Marital Matters

Personal stories about marital matters and separation issues.

November 23, 2012

subprime separation

Cinnamon has not just lost her home in the subprime mortgage crunch but her marriage as well. That she is now separated and her kids are from a broken home is the hidden tragedy of the whole situation.

"Our credit rating was reasonable when we started off -- now it's rock bottom," says Cinnamon. "We were meeting payments -- just -- but it all got too much for us and when my husband lost his job all hell broke out."

"We had never argued much before, and never over money, but from then on we argued 24/7 over money, bills and the mortgage."

"We didn't see ourselves as naive suckers and we're not lacking financial skills," says Cinnamon. "We saw plenty of people who had made millions rolling over houses and in an environment where every other TV ad is about easy money and refinancing we were lulled into a false sense of security."

"The real estate agents assured us that we'd be okay," says Cinnamon. "They told us that when the interest rate goes up, we should sell, gain a better credit rating and get a lower interest loan for our next home. It was all so easy."

"Prices were going up so fast that we felt pressured into buying NOW rather than later," explains Cinnamon. "The lenders seemed more interested in getting us hooked on their loans than in our ability to pay -- and you can see why. Those interest only loans were a lender's dream. At refinance time, they had their customers between a rock and a hard place."

"Looking back, we really shouldn't have signed up for such a huge mortgage -- but that doesn't make us stupid or deserving of what happened to us," says Cinnamon. "When the foreclosure notice came, my guy walked out saying we'd do better without him. If the government did what it was supposed to to -- protecting our jobs and mortgages -- we'd still be together."

"And our kids would not be from a broken home."

Read more by Cinnamon on this issue:

subprime black deadbeats?

subprimers deserve to lose homes?

lost home as well as husband