Life Costs More Than You Make, For Everything Else There's Debt.
Creditland Exclusive: Bulletproofing: Using Multiple Family Identities in a Foreclosure Climate
Interview took place in the home of the interviewee, utilized a translator during some points of the interview as there is a slight language barrier. For the sake of this editorial we’ll call my new friend Max. You see, Max moved to the United States some 40 years ago as a refugee from Laos. For Max, America isn’t a place he dreamed of coming to, it was the place to which he fled, in order to preserve the well being of his family.
Ernest M.: Thanks again for allowing me to ask some questions regarding your financial situation.
Max: Thank you for listening to my story.
Ernest M.: So what were some of the things you expected before you came to the United States?
Max.: I always thought that Americans (explained that by Americans he meant white people) were rich.
Ernest M.: Can you explain a bit more what you mean by rich?
Max: Meekas (Hmong translation = white people) were always in cars, and had the freedom to come and go as they pleased.
Ernest M.: Let’s change pace here, what can you tell me about your current financial situation?
Max: I work for **** and make $1,000 a month cash.
Ernest M.: How much of that goes to bills?
Max: This was only enough to pay half of the mortgage on my last house. I could either pay the credit card bills or make a payment on the house, and once I skipped one-half of a mortgage payment, I skipped another, and wasn’t able to catch back up to where I should have been.
Ernest M.: So what would you say lead to first skipping a payment or paying less than a full monthly payment?
Max: My son was recently married, and we had some of the monthly bills put onto credit cards. (In the Hmong culture the groom’s family pays a dowry to the bride’s family. This is typically used to pay for the wedding expenses.)
Ernest M.: You said earlier that you only made half of the mortgage payment, who paid the other half?
Max: My wife and my sons help out with the bills. (I later learned that Max’s sons both in their twenties had a couple of different credit cards each that are used mainly for paying various household costs.)
Ernest M.: So what happened when your house foreclosed?
Max: We got a lot of calls and letters from the bank, we didn’t have the money and told the bank many times but they continued to call about the sale. It was a long time before our house was taken from us. When we knew our house was lost we started to save up for a down payment on a new house.
Ernest M.: Can you explain how you were able to buy another home?
Max: The first house was in my name, this house now is in my wife’s name.
Ernest M.: So you aren’t legally married to your wife?
Max: To Americans no, we never got a legal marriage. My brother always told me not to get the marriage legal because of credit. There has to be someone who is able to get credit because that is the way we are able to buy a home and have a good running car to drive. My sons have excellent credit now because we make sure that their bills are paid off, and when someone needs to buy something we are able to because we have credit.
Ernest M.: This makes a lot of sense.
Max: (Laughing) Do you have good credit?
Ernest M.: Let’s keep the focus on you for now. So can you tell me a bit about your financial situation before you bought your first home? Specifically, how hard was it to find a bank to give you a loan for a home?
Max: Well I’d been working for **** since I moved to the US, we lived in the McDonough homes with relatives for many years. I saved every penny I could in order to buy a HOUSE for my family. I bought my home with $15,000 I saved.
Ernest M.: What were your monthly payments like when you first bought your home?
Max: $1,100 per month for the mortgage.
Ernest M.: What were the payments each month before it was foreclosed?
Max: $2,200
Ernest M.: Wow, so was this because you re-financed the home? Or what happened to make the payments so high?
Max: Yes, I refinanced in order to start a business. I gave up on the business because of my partners.
Ernest M.: Do you think you were tricked by the bank into taking a loan too large?
Max: I think there is more the bank could do to help me and my family to keep our old house. It is too late now; we can only do what we can in our new house.
Ernest M.: I want to thank you again for sharing your story with me.
Max is a 58 year old immigrant who has just as much debt as the pure-bred American consumerist. We are all susceptible to the traps of the credit, scratch that debt industry. Yet, having lost a home Max still (while completely in his wife’s name) “owns” his home. Or, is rather making payments on the home in which the bank owns. Either way he has a roof over his head, which is the most important thing… right?
Interview by Ernest M for Creditland Area 55119
Ernest M.: Thanks again for allowing me to ask some questions regarding your financial situation.
Max: Thank you for listening to my story.
Ernest M.: So what were some of the things you expected before you came to the United States?
Max.: I always thought that Americans (explained that by Americans he meant white people) were rich.
Ernest M.: Can you explain a bit more what you mean by rich?
Max: Meekas (Hmong translation = white people) were always in cars, and had the freedom to come and go as they pleased.
Ernest M.: Let’s change pace here, what can you tell me about your current financial situation?
Max: I work for **** and make $1,000 a month cash.
Ernest M.: How much of that goes to bills?
Max: This was only enough to pay half of the mortgage on my last house. I could either pay the credit card bills or make a payment on the house, and once I skipped one-half of a mortgage payment, I skipped another, and wasn’t able to catch back up to where I should have been.
Ernest M.: So what would you say lead to first skipping a payment or paying less than a full monthly payment?
Max: My son was recently married, and we had some of the monthly bills put onto credit cards. (In the Hmong culture the groom’s family pays a dowry to the bride’s family. This is typically used to pay for the wedding expenses.)
Ernest M.: You said earlier that you only made half of the mortgage payment, who paid the other half?
Max: My wife and my sons help out with the bills. (I later learned that Max’s sons both in their twenties had a couple of different credit cards each that are used mainly for paying various household costs.)
Ernest M.: So what happened when your house foreclosed?
Max: We got a lot of calls and letters from the bank, we didn’t have the money and told the bank many times but they continued to call about the sale. It was a long time before our house was taken from us. When we knew our house was lost we started to save up for a down payment on a new house.
Ernest M.: Can you explain how you were able to buy another home?
Max: The first house was in my name, this house now is in my wife’s name.
Ernest M.: So you aren’t legally married to your wife?
Max: To Americans no, we never got a legal marriage. My brother always told me not to get the marriage legal because of credit. There has to be someone who is able to get credit because that is the way we are able to buy a home and have a good running car to drive. My sons have excellent credit now because we make sure that their bills are paid off, and when someone needs to buy something we are able to because we have credit.
Ernest M.: This makes a lot of sense.
Max: (Laughing) Do you have good credit?
Ernest M.: Let’s keep the focus on you for now. So can you tell me a bit about your financial situation before you bought your first home? Specifically, how hard was it to find a bank to give you a loan for a home?
Max: Well I’d been working for **** since I moved to the US, we lived in the McDonough homes with relatives for many years. I saved every penny I could in order to buy a HOUSE for my family. I bought my home with $15,000 I saved.
Ernest M.: What were your monthly payments like when you first bought your home?
Max: $1,100 per month for the mortgage.
Ernest M.: What were the payments each month before it was foreclosed?
Max: $2,200
Ernest M.: Wow, so was this because you re-financed the home? Or what happened to make the payments so high?
Max: Yes, I refinanced in order to start a business. I gave up on the business because of my partners.
Ernest M.: Do you think you were tricked by the bank into taking a loan too large?
Max: I think there is more the bank could do to help me and my family to keep our old house. It is too late now; we can only do what we can in our new house.
Ernest M.: I want to thank you again for sharing your story with me.
Max is a 58 year old immigrant who has just as much debt as the pure-bred American consumerist. We are all susceptible to the traps of the credit, scratch that debt industry. Yet, having lost a home Max still (while completely in his wife’s name) “owns” his home. Or, is rather making payments on the home in which the bank owns. Either way he has a roof over his head, which is the most important thing… right?
Interview by Ernest M for Creditland Area 55119
Tags: family strategy, foreclosure, identity, immigration, strategy
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