| Thursday, May 15, 2008 |
| Foreclosures take toll on mental health |
 USAToday's story: Foreclosures take toll on mental health describes the psychological toll some families facing foreclosure are experiencing. Jennifer Paschal, 36, of Woodstock, Ga., has tried to ease the effect of the foreclosure of her home on her children, Bailey, 12, and Trent, 9. But she says they've been deeply pained. After 13 years of marriage, Paschal is going through a divorce. The divorce and medical bills led the family to lose its home to foreclosure in April. Paschal couldn't afford the $1,300 monthly mortgage payment on her $45,000 annual salary as a day care center director.
The home is a six-bedroom house on an acre of land, with a trampoline in the backyard, blooming pink azaleas and rose bushes, and a muddy creek where Trent and Bailey would catch frogs and play with their two dogs, a retriever and a Labrador.
Before they left, Paschal took the children to their rooms and told them to fill a box with whatever they wanted to take with them. They moved in July to a two-bedroom, $900-a-month apartment. The "for sale" sign on the house they lost to foreclosure went up this month. When she saw a picture of it, Paschal says, she cried.
The children are suffering, too. Trent worries about money. Recently, at the grocery store, he told his mother not to buy milk because it cost $4. He begs his mother to get a house again, saying that he's old enough now to cut the grass.
"It's hard," Paschal says. "I think they see things very differently now. My son asked me how much money I have, and I told him not to worry about it. We had to give away our Lab and our bird dog (because it seemed unfair to keep them in such a small apartment). That killed my son. That tore him apart, big time."
In the new apartment, Paschal doesn't sleep well. After she goes to bed, she hears Trent scurry out of his bed to make sure all the doors are locked. Then Trent comes to her room and quietly tells his mother she can sleep now because everything is safe. |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 7:10 AM *
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| 5 Comments: |
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Sad story for these folks. Not only did the children have to handle the move from their home but they lost their pets too. I understand the limitations of a 2 bedroom appt with two good sized dogs but pets are not throw away objects. I hope they went to good homes. I wish the mom could have placed the pets in a foster home until the family got back on its feet. At least the kids could have visited with them.
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Now that is a sad story. This isn't a typical foreclosure story, though. This foreclosure was brought on by divorce, not by buying too much house with an ARM.
Her sons sound so sweet and thoughtful of their mom, there is some good parenting going on there.
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Like most examples of the housing bust, this one leaves out many details that make you wonder. The medical bills must be large, because otherwise a $1300 payment should be doable - though a little tight - on her salary. For a savings of only $400/mo. the move to renting sure doesn't sound like a big help. I bet (though I don't know) that she could have cut out some of their "necessities" (cable, internet, ???) to make up a large chunk of that difference.
Also, a family of four living in a six bedroom house??? They sound like the many people that bought much more house than they could afford at the start, and are now crying about it. Sorry, but that was just greed. Had they bought a sensible house for the family to start with (say a 3 bedroom house), they wouldn't be having these problems today. Also, can anyone say "rent out a room"?
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This is a sad story. Three losses in a row (divorce, a home and their pets). It explains why the children are insecure.
It's too bad they didn't consider renting a house instead of an apartment. At least they might have been able to keep the dogs.
Renting in this case is much cheaper than her hanging on to the house. The payment between owning and renting may only be $400, but she is saving on taxes, insurance, maintenance, water, gas, electric , etc. It adds up.
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Yes, this is sad, but probably more reflective of the changes and losses that come with a divorce than any relevance to the mortgage crisis.
Even in good financial times, divorce can create drastic social and economic hardships.
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Sad story for these folks. Not only did the children have to handle the move from their home but they lost their pets too. I understand the limitations of a 2 bedroom appt with two good sized dogs but pets are not throw away objects. I hope they went to good homes. I wish the mom could have placed the pets in a foster home until the family got back on its feet. At least the kids could have visited with them.