Effects Of Repo Homes

Posted on April 23, 2008
Filed Under Repo Homes |

The house is not just a structure of bricks and mortar – it is a home and like a family member. Its loss is a death blow. Many are boiling in the foreclosure soup – about 2 million house owners and thousands more will soon be pushed in. The effect is a combination of financial, practical and emotional loss.

Psychiatrist Elizabeth Kuble-Ross has written a remarkable book – “On Death and Dying”. In it she has placed dying patients in five categories. This is a common phenomena with those diagnosed as terminal. The first stage of denial is followed by those of anger and bargaining. When this too fails then comes the fourth and final stages of depression and acceptance. Dr. Jeff Wood, a licensed psychologist says in his book “Getting Help” that all the sufferers do not chronologically go through the five stages. He adds that people undergoing repo homes suffer the same symptoms – although in the literal sense it is not life threatening.

In the first stage of denial the victims behave like ostriches and refuse to accept the impending peril although the rumbling of the clouds are there – missed payments and lenders calling. Even the formal receipt of the formal default notice does not shake them out of their stupor. This is the opinion of Stephen Elias who has authored a book on bankruptcy. He is the President of the Bankruptcy Law Project. He describes graphically the situation – envelopes remain unopened, notices are not read and mails are erased while phones are disconnected. It is unreasonable behaviour – but very common.

The victims fails to note that the repos is a judicial process and as such runs through various orderly stages before the eventual sale of the house. There is quite a time lapse before a new owner can walk in. The latter has to give 30 days notice. The long and short of it is that there is plenty of time to hunt for alternatives or seek a new shelter. One must be realistic and accept things as they come. Avoiding it will not solve any problem.

After the denial stage the house owner becomes angry with their family, with themselves and of course with the lender. They keep pushing the blame around.

Then comes the stage of negotiation – a prayer and bargaining with God laced with promises about doing hard work and the like in exchange for keeping the roof above the head.