Foreclosures Left some with Hangovers while Others still Party

Although foreclosures have left some with hangovers for others the party is still on full swing. Allen Olofson-Ring sells foreclosed units. He uses tools to enter homes. When he comes across any resident he offers dollars ranging from $500 to $3000 to leave.

Simultaneously he threatens eviction. After that he puts up the property for sale. He comments, “I get numb to it, I guess, because I’ve done so many. It’s a little surreal. You feel bad. It gnaws at you. At the same time, what are you going to do? Life goes on.”

One of the residents of northwest Cape Coral is Dave Robison. He has been here since 2002 when he had bought the house for $160,000. In 2005 the price went up to $400,000. He now rues for not having sold it then as he sits surrounded by properties with overgrown grass sheltering snakes and possums. There are official notices pinned up asking owners to trim their lawns. Robison feels helpless not being able to do anything as he sees his retirement dreams vanish.

Another house down the road tells another tale. Two years ago two women lived here – Elaine Pellegrino and her daughter Charlene. The father had died leaving them to run a business that was in troubled waters with unmanageable debts. Elaine was in her early fifties and disabled. Social Security cheques were sustaining her. Charlene did not have a job. They failed to make mortgage payments and resigned themselves to foreclosure. But they stayed on waiting for the process to wind through court – a time consuming process considering the clogging of the legal system with thousands of similar cases.

They left in July 2008 when a pipe burst and they could not afford repairs. The unusual thing was that the bank had asked them – in fact begged them to stay on even after it was clear that they could not manage the mortgage. The bank had calculated that by their staying the house would be spared the visits of marauding vandals. Charlene said “They wanted us to stay on indefinitely. It was weird.” There is a For Sale sign on the front door. Inside are scattered bills, playing cards, television guides and a trash bag bursting with foreclosure papers. The pool is choking with slime – one of the many now dotting South Florida.

After leaving the two women found it cheaper to put up in a rented home. There was an unlimited array to pick and choose from. Previously their mortgage payment had been $1,500 per month but now they paid $950 monthly for a home having four bed rooms. Charlene is now earning $2,400 as a health worker and is now planning to move to better quarters paying a monthly rent of less - $700.

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