Tragic: A woman facing foreclosure commits suicide, faxes note to her mortgage company that said "by the time they foreclosed on the house today she'd be dead." [Boston]
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Comments:
@Bladefist: You have to think at the same time though~ the woman was not thinking clearly at all to even think about that fact.
wow thats tragic. I would hope i'd adapt a 'phuckit' attitude before doing that...
@Bladefist: It depends on the policy. Some have time limits, after which you can feel free to off yourself. You can thank the mental illness lobby for that.
My heart goes out to her family, they didn't know about any of this. She handled all the family bills.
@blue_duck: Yea. Well she had kids/husband. She obviously didn't think about anything. Personally, I'd live on the streets w/ my family before offing myself. Maybe there is more to the story. Don't know.
@HurtsSoGood: While I don't want to encourage people to off themselves, I do think insurance should pay out. Which encourages people to off themselves. So crap.
Another thing. Eek. I'm a jerk. Look at the cars in the driveway. Ummm somebody doesn't understand you cant have your cake and eat it to. Didn't think of selling the nice cars and getting a junker? I'm not blaming the OP though. But she did take her life w/o exploring all her options, is sad. Prayers for her family.
@Burgandy:
Paper reports her husband filed for bankruptcy 3 times in 5 years. Plus, he skipped on most of the bankruptcy preceedings. All that with a yearly takehome of under 100k. Hmmmmmmm....
Hey, it's a sorry tale, but there is more to this than is immediately apparent.
BTW, does anyone know how much they'll ding off the price for a "murder or suicide" house? Since it wasn't sold yet, who pays for the clean up? From what I have seen on cable, crime scene clean up costs much $$, which is why many businesses are cropping up to do it.
Wow look at those shiney cars in the driveway... Isnt that a new Eclipse? Not to mention that is a big ol house.
I wish I could afford a car newer than 7 years old... Oh wait I have a family and responsibilities. Why are all of these people so determined to only have the newest biggest items and no way to pay for them?
I lost sympathy when I saw the SUV and Eclipse. Thats ridiculous.
NPR reported this morning her husband didn't know the home was in foreclosure. She had been hiding the notices and took care of all the bills. She apparently hadn't paid in 3 years.
@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy: But did she kill herself at home? She could've done it elsewhere where it didn't require much in the clean up area.
@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy:
They will apparently pay off your mortage as well in Japan.
[www.freep.com]
@vdragonmpc: How do you even know its her/her families car? You have no information to draw that conclusion?
I wonder why the mortgage company waited an hour before calling 911 . . . .
@blue_duck: From the article NoWin linked to,
When police arrived at 103 Duffy Drive minutes later, O'Berg said, they found Balderrama dead from a single gunshot wound from her husband's rifle.
I was reading about how stupid people are in trashing their house when it is foreclosed b/c the sale money goes towards paying off the mortgage. It was apparently a high powered rifle, which means lots of splatter, and lots of blood on the floor. That stuff soaks into carpet like crazy, and if god forbid they had hardwood floors, they pretty much have to rip it all up, as it will soak into the porus surfaces.
@mmstk101: Well, they probably get a crap load of faxes, so by the time someone pulled all the faxes off the machine, sorted through them, realized that this was a suicide note, it's reasonable for almost any size company. I have a fax machine next to me, and I've left faxes on there for two hours sometimes before even checking them.
@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy: Ah, I missed that.
They call those trashing fits "demolition parties." Apparently it's quickly becoming a huge trend.
@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy: Good point. I didn't mean to imply that they were negligent, I just thought that it was interesting to note.
@vdragonmpc: I wish I could afford a car newer than 7 years old... Oh wait I have a family and responsibilities.
I have a family and responsibilities too, and a one-month-old Nissan Altima. Why do you think those things are mutually exclusive?
@blue_duck: I also heard from the humane society that people are also abandoning their pets in the homes, pretty much (hopefully)throwing down some food and water, and locking them in. Most of the time when people show up to either show the house or to check it out for sale, they will discover the dead or close to death animals inside. Most of the time, the person said the animal has to be put down, and they will find chewed pieces of carpet and other things in their stomachs as they tried to eat anything b/c they were starving. The house usually then has to be cleaned to get rid of the flies and animal waste then, which is more than a dead body, as the animals don't confine themselves to one room.
Read the first sentence of the post. TRAGIC.
Geesh. When did The Consumerist start attracting such heartless bastards?
@vdragonmpc: I lost sympathy when I saw the SUV and Eclipse. Thats ridiculous.
The Eclipse doesn't belong to them. It has a NH plate. This story takes place in MA.
Unless they're pulling the old "MA resident registers their car in NH to avoid taxes and fees" scam.
This is so sad. What also saddens me is everyone jumping all over this family's grief to condemn them for their poor financial choices, as indicated by most of the comments in that link provided by NoWin. Talk about kicking someone while they're down.
Desperate people just don't think clearly. Regardless of their financial judgment I wish the poor woman hadn't seen taking her life as the only way out.
{devils advocate} As the PrePo's (previous posters) have said, she never thought it out or consulted with a financial counselor.
She "jumped out of the window" without checking all her options. {/devils advocate}
A shocking and sad state of affairs when an event like this happens.
@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy: I don't understand that. If for some ungodly reason you MUST get rid of your pet, at least take it to a shelter~ at least there, they'd have half a chance and even just staying alive until someone else can give them a good home. I, personally, could never give my dog away for any reason.
