Lynette Bruster

Monday night I received a call from a sobbing, hysterical real estate client. She was crying so hard that had it not been for the caller ID it would have taken me some time to identify who I was speaking to. Here's the background that brought us to this point. These clients built their dream home in an upscale community zoned suburban ranch. They did everything correctly, staying within their budget and actually qualifying for their loan with Zion Bank the national ownership of National Bank of Arizona. This all took place in 2007.

Mr. Client works in the automobile/motorcycle sale industry. Do you see where we are going with this?

Although he is thankful that he is still employed, his income has decreased significantly making his dream home unaffordable. Seeing the writing on the wall, my clients immediately began communicating with the bank. It didn't help. The loan is not government backed so the bank would not modify it. Period. Here we are a year later. Kid's college fund- GONE. Retirement - GONE. He works around the clock and she went back to work. It doesn't matter - they are buried. They can't make enough money, fast enough to fix this.

OK, you're thinking, it's time for a short sale. You're right. That's what we are going to do. This brings us up to the sobbing phone call and the reason for this post. The @#$%& in special assets tells Mrs. Client that even if they do a short sale, because the property is on more than 2.5 acres it doesn't qualify for deficiency protection and the bank will pursue them for the difference. This difference will be about $250,000. Wouldn't you sob uncontrollably?

My point here is that these are responsible home buyer's who now find themselves victim to the circumstances of this economy and have spent every penny and made every attempt to honor their obligation and they are being treated like this? Why? What purpose does it serve to be this cruel? Their life is crumbling around them and some troll at a bank has to add insult to injury? This same troll reminded me in her indignant tone that ‘They signed a promissory note." Really? I don't think anyone has forgotten that, especially them! Let's call them at 3am when they are staring at the ceiling, worrying about what to do and ask them if they remember.

This is why I'm so passionate about what I do withPre-Paid Legal Services. People are finding themselves in circumstances that could not be prepared for and they don't know how to handle on their own. No matter what the media reports about "assistance" for homeowners, the reality is that many banks still aren't working with people. They need help and resources and our law firms can provide that as they are in this situation. Contact me if you or anyone you know needs help.

Lynette Bruster 520-275-9251

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