HI all,
I’m basically writing this post because I have no one to talk to and people whom I have talked to are basically no help. What I’m going through right now, I wouldnt wish this upon anyone.
Here goes:
My dad has three properties in the US. He worked very hard all his life, worked 7 days week with very frail health. In 2010 my mom had heart surgery and subsequently lost her job. As a result, my dad fell behind on his mortgage payments and the bank was about to foreclose. They gave my dad an agreement and were basically like you must sign this or lose all 3 properties. So my dad signed it and it was a very, very, bad agreement. However, my dad didnt know this and was in a very desperate situation. He didn’t even have a lawyer present, even though the bank said that he did. I had no clue any of this was going on because I was in grad school. So now 5 years later, the balloon on the mortgage is due. Obviously my dad doesn’t have that type of money to pay a very large sum and so he stands to lose his homes.
I’ve never, ever seen my dad cry but I did last week when the bank said that they wouldnt work with him anymore. I mean he’s going to lose over 35 years worth of hard work and sacrifice. Not to mention he is responsible for sponsoring his whole family to come live here from Pakistan. It just saddens me to no end to see him like this. Everyone just says oh you should declare bankruptcy and get a new lease on life. What new lease of life can my dad have at 60?
We have hired a lawyer who thinks its a case of predatory lending (obviosuly). I talked to the lawyer today however and it seems like what they did was bad but they might have done it in a legal way.
Please just pray my family. I sincerely wish that no one in their whole life has to see their parents go through this. With my infertility and now this, it make me really doubt faith, humanity, man kind.
Sorry to hear about your issues. There are federal laws protecting the customer in such circumstances.
Please refer to the US Govt website below and file a compliant. They act on complaints in a timely manner and should be able to at least stop foreclosure action. CFPB > Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Can I suggest something? There is no sukoon unless you have money in the bank. If I were you, I'd make an effort to cut my responsibilities down as much as possible. He's 60 and the less commitments he has, the better his health will be.
Financial stress = worst kind of stress ever
I don't think there is a way out aside from the bankruptcy...but this might actually be a blessing in disguise for your father. Some lessons are learned the hard way and the lesson here seems to be: don't stretch yourself so thin that in the end you have nothing