A recent story caught my attention. The subject of the story was to stop house repossession and it told of the impact that house repossessions can have upon ordinary folk. It is worth relaying the story here as a salutory lesson of what might be elsewhere in the country, including your own neighbourhood.
Up in Maine on the outskirts of the small city of Skowhegan are many small scenic and beautiful towns. Most of the homes have seen better days but this is all they have, and want to keep possession of them. They have been paying their mortgages and taxes for years and not taking money out in home equity loans to squander on SUV’s. Yet many of the homes are being threatened with repossession on two fronts. Losing jobs and medical costs interfering with their ability to pay what is left of their mortgage. And on some of these homes not much is left, since they were purchased years ago before prices of homes became unrealistically high. The second front are the rising property taxes. You can lose your home to the state if you are in arrears of these high property taxes. The sight of the repossessed property is now unfortunately commonplace. How do you stop repossession of your house?
I was having breakfast in the Purple Cow Diner in Canaan, Maine recently (not long after, the Purple Cow went out of business, due to the hard times). I heard a couple of the locals complaining that a widow was being throw out of her home. What caught my ear was that one of the men said he wanted to stop house repossession, that he no longer wanted to keep seeing repossessed properties on the market. He thought it just wasn’t right. I kind of eavesdropped and when they said they were going up Battle Ridge Rd. to see what they could do, I followed them in my car. It was about 2 miles up the road, which in Maine is like next door. When I arrived I saw a crowd of people, so I had to park on the other side of the road. Some protesters held signs. One said “Stop House Repossession”. They were clearly protesting against the house repossession procedure that was taking place. I got out of the car crossed the road and walked to the small white clapboard Victorian type home set a few feet back from the road.
The people were blocking the local and state police from doing whatever they are supposed to do in a repossession. There was some yelling and pushing and shoving, but nothing more. Just blocking the house. Remember this is Maine, violence here is a last resort. I got caught up in the moment and was chanting and yelling with the crowd. I sure could empathize with this old woman who in the middle of nowhere was being chased from her home. I heard she was only two months in arrear with her mortgage and with her taxes. It could have been worse. She had only $5,000 left on her mortgage, although the house was purchased for only $30,000. If she was thrown out, her entire investment or equity would be eaten up with fees and she would be left with nothing.
The police and bankers had retreated, perhaps to try another day. But, for now the woman was still living in her home. Those that gathered decided they would patrol in shifts to make sure the authorities would not return. I volunteered for a shift. I had to do my part to stop house repossession.
This is a sobering story about the impact that a house repossession procedure can have on individuals, families and neighborhoods. If you think you may experience difficulties with repayments on your property, seek help as soon as possible.