Another Mortgage Story

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Photo by woodleywonderworks

An acquaintance told me another mortgage story yesterday. She and her husband are young and talented. They are ministers. (Ministers don't make a lot of money, especially in their denomination.) They recently moved across country (from a point in the contintental US as far as is possible to be from their new home.)

They moved for a job. A great job. One with promise. One with excitement.

Like many young couples, they had scrimped and saved, and bought a house. To start their new life, they need to sell the house. Unfortunately, thanks to the burst housing bubble, they owe more on the house than it is worth, so they can't afford to sell it.

Luckily, they are not in foreclosure. But they are losing $1000 a month renting it out. In other words, their expenses are $1000 more than the rent they are getting.

And though they moved for one great job, they intended to get another when they got settled. But the economy tanked, and Bernie Madoff has single-handedly decimated the coffers of the local charitable organizations. So though they are talented, dedicated, and hard-working, nobody is hiring.

These two people did everything right. They saved. They bought a house. They invested in their financial future. They chose careers that help other people.

Tell me again that the victims of the mortgage crisis deserve what they got because they splurged on big-screen TVs. I'm not buying it.