Veterans in Pines are Getting Relief from Foreclosures
January 5th, 2009
The New Year is bringing good news for some – the veterans in Pembroke Pines will be getting relief from foreclosures.
Hugo Gonzalez in southern Florida is in a good mood. Foreclosures have become the norm rather than the exception in Florida but Gonzalez has another problem – he is a disabled war veteran from Iraq. He lives with his wife and three daughters.
In 2004 Gonzalez was injured while posted in Baqubah, 30 miles distant from Baghdad. Suffering from head trauma he became blind in the right eye while the left one was damaged. Legally he is blind and also suffers migraines, fits and stress disorders from multiple injuries. Since then he has been bravely adjusting to a new lifestyle with special spectacles and other medical support. He said, “The most challenging thing is to not get frustrated when things don’t happen as you want.”
Physical problems were followed by financial woes. His wife stayed at home to look after the girls and their only source of income was social security and retirement money. But more than 60% of the income was used to pay a 40-year adjustable rate mortgage. Considering the circumstances he defaulted and came under the foreclosure cloud.
At this point he got the help of Rebuilding Together. It has 250 offices across America and is a non-profit body that gives help to low and medium income house owners. Serving Those Who Serve is also connected with Rebuilding Together. The former focuses on the problems of war veterans. Primarily they help out in matters of small repairs to houses.
Dave Reierson is the executive director. He said, “Our main focus is safe and healthy living conditions.” Initially Gonzales had contacted Rebuilding Together to have the backyard fenced off from an adjacent canal for the safety of his daughters. More trouble came when accidental reversing of the car damaged the plumbing of the main bathroom. Water leaked out causing general damage to the house. The estimate for repairs jumped from $10,000 to $64,000.
The biggest and most pressing problem was the impending foreclosure. Home improvement had no meaning if one could not stay in the house.
At this point Rebuilding Together came into the picture and helped to modify the mortgage. Today his payments have gone down by half and Gonzales is relieved. He muses that defaulting in mortgages has a domino effect on personal finances. With a roof above his head assured, he is now once more facing up to the challenges of a new life with his disabilities.
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