Homelessness and Real Estate: Never the Twain Shall Meet?

A few blocks away from where I live, there is a white house with overgrown bushes. On the front lawn, there is a sign that says "For Sale! No Money Down." Three months ago an older man and his dog, Archie, resided there. As I was walking my dog down the alley past the house, I notices Archie and his owner weren't there anymore. Archie was hard to miss since all he ever wanted to do was either play or take a piece out of my dog. I kept walking past the house and in the distance I saw Archie. He was attached to a rope that led to an SUV which was parked in an empty lot of grass. A fan was plugged in and facing the dog to try to keep him cool. A bowl of water was next to him.

I later found out that Archie and his owner were homeless because the owner couldn't afford to pay the mortgage. This nice old man who probably lived on social security or some other form of low income assistance was rendered homeless. The bank kicked him out and put up a sign for sale only to find that no one would buy the house.

It was a losing situation for everyone. The former owner was homeless half a block away from his former home. The real estate company had a house it couldn't sell and the bank won't get its money. It would have made more sense to let the man stay and work out a better arrangement. The brilliant men and women behind the bureaucratic machine didn't think that far ahead.

Archie and his owner aren't down the alley in a car anymore. They probably found a new home after saving money on rent from living on that spot of grass and got a new place. The bank still holds the deed on the house can't be leased or sold. Because of a corrupt industry of greedy bankers and mortgage loan lenders, regular people like our neighbors are becoming homeless. Will they learn? Will they realize that rendering home owners homeless won't get them a single dime?

Foresight and money: never the twain shall meet.