Foreclosures leaving homeowners depressed and suicidal

With nearly 13,000 homes in Sacramento in foreclosure or pre-foreclosure status, homeowners are walking away depressed and empty. Homeowners are psychologically scathed said Realtor Gena Riede.

“By the time these people are in foreclosure, they have withdrawn from everyone,” said Riede. “The realtors, lawyers, and even the banks are not talking to them.”

She said that there are many reasons why people go into foreclosure. Due to loss of their spouse or divorce, they end up having to support a household on one income said Riede. “They can’t afford their homes, so they lose them to the banks,” she said.

“Sometimes their house has depreciated in value and so the owner files for bankruptcy, foreclosing on their home,” Riede said. She said that the best thing for people who cannot afford their homes is to file for bankruptcy.

“Usually, these people are getting nasty calls from creditors because they’re also late on other bills as well,” said Riede. “People feel very naked and don’t really want to talk to anyone about their situation.”

“The government has created all these programs that supposedly help homeowners, but they’re not working,” said Jeff Silver of Stanford Mortgage. People are still foreclosing on their homes while the banks are getting the true bailouts he said.

"Very little assistance trickles down to homeowners from the government," said Silver. Riede said that the people going through foreclosure feel like they are being robbed of their dignity because they have to leave their homes because of the financial crisis.

“It’s a real tough thing for them to go through,” said Riede. Homeowner Zubia Amir said that she and her kids didn’t have any place to go except sleep in the car.

“We had our clothes in the trunk and food in the backseat,” said Amir. “I felt suicidal, almost as if I didn’t deserve my children because I wasn’t able to provide them with a home.”

Amir fell behind on her payments when her husband suddenly left her with a house payment and credit card payments she said. Since then, she has settled down with extended family until she can afford an apartment.

Riede said that she thinks the only solution to the foreclosures is for the government to reduce mortgages to the actual value of the house rather than leave it at the value it was four years ago when the market was good.