A work injury sustained in September of 2006 set off a chain of events for a Farmington resident which led to physical pain, job loss, a court case, and now the eventual loss of his home. An interesting story for the holidays based in the South Metro. This individual has setup a website where he narrates and documents his story from beginning to end and shares his trials and tribulations which you can read here: http://www.becauseimfat.com. An interesting read to say the least… From the website:
I created this site for a few reasons. Today I read a article in the Star Tribune about how Minnesota foreclosures is the highest in the region. What bothered me was some of the comments following the article.
“Too many people in the state are dependent on and so used to MN social programs giving them everything they ask for, they naturally thought the legislature would also cover the house payments for them”
“Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone paid their bills? Lots of people walked away from mortgages in MN — and the law allows you to just walk away from the debt if you are willing to give up your house.”
[...]
My house is up for Foreclosure December 18th. Yes I have to move out dead of winter and the week before Christmas.
I do have Personal Responsibility. I signed a contract. I am failing to meet that contract. The concern and issue I have is the failure to realize and see change and react to it.
[...]
The bank has every right to take my house the week before Christmas. There they will put it on the market for around $90,000 (after I got it for $154,000 back in 2005. Based on other town homes like mine they might be lucky to get a offer around $80,000 6-7 months from now. Was it worth it?
My point is that were living in different times. The Usual answer does not work.
Looking through the story as he tells it, the court’s decision (which, in short, says that NWA’s doctor was wrong), and the future as it is currently laid out for this guy, I can only feel sorry for him and wish that there was something more I could do. I mean at what point do we stop to take a look at what’s going on and say it’s not every single homeowner’s fault for the mortgage collapse?
So after reading his story via his website, please go ahead and comment on with what you think. I’m really interested in your thoughts on this one–especially in light of the holidays. Has this guy gotten what he deserves or is this nothing more than a calculated attempt a company to fire someone who was overweight–as the author claims? Whatever you think go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear what you have to say.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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November 26th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Farmington Resident Loses Job, House for Being Fat? http://tinyurl.com/yhjxc29
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
November 26th, 2009 at 8:30 am
RT @SouthMetroNews Farmington Resident Loses Job, House for Being Fat? http://tinyurl.com/yhjxc29
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
November 26th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
It definitely sounds like NWA was unfair to him. I doubt they decided to fire him because he was fat, but they were quick to use that as an excuse to deny him worker’s comp after he was injured on the job and started a spiral that cost him nearly everything. It’s sad to hear about a (formerly) Minnesota-based company acting like that.
The situation now obviously sucks, and I feel very sorry about the foreclosure, but I can’t fault the bank. It’s not their fault that he has fallen on hard times and they seem to have been as reasonable as they could be (e.g., letting him stay in the house rent-free for over a year). It sucks that the sale is happening the week before Christmas, but that’s only because, at his request, the bank repeatedly pushed back the foreclosure sale since this spring. It doesn’t help anyone to keep delaying the inevitable. It’s a local credit union owned by its members (mostly teachers), and at some point they have to cut their losses as much as possible.
I hope this ends well for him.
November 26th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
The delay had more to do with the State stepping in after the bank failed to cross the T’s and dot the I’s and the State called them out on it. Infact Until that point if you read the emails they are not open to really talking.
And it’s true I don’t fault the Bank as much. But it goes beyond me. We need to start getting creative because the current solutions are not working. Its easy to say you living rent free but when your making just over $300 a week in unemployment it’s not like these people are living like on a vacation.
My whole point for doing this was because too many people are becoming statistics.
Brandon is 100% right It’s not the Banks fault. But foreclosures have become a cancer in the US. 92,500 Minnesotans facing foreclosure, 6.98% of Minnesotans behind on their mortgage making Minnesota ranks 15th in foreclosure process started. Thats a Economic Cancer. Breast Cancer is is not anyones fault but we still donate and do things like race for the cure.
92,500 Foreclosures, 10.2% Unemployment. Not the Banks fault. But they are in a position to do more. The bank will lose MORE money selling my house now then they would coming up with a short term solution.
All signs say I will lose it. I was just tired of being just a stat on some sheet.
Thanks Everyone
November 27th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Yeah, Greg, I think you’re right about the bank and the need for creative solutions. Right now, for the most part, people are expecting some kind of solution between individual lenders and individual borrowers. But the math just doesn’t work.
So if we aren’t happy with foreclosures, we have to find a solution that goes beyond just individual borrowers and lenders. Obviously, government bailouts are one possibility (and are helping some homeowners now) but that’s a whole can of worms. But I wonder whether home owners and banks could get together without the government and contribute to a collective fund, a bit like insurance, that could be tapped in appropriate situations to avoid foreclosure. People who are helped out by it would be expected to contribute into it in the future. And of course, people and organizations could also donate to help beef up the fund.
November 27th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
One of the big problems right now is that the mortgage servicers are struggling to keep the lights on when it comes to managing default/forclosure activity, much less come up with creative solutions. add some complexity in that the vast majority of mortgage debt is owned by a different entity than the servicing entity (and the two often have different profit motives). then the federal government gets involved and mucks things up even further, all while pushing some political bs soundbites out that makes it look like they’re doing something about it – while really just complicating things further. It’s not hard to see how a guy like this gets chewed up and spit out by it.
