three dogs and a 55-gallon fish tank.
It would be easier to have a place to go if she did not have her pets, she said, “But, it’s not fair to them.”
Brumlow said she would be willing to temporarily foster care her pets.
As she moves through the house she shares the difficulty of leaving her home.
“Everything has your own little detail,” she said, “the borders you used on the trim you picked out, you put $100,000 in it, or whatever the amount is. You’re just losing everything. It’s hard. It’s really hard.”
Brumlow said she was willing to tell her story because there are so many people dealing with the same situation.
She said she does not feel entitled and she doesn’t feel the government owes her anything, but it would be nice if she could catch a break.
“All I have is my faith,” she said. “God has a bigger plan somewhere.”