@chiieddy: I kept hearing that and wondering how in the world hubby didn't know she wasn't paying the mortgage...all the while filing for bankruptcy 2-3 times. That doesn't make sense.
@Nighthawke: I think you mean
{devil's advocate} She "shot herself in the face to spite her nose" {/devils advocate}
Zing.
@Bladefist:
@HurtsSoGood:
@blue_duck:
@Git Em SteveDave:
On a different note, I don't think an insurance company should have to pay out for suicide when the insurance money was the ONLY goal in mind, or atleast, one of the main reasons.
And you been watching too much CSI Bladefist :P
@donkeyjote: I work at a financial institution and recently saw a very high life insurance check to someone's daughter after she committed suicide. All I'm saying is, it happens...
@Bladefist: I believe insurance companies will pay out, but they have rules. Usually you have had to have been paying premiums on insurance for at least 2 years...and they do reduce your benefits if it's suicide.
@Bladefist: @donkeyjote: If it is a whole life policy it really shouldn't matter as far as cause of death. (My personal whole life policy pays out in the event of murder/suicide.) Term life is less likely to pay out - but as mentioned above - it does depend on the policy itself.
On to the subject at hand - I wonder if the mortgage company is going to post the fax on passive-aggressivenotes.com? Forgive me for being a heartless bastard - but it's pretty messed up for her to try to put her suicide on them. "I don't want to deal with my problems - I hope you feel guilty because of it." It is tragic, especially for her family, but it certainly didn't have to happen.
@blue_duck: From my own experience, shelters WANT money to turn an animal in. I caught a stray Tom who knocked up one of my cats. The local humane society wanted $60 to take it, and the ASPCA wouldn't take it b/c I was in the Humane Societies "area". I was very close to telling her that cinder blocks are $1.50, and string is even cheaper, but I didn't. I ended up driving ten miles away and let him go. The lady in the article I heard said that people delude themselves into thinking that the animals can fend for themselves.
@Bladefist: That is exactly what I thought when I read the story - many insurance policies won't pay for suicide... or at least will not pay much if any.
@Bladefist: If someone isn't financially savvy enough to get a mortgage they can afford, they're probably not savvy enough to get a decent car loan, either. If those are her cars, I wouldn't be surprised if she were upside down on them and would have actually lost money by selling them.
As indicated by the recent article in Times Magazine, most suicides are impulsive. This was clearly one of those, although I certainly blame this woman for her own financial irresponsibility, suicide isn't the way out - then you've just killed yourself, devastated your family, AND left them with a huge mess - financial and emotional - to clean up. If I was her own family, I would have a very difficult time forgiving her for any of this. Sometimes suicide is the selfish way out.
As for giving up pets - I had to give up my dog shortly after I graduated college - he got sick and I couldn't afford his treatment. A friend of mine offered to adopt him and pay for his medical treatment. I agreed but I am heartsick about it to this day and still think about my dog and miss him a lot. (Even though I get to visit him occasionally, the advantage of giving him to a friend.) Anybody who leaves their pet to starve in an empty home should be subjected to the same treatment. Lock them in a foreclosed house with no way to get out, no food no water and no way to relieve themselves. It would only be fair.
@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy: I hope you spayed your cat after that. The thought of people leaving their pets in their homes to die makes me want to vomit everywhere.
@Bladefist: Depends on policy, and local law from what I understand.
That said... by the time the family claims and gets the money (i'd bet given the circumstances the insurance company will try and hold out) ... that house will be sold.
So she still didn't keep the house.
Can you make the payments on the Altima? Are you? Then you are making your responsibilities.
People CANNOT go out and buy 2 major cars payments and have a house payment that is out of their range. An Eclipse, Tahoe and 233,000$ mortgage is a healthy chunk of change along with an expensive lifestyle.
The article states that the husband made 90-100k a year and there were 2 other working adults. Where did the money go?
Why were there 3 bankruptsy attempts?
V
@MissPeacock: Yes, she was spayed after I weaned the kittens. They were spayed, except for one who was neutered.
My life insurance states that they won't pay if I commit suicide within the first two years of the policy. When I read that I was like what!
Wait, so the husband didn't even know the house was going to be auctioned off that afternoon? Man.
Yeah, there is some degree of culpability. If a student commits suicide and its found out that they wrote about it on the SAT, the College Board could be sought. But blaming the mortgage company is certainly a cop out, and there was no duty or reasonable expectation for the company to have read it in a reasonable amount of time
@RabbitDinner: Honey, what's this sticker on the door say? It's been partially ripped off, but I can kind of read it. It says Fore-something. Did we win a Forerunner? We did! Well Hot Damn!
I'm surprised, given much of the news lately, that no one seems to be speculating whether this was really a suicide and about the husband, who had obviously been deeply involved in the financial problems for years. The fact that he claimed ignorance of the financial problems to police was very suspicious. Also, the line about using the husband's rifle made me wonder--depending on the kind and length of rifle, it can be hard to shoot oneself with any accuracy. In any event, suicide notes have often been used to cover homicides.
I write this only as a general thought--I know it's not very nice, but since we're all discussing it...
@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy: I've never heard of having to pay to bring a stray in~ then again, I've never been in that situation. My dog is so lazy, I know he could never fend for himself...
she committed suicide and THEN faxed her note? that's talent.
umm. I didn't think there was life insurance money for suicide.