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I am a 47 year old, hard working, single mother of two young children. I am writing to you because I need help. Help understanding what this current economic climate means for me and the best way to navigate through this and not lose what I’ve worked so hard to achieve. 

I have been employed by the same company for over 20 years. My credit is good. I am careful and conscientious with my money. When I divorced two years ago, I was anxious to get into a stable home for my children. I have an interest only loan at 6.25% that will adjust in 2012 to whatever the interest rate is at that time.

 Meantime, I am not compensated the way I once was at my employment. And there is no promise for the same future here. I have no retirement plan, and a small amount saved for my children and their education. Times are tough for all of us. I know this. But, I am not given fair consideration when asking for help. I am given NO consideration. This is where I need some help to understand.

 I have tried to get better terms on my loan. Have written letters and made many phone calls, only to be told that there is no help available for me….that if I am not able to pay my mortgage for a few months and receive a foreclosure notice, I may be able to get help. I was even advised to not pay by my present lender, as there are many people who need help more than I do, and those people come first at this point. So if I default, if I stop paying, if I do precisely what I have been raised in this country NOT to do, I can perhaps be helped.

I feel hopeless. And, not just that, but I also feel so unjustly guided by upbringing and a governmental and economic system that have always, always, encouraged me to pay my bills on time, and to protect my good name by maintaining good credit.  I’m paying a price for that, dearly. 

I have credit card companies that, even now, when I am at my most desperate place financially, will extend me MORE credit, charge me MORE interest, and are happy to help me dig a bigger hole for myself.  What kind of sense does that make? It makes no sense. No sense at a time when we really need to find some. Making sense of this whole mess is what helps to keep people like me sane. And you need the people in this country who did things right to remain sane. We are the people who represent what this country needs in order to thrive. Responsibility in spending. Without a way to help us find the sense here, many of us will feel desperate enough to take those credit companies up on their offer to “help”, because at least they’re paying attention to the fact that people who are trying to do it right aren’t given any.

All I really want is to be treated fairly. To be evaluated and considered based on my history and to be valued instead of punished as a human who did not abuse the system. And, I find myself waiting in line behind the millions who DID abuse it. 

So, yes, I sit up at night and worry. I know I’m not alone in that regard. But I cannot help but wonder what I could have done differently to make the outcome a better one for me. I entertain thoughts of bankruptcy because that would certainly alleviate some of my burden, but I also discount who I am as a person when I do that. I wonder why a person who was loaned half a million dollars by a lender who didn’t care if that person had the means to pay it back, gets MORE consideration for their situation than I get for mine…. Why a country in such horrible financial turmoil would reward those who knowingly made bad decisions before even looking to help the millions like me who made sound decisions in better times. 

Is there something I can do to help myself? Is there a program I can look into? Is there a place for people who did things within the guidelines of the system and are in trouble because the system failed ?   

That’s why I’m writing. I’m writing because I see big trouble for me when I look ahead. Trouble that I could not have anticipated even if I was more educated. And, I simply want to know what someone like me does to make life better. What does an individual who has lived responsibly and within their means do now to get a better interest rate on a loan?    

I am paying the price for the greed and irresponsible spending of others. I don’t have the money to do that. And there is a HUGE group of people just like me in the same boat.  Just looking for help…. 

Thank you for your time.