I feel bad for him, he bought at the peak and would’ve been underwater on that mortgage for a while even if he could afford it. I couldn’t even get close to what he originally payed on a larger condo in Eagan when I sold back in August that’s a lot closer to the core metro area, much less one out in Farmington.
November 29th, 2009 at 12:39 am
Tip #1 in landing a job: Spell your name correctly on your resume.
November 29th, 2009 at 2:08 am
Good luck to Mr. Staffa, whose valuable, periodic, publicly broadcast insights into tough times in the airline industry, and then tough times all over, began some years ago with his candidacy for mayor of Burnsville.
November 29th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Nice Catch Mspd thanks. Had a company help me with my resume and In proof reading i paid less attn to the second page and skimmed over my own name.
Thank you Cripes for the nice comment ( not sure if I know you) Ive never claimed to have had the answers. Would I have been good if I won? who knows. Iv’e always tried to put others before me and I have tried to be honest in things going on in my life. I have been amazed to how many other “Gregs” there are out there that have been to ashamed to speak out. I shared a email I got on my site.
One day I will write somewhere about the behind the scenes things that happened during that election. I do have a few stories about some things that had happened.
I dont know how I would have done. But nobody else was running against her so I was better then nobody.
November 29th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
NY Times had a front page article this morning about the struggles the $75 billion federal mortgage bailout is having in blunting the crisis: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/business/economy/29modify.html?ref=politics
It mentions the problems BK pointed out because of the separation between mortgage servicers and the investors holding the mortgage. The servicers sometimes are paid extra to service delinquent loans and don’t hold the mortgage debt, so might not be as aggressive as they should in helping people get workable terms. (This doesn’t seem to be the case with Greg, since the local credit union seems to have been with his loan from start to finish.)
November 29th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Greg, sorry you’re losing your home but the time for doing something about that (getting a roommate, selling at a loss) has long passed.
You need a job.
I don’t mean to be harsh but the typo in your name is only the tip of your resume problems. The structure isn’t parallel. The Northwest job indicates you’re still employed there. The Best Buy job lists no dates at all. The whole resume undermines your claim of having a “high attention to detail.” I hope you did not pay that company that “helped” you with your resume. Other broad suggestions:
1. Fix your resume. Quantify your achievements and the benefits of your skills to prospective employers. Go to a Minnesota WorkForce Center or look online to learn more.
2. Take down your website – prospective employers don’t need to read your gripes with a previous employer. It’s not doing you any favors.
3. Pick up seasonal employment or a long-term volunteer job to add to your resume and show you’re doing something productive TODAY.
November 29th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
From what I understand, there’s usually not much benefit to selling at a loss. Your credit rating still takes a hit, albeit not as much of one, and that’s if you can even get a lender to agree to it. Short sales seem to be more trouble than they’re worth much of the time.
Also, while I’m not a lawyer or financial advisor, I thought Minnesota had a six-month redemption period after the foreclosure sale, during which time the homeowner can still stay in the home. Greg, did you look into that? Based on what you wrote I could not tell if the date you mentioned was the date of the auction or what was happening then.
November 30th, 2009 at 4:12 am
Yes Tim my 6 months is up Dec 18. It is meant to let the home owner come up with the money or allow the owner a chance to financially get ahead. The down side is loss of a job and making just over $300 a week does not do much to help you get ahead.
My website was less about finding a job, I was tired of hearing people attack people who were losing their homes. You go to the Pioneer Press or Star Tribune and the comments are mostly negative, like were just sitting around watching tv and eating bon bons.
And yes the website may be a gripe. But I think I have earned it to a extent. I knew the reaction would be 50-50 by people. I laid everything out there, court documents and all for people to form a opinion. Some will agree, some wont.
Did take down the resume, It was a older version that I tossed up there quickly (too quickly. I will have to scan in my current one. All created by a QRC team.
December 1st, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Here’s Mr. Staffa’s Star Tribune Letter to the Editor: http://www.startribune.com/local/south/76353837.html
December 9th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
I’m way late on chiming in (and way behind in my RSS feeds, obviously), but I did want to agree (kind of) with the person who said that the website may be hindering his employment. You may feel you have “earned” the right to gripe about a former employer, but any future employer will not see it that way, and will not give you the chance to explain. They don’t want to hire someone who may or may not air dirty laundry about them.
Also, [hopefully] any future employer will stop reading your site after a page or two because it is filled with glaringly obvious grammatical errors. I know not everyone is good at grammar, and that’s OK, but some of it could be fixed simply by re-reading what was written. Sometimes it’s just a wrong word that was used (“An” instead of “And” for example).
I know that second point is being picky, but if it was fixed, the site would read much better to a prospective employer because it would sound much less like a bitter diatribe and more like presenting the facts. Simple typos (and failure to re-read what you’ve written before posting) hint that the writer is speaking from a very emotional place and is not necessarily thinking clearly.
I say all this as a person who just spent many months going through six years of blog archives and removing the posts that could be perceived as negative towards my employer. Nearly 3,000 posts later, I feel a bit safer about my blog, my employment, and what I’d do if my mother discovered it. :)