Funeral Home Not Spared Foreclosure Eviction

November 17th, 2008

Foreclosure Michigan

Foreclosures are like heartless robots that tramp along squashing any and everybody that comes in its path. A funeral home has not been spared foreclosure eviction.

In suburban Detroit even the dead are not spared the ignominy of foreclosures. The House of Burns Memorial Chapel is a funeral unit in Pontiac. Five bodies and the cremated ashes of 22 other dead persons have been removed after the owner suffered foreclosure notice. The furniture, fixtures and other sundry items of the funeral house were placed in the parking lot. The court had ordered an eviction notice that was enforced by the 50th District Court in Pontiac after many months of processing. The court order had been fixed on the door of the funeral house on 9th January 2008.

The administrator of the office of the medical examiner said that he planned to procure the remains after the warning came that the court eviction order would be executed after midnight. The remains of the dead were handed to the office of the Oakland County’s medical examiner for storage purposes. The administrator informs that some of the cremated remains go back to the 1990’s.

The concerned families have been requested to contact the office of the medical examiner (248-858-5099) for making necessary arrangements. Many of the friends and relatives of the deceased arrived early on Friday to help in the removal of the property that had been placed in the parking lot. Apart from furniture and other fixtures, these included many caskets.

Pastor Antonio Gibson of the New Experience Church, Pontiac, was far from happy about the eviction that took place at midnight. He was highly critical. Gibson elaborated that the owner of the funeral house, Burns, used to offer funeral services at a very reasonable cost. Gibson also admitted that this was a grim reminder of the tough times Michigan as well as the nation is going through. It can be termed as the Age of the Foreclosure. Burns has remained silent about the unfortunate incident.

This particular incident brings into focus the social side of economics. The lender may be right in realizing unpaid dues but there is a finer side to the law that needs to be reviewed – it is the humane side of foreclosures. One such incident does incalculable harm to the image of the lender and the administration that kept silent as if they too were dead to all sentiments and emotions.