"More being foreclosed into homelessness" by Jenifer B. McKim, Globe Staff | April 22, 2009
.... An increasing number of Massachusetts residents plunged into homelessness because of foreclosure....
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Massachusetts Hates Its Homeless
About 3,300 foreclosures involved homes with two and three units. As a result, tenants are evicted through no fault of their own, and many can't afford the upfront costs necessary for another apartment. Displaced tenants and homeowners often move in with family and friends, sometimes moving multiple times before going to the state for assistance.
The newly homeless can be invisible - too embarrassed about their predicament to tell even friends or colleagues. A Brockton couple, for instance, said they don't tell most people that they have been homeless since last summer. The couple and their four children returned to their rented apartment from summer vacation last year to find a foreclosure notice on the front door, and were ordered to leave within weeks. They had faithfully paid the $1,250 monthly rent and did not know their landlord was facing foreclosure.
"We had nowhere to go," said Jack, 47, who asked that his last name not be published. "Everything fell apart. Next thing you know, you're on the street."
The family lived on his salary as a roofer before the eviction, but he couldn't keep his business afloat once they moved to the shelter. "We always thought the homeless was a bum on the street," Jack said. "Now it's the average family."
Welcome to AmeriKa!!!!
But we got TRILLIONS for.... aaaaah, what's the use!!!?
Lori and Nigel Harper, both 46, also never envisioned losing their home or having to live in a shelter with their 16-year-old daughter. The Harpers bought their three-bedroom Milton home in 2000 for $210,000, attracted by a sunroom, den, and a picturesque backyard with a small stream. But in 2004, Nigel had a stroke and could no longer work as a private shuttle driver, Lori Harper said.
Facing foreclosure, the couple signed their home over to a real estate agent who said they could rent it until they had enough money to buy it back. The couple now believes they were victims of a scam. The attorney who orchestrated the deal was disbarred in 2007 following allegations he misappropriated funds from other clients.
In 2007, Nigel Harper had another stroke, and the family's financial problems became insurmountable. "We were evicted from the house, and we became homeless," she said.
Last summer, the couple moved into a state-subsidized Cambridge motel, and in December relocated to Evelyn House, a shelter in Stoughton. "My daughter, she cries when she thinks about the life we had, when she thinks of having her own room and a backyard," Lori Harper said.
A lot of us do.
Government officials and housing advocates say they are stepping up warnings to homeowners about such scams, helping borrowers modify their mortgages, and notifying tenants in foreclosed buildings about their legal rights to stay. But such efforts came too late for Hughes, the former Roxbury homeowner....
Today, Hughes rents a room from a family friend. He is still working at UPS but is struggling to save money while paying for his room, property storage, and child support. He even dreams of finding a way to buy back his former home, which is now up for sale....
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