Update 11 Dec 2007: Due to the overwhelming SPAM on this post, comments have been shut down.
The headline begs you to sympathize, but the story is really one of personal responsibility. Melanie Ave wrote the piece for the St. Pete Times: Foreclosure leaves them just this side of homeless.
No, it’s not the foreclosure that did this to the family. It is the family that did this to themselves. Read the entire article and tell me if you come up with a different answer.
Meet Evangeline and Nader Qandil, a married couple with two kids. They’re not meeting their bills, can’t afford to eat, and embarrassed about asking for public assistance.
I’m embarrassed that the Times paints them as unwitting dupes. The beginning of the article suggests that the foreclosure is only partly their fault:
Like many, the Qandils’ foreclosure came as a result of poor financial decisions, bad luck, the sluggish economy and a complicated mortgage.
The “poor financial decisions” are just lumped in with luck, the general economy, and “complications.” This is insulting to all of you who don’t purchase beyond your means, accept responsibility for your own decisions, and pay your bills on time.
We are not interested in telling a well written heart-wrenching story, so we’ll take info from the article in chronological order instead of the wonderful writing style that Melanie uses:
After selling a 900-square-foot Pinellas Park home for $205,000, they discovered a 1,400-square-foot home in Seminole… The Qandils agreed to buy the home when they heard the price had dropped to $249,000… Nader, a certified mechanic with Autoway Ford for four years, was earning $17.50 an hour, bringing home about $3,400 monthly… Evangeline, a certified nursing assistant, was opening a new children’s consignment store in Largo with her mother. They hoped Little Sprouts on busy Ulmerton Road would bring in $200 a day in sales.
$3400/month is $40,000 a year. And HOPING for an additional $200/day in gross sales for a new business is akin to HOPING money grows on trees. With $40K that they thought they could rely on, the most these people should have spent on a house is (three times annual salary) $120,000 plus their equity in the Pinellas Park home. If the consignment store should prove to be financially viable after a year, then upgrade the home, but you cannot expect to make money from a new business immediately.
But they chose not to use the previous equity for the new house:
With proceeds from the other home, the Qandils paid off debt from Evangeline’s 2004 bankruptcy, which she said she filed because of bills from an emergency gallbladder surgery that wasn’t covered by health insurance… They also bought furniture, including a carved mahogany bedroom set, and inventory for the new store… Christmas in their new home was the family’s best ever.
A previous bankruptcy because of inadequate health insurance, fancy new MAHOGANY bedroom set, and start-up money for the business. All of this is well and good, but you have now limited your house purchase to $120,000. So they bought a place twice as expensive as they could afford, and then had the “best Christmas ever.” Working on that next bankruptcy already.
In the spring, Nader left his commission-based mechanic job when business slowed. He found another job that brought home $1,400 monthly — less than the mortgage payment… The consignment store floundered. Its profits barely covered rent and utilities. Some customers complained about its erratic hours.
Wait - the job was commission based? That adds even more uncertainty to the equation. And then he took a job at less than half the pay? I call bullsh*t. I’m guessing that both incomes may have been exaggerated to the lender.
And the new business had “erratic hours?” Is this more “bad luck?” or the “sluggish economy?”
The Qandils realized they were in over their heads and put the house up for sale in April for $294,000, a Realtor’s suggestion… In July, Deutsche Bank filed a notice with the court… So began foreclosure.
So, if they sell the home for that price, all will be well. But there is that sluggish economy, and the “complicated mortgage” mentioned above.
While the Qandils bought the home for $249,000, public records list the sales price at $210,000. The couple say they did not understand and paid $39,000 directly to the seller… The discrepancy puzzles potential buyers, who wonder about the large asking price given the home’s $210,000 recorded sales price.
They did not understand. Did they ask questions? Did they use a Realtor? Once again, this has nothing to do with bad luck or a sluggish economy. This was a bad decision, period. Cut your losses and move on.
The Qandils drop the price six times, settling at $229,000… One person finally makes a serious offer: $200,000…
Take it. TAKE IT.
The Qandils say no, hoping a better offer will give them money to move and repay money her father loaned them for the down payment… Mortgage and bills aside, they hope to amass $3,500 — first and last month’s rent plus a security deposit because of their bad credit — to move into a nearby three-bedroom apartment.
More of that HOPE. They don’t have much money, but they have an abundance of hope. I hope one day to have a pool like theirs. I hope one day to win the lottery. But Hope don’t pay the bills.
So now we move on to the endgame. The mortgage payment hasn’t been made in months. Now utility bills are being skipped.
Nader… was in an auto accident on 09/10/2007… a doctor put him on three different pain medications for two bulging discs and muscle spasms. He was restricted to light duty. Nader says his company didn’t have any light duty, so he was sent home. He filed a workers’ compensation claim and was told he would eventually receive about $920 a month, or 66 percent of his pay. He has yet to receive a check.
I’ve never run a consignment shop, but I’m guessing that it could qualify for “light duty.” And speaking of light duty, how is the wife helping out? If Nader is unable to work, then his wife needs to get a job.
Evangeline sits at the computer, typing as many ads as she can think of on the free classifieds Web site Craigslist.
She posts a listing for the house, now almost a daily ritual: DO NOT take my word this home is WELL BELOW MARKET VALUE!!!!!! A MUST SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!!!!
She writes one for the bedroom set: I waited 9 years for this set and now I am forced to sell it … we paid over $4,600 less than a year ago … we are asking $3,500 OBO. MUST SEE!!!!!
I wonder if Evangeline realizes that Craigslist also has job listings. Get to work.
They owe $12,000 in other bills, and she heads down to DCF for assistance.
“It’s so embarrassing,” she says, clutching a small Coach purse and a stack of unpaid bills. “But what can I do? I don’t have a choice.”
A Coach purse? Coach? Embarrassing, indeed. And yes, Evangeline, you DO have a choice.
These people have made some horrible financial decisions. Furthermore, their pride seems to dictate much of their motivation. They should be living in an apartment, but my gut tells me that they didn’t want to accept reality in choosing where to live. Tell me how I am supposed to feel sympathy for these folks.
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