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One man's story of losing the place he calls home lends weight to the reality that millions of Americans face - with over 10,000 homeowners foreclosed each day. People like John McClenahan, a business owner who lost his farm after not getting paid for his rebuilding work after Hurricane Katrina.
Today's Dispatches from the Displaced involves the story of Bob Snyder in Cottage Grove, MN, submitted to The Huffington Post by his son Chris. While Mr. Snyder's housing investments made him seem like a real-life George Bailey, a floundering economy sent all his property into foreclosure.
As Chris Snyder recounts:
My father is 66 years old. For as long as I can remember he's always been self employed, mostly building or remodeling homes. His business has been small, typically himself and a few other general laborers. He got wiped out in the 80s during the savings and loan fiasco. Yet he pulled himself up, dusted himself off and started over.
He and my mom spent years living in various rentals until he built them their "retirement home" six years ago. A small ranch style home, handicap accessible for them as they age. Nothing fancy. In the past couple of years, as he approached the age of retirement, he decided to purchase a few lots, build a couple of houses from the ground up (he'd been doing only remodeling work) and retire off of the profits. Growing up, he'd always say there was no safer investment than your home. Meanwhile, he built a handful of very nice homes in nice neighborhoods and had people living in them, mostly on a contract for deed basis. He was confident that he was sitting on a sure thing.
Then it all fell apart. The people living in his homes started losing their jobs. They were unable to pay the mortgage payment. When the contract for deed was up, they were unable to get financing. The mortgages are in my dad's name, so he paid them with his own money and tried to give them time to get back on their feet. It didn't happen. First, one house foreclosed, then another. Then the banks started increasing the interest rates on the remaining mortgages. Like dominoes, they all fell. 18 months ago, my dad had over $1M in housing investments. Today, his own home is in foreclosure and scheduled for a sheriffs sale next month. Two weeks ago he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. Rather than leaving behind a legacy, his biggest fear now is that he will leave my Mom with no home and a lot of complicated financial burdens.
Are you facing foreclosure, or have you already lost your home? Share a story of how the housing crisis has affected you by emailing mailto:submissions+foreclosure@huffingtonpost.com. And sign up here to receive updates when we publish new stories.
Find out more about Dispatches from the Displaced, HuffPost's Eyes&Ears series of reader-submitted foreclosure stories.