The Story:
In 2007, Sally was having trouble keeping up with her mortgage payments, and by September, she received a foreclosure notice in the mail. A few days later, she was called by a man who said he could help. He said she could have a check for $40,000 to help pay her bills, and she wouldnt have to worry about foreclosure any more. Sally signed papers in late October at a title company in Maryland. She went home with a $40,000 check and started making her new house payments to District Properties in December. Nine months later, Sally started having trouble making her house payments again. This time, instead of a foreclosure letter, she received an eviction letter in the mail. Sally gradually realized that she no longer owned her home; she was simply a renter. In a panic, Sally called District Properties. The man who answered the phone told her that Subprime Mortgage Co. held two loans against the house, one for $264,000 and one for $66,000, but she could buy her house back for $360,000 three times the mortgage she had a year earlier. Sallys income and credit were not good enough to buy her house at that price. The man said, Im sorry and hung up.
The...