Followed all the rules....

At the age of 40 in 2002 I was employed in the computer industry where I’d tolled away for more than fifteen years. In the early part of 2003, I made the plunge and finally bought the home of my dreams. Just like everything else in life, I had done my homework and played by the rules. I had a 20% down payment and the mortgage went through with no problems. My mortgage is a fixed rate and far less than the maximum my salary could afford. I was a “stellar” applicant and the lender talked me into keeping most of my down payment because it just wasn’t needed.

In December of that year, my employer disbanded my business unit. I was officially laid off for the first time in my life. The news came by a telephone call at 11:00am. The email account that I’d just used that morning was already disabled. I couldn’t even send word to my co-workers.

In the following months, job hunting turned up a 1099 contract work instead of employment. With that, I was launched as an independent consultant and never again eligible for unemployment or most other benifits. That first contract lasted for 18 months. As that one wound down, I found another. By my 44th birthday in 2007, I had a steady income and was doing even better than before. My only debts were my mortgage and a truck that was about to be paid off. I was on target to earn 50% more than I had as an employee, with hopes of an even better year in 2008.

As my contract concluded in December 2007 there was no contract waiting in the wings. So I lived off of savings while the search for contracts or employment began. But neither was to be had. In spring, I deleted half of my employment history and began to get a few nibbles. But, once they had enough information to piece together my age that was the end of it regardless of how little money I would accept.

I did odd jobs for cash and occasionally could land minimum wage employment through a temp company. That helped to stretch my savings. But, for the most part, splattering the local Walmart and grocery stores with resumes also turned up nothing. As summer wound down, so did my savings.

Then, on my 45th birthday, WellsFargo Home Mortgage filed foreclosure against me. Yes, ON my exact date of birth.

To add insult to injury, I’d been talking to their “counselors” for almost two weeks putting together a package to try to work something out. The impending court filing was never mentioned in any of those calls. They have yet to mention it to me. I learned about the case yesterday from a neighbor who’d read about it in the local newspaper. My neighbors knew before I did. They’ve known for over a week before someone finally asked me about it.

For 45 years, I’ve played by the rules. I’ve followed all the experts' advice. I did everything by the rules; yet here I sit wondering where I’ll be living in a few months.

Now, I'm done being a nice guy. I'm done playing by their rules.

Screw the mortgage company! Screw WellsFargo!