Thank you Mr. President....
Our country is on the verge, for the second time in recent presidential memory, of something historic. Donald Trump becomes the President of the United States today, and a great many things will change. Over the past few months there has been so much back and forth between supporters and detractors, resistors and engagers, that it's hard to find anything people can agree on. One of the most often heard statements I've heard is how badly President Obama screwed up our country and that he didn't do anything right. Well, here is what he did right for me.
In August of 2005, I was a stay at home mom with a 4 year old and an 8 year old. One afternoon, I sent my then husband an email asking him what time I should meet him for lunch. His reply? I want a divorce. Get a job so I don't have to support you. So, I did. In January of 2006 I got my first job in five years. I made a whopping $11 an hour. My ex husband had been having an affair with another woman, and was planning on moving her to Charlotte, North Carolina where we lived. He wanted me to keep the marital home, but I couldn't afford it. He wanted to buy a beautiful new home with his mistress and her children, and I couldn't face staying there. So I decided to find an apartment. I looked at apartment after apartment, sobbing in the parking lot after each one. How could I make my children give up their home? I decided to try and rent a house instead, and found a Realtor to help me. Much to my surprise, they told me I could buy a house. Me?? On $11 an hour? Only having had a job for 4 months?? I leapt at the chance. There was one small problem.... I shouldn't have been able to. 2006 was at the height of the housing boom. Everyone was a homeowner if they wanted to be. Naïve and still reeling from the end of a fourteen year marriage, I bought my first home. No money down. No money at closing. Seems like a dream, right? It was about to become a nightmare. In 2007 the market crashed and the Great Recession began. I didn't know anything about Predatory lending, but I was about to learn. I had a very skillfully crafted Adjustable rate mortgage. 80/20. No one explained to me exactly what that meant. I also didn't know that I had no escrow account for property taxes. My mortgage payments quickly rose to 60% of my income. I was desperate and tried everything I could not to lose my home. I couldn't afford groceries because I was trying to pay my mortgage. I applied for food stamps and was approved for $6 a month. No thanks, it probably costs the state more than that to load that amount on an EBT card. I tried to refinance. I was denied. I started selling things to just keep from going under. Desperate and afraid, I called my mortgage company again to beg for their help. God or someone was listening because I got a woman on the line who gave me hope. Unbeknownst to me, millions of people were in my situation. Foreclosures were at an all time high. President Obama created the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP. It was a way for me to modify my mortgage rate instead of refinancing. They told me I qualified, and I broke down in tears. I was going to be able to keep my home. My children had been through so much, losing our home would have been devastating. I watched home after home around me fall under, but I was okay. I still live in that same home today. A few years later, I found out that my mortgage company had been involved in a class action lawsuit due to predatory lending practices targeting minorities. Me. Targeting me.
So going into this new administration and this uncertain future, I will be cautious. I learned some hard lessons, but I also learned that even if everyone in the world criticized him, denigrated him, or reviled him; one thing is for certain. My life would be very different now if not for him. So Thank you President Obama, from the bottom of my heart.
In August of 2005, I was a stay at home mom with a 4 year old and an 8 year old. One afternoon, I sent my then husband an email asking him what time I should meet him for lunch. His reply? I want a divorce. Get a job so I don't have to support you. So, I did. In January of 2006 I got my first job in five years. I made a whopping $11 an hour. My ex husband had been having an affair with another woman, and was planning on moving her to Charlotte, North Carolina where we lived. He wanted me to keep the marital home, but I couldn't afford it. He wanted to buy a beautiful new home with his mistress and her children, and I couldn't face staying there. So I decided to find an apartment. I looked at apartment after apartment, sobbing in the parking lot after each one. How could I make my children give up their home? I decided to try and rent a house instead, and found a Realtor to help me. Much to my surprise, they told me I could buy a house. Me?? On $11 an hour? Only having had a job for 4 months?? I leapt at the chance. There was one small problem.... I shouldn't have been able to. 2006 was at the height of the housing boom. Everyone was a homeowner if they wanted to be. Naïve and still reeling from the end of a fourteen year marriage, I bought my first home. No money down. No money at closing. Seems like a dream, right? It was about to become a nightmare. In 2007 the market crashed and the Great Recession began. I didn't know anything about Predatory lending, but I was about to learn. I had a very skillfully crafted Adjustable rate mortgage. 80/20. No one explained to me exactly what that meant. I also didn't know that I had no escrow account for property taxes. My mortgage payments quickly rose to 60% of my income. I was desperate and tried everything I could not to lose my home. I couldn't afford groceries because I was trying to pay my mortgage. I applied for food stamps and was approved for $6 a month. No thanks, it probably costs the state more than that to load that amount on an EBT card. I tried to refinance. I was denied. I started selling things to just keep from going under. Desperate and afraid, I called my mortgage company again to beg for their help. God or someone was listening because I got a woman on the line who gave me hope. Unbeknownst to me, millions of people were in my situation. Foreclosures were at an all time high. President Obama created the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP. It was a way for me to modify my mortgage rate instead of refinancing. They told me I qualified, and I broke down in tears. I was going to be able to keep my home. My children had been through so much, losing our home would have been devastating. I watched home after home around me fall under, but I was okay. I still live in that same home today. A few years later, I found out that my mortgage company had been involved in a class action lawsuit due to predatory lending practices targeting minorities. Me. Targeting me.
So going into this new administration and this uncertain future, I will be cautious. I learned some hard lessons, but I also learned that even if everyone in the world criticized him, denigrated him, or reviled him; one thing is for certain. My life would be very different now if not for him. So Thank you President Obama, from the bottom of my heart.
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