One Destin family’s foreclosure story

“John” is like so many others out there trying to provide for his wife and three children. His family has been in Destin for 16 years. They have been in their home for almost a decade.

But now they may lose that history and their home.

Meet a Destin family that fell into the foreclosure process.

The Reframe Foundation helped The Log find a local family affected by foreclosure on the condition that the family remains anonymous.
John currently makes his living as a local musician entertaining at night. His wife has the full-time job of caring for their youngest daughter who has Down Syndrome and cannot hear or speak.

The home that John and his family reside in — and stand to lose — is modest, but it has been modified to accommodate their daughter’s special needs.

The house is also situated on a street that has no through traffic, which is ideal for a child that could possibly roam away from even the most attentive caregiver. A new home would be a dangerous prospect for a child that can not recognize home or know to stay away from passing cars.

With these special conditions, John and his wife believe they need to stay in their home more out of necessity than sentimental attachment.
John has done his share to help other struggling homeowners.

In addition to being a musician, John found success in real estate prior to August of 2005, when Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina and Rita helped bring the market to a virtual standstill.

At the time, John and a friend owned a condo as an investment. Planning to secure his oldest daughter’s college education with this venture, John was happy to oblige when a local real estate company called to ask if he would rent the condo to a family that was displaced by the storms.

FEMA began to pay the rent for this refugee family, but canceled the program after four months. The rent checks stopped coming in, and the family stayed an additional four months without paying any rent. Without the income, the unit went into foreclosure and John lost the investment.

Even after putting that ordeal behind them, John is now struggling to keep his family’s home that has an adjustable rate mortgage. John’s payments began at a manageable $1,000 dollars a month, but ballooned up to $2,800 a month after taking out a second mortgage to fund the renovations to his home and the down payment on the investment-gone-bad.

Now that the mortgage payments far exceed John’s budget, he is seeking help from the Reframe Foundation to transition into a new situation that will keep his family in a home.

Foreclosure is inevitable for John.

The best possible scenario for John at this point would be to locate an investor who would purchase his home in a short sale and rent the house back to John at an affordable rate.

Whether John stays in his home or relocates to another rental, he will need the assistance of a grant from the Reframe Foundation to cover the first month’s rent, deposits and other expenses to move his family.

The foundation’s ability to help John depends entirely on the support of contributors.