Fort Collins Foreclosure

April 15th, 2008 | Tags: Foreclosure

Jim Schumacher is one of the many – struggling with hard work in construction jobs to avoid being sucked into the vortex of foreclosure tornado sweeping over North Colorado. But fate decided otherwise. The house that was his home for many years got sold – gobbled by foreclosure proceedings. In the Larimer County public auction it was up for sale together with two other foreclosed units. The last moments came quickly. The trustee read out the details of the house including the address and the amount asked for by the bank. There were no bids and the house reverted back to the bank.

Few years ago a divorce had made Schumacher trip on his payments. He then sold it to a real estate agent who allowed him to continue to stay as tenant. The agent now sold it to another couple who now became Schumacher’s landlords. This time the couple fell behind in payments and faced the consequences – foreclosure. This meant a bleak future. But the real blow fell on Schumacher to whom this house was his home. This was where he had been living for years with his two children. He had no idea about what would happen now. Most probably he would get thrown out.

The couple who were the landlords of Schumacher had bought their house three years ago for about $150,000 for purposes of renting it out. The husband had his own bricklaying and masonry business. At that time things were looking upbeat and this house seemed a good investment. Not fully understanding the implications they opted for the no-down-payment and interest-only sub-prime mortgages which seemed like a gift from heaven at that point of time. So they allowed Schumacher to stay on at a monthly rent that was lower than the amount the couple had to pay towards mortgage repayment. They were sure, like many others, that in due course the value of the unit was bound to rise and they would be able to modify the loan to something affordable. Nobody thought about foreclosure. But foreclosure became inevitable when the monthly payment increased suddenly by $400 and simultaneously business prospects dwindled.

This one personal story is being repeated across the nation and highlights the chain reaction of the foreclosure virus. The economic debacle had started many years ago. The foreclosure juggernaut rolling through is leaving behind in its trail shattered credit ratings and smattered lives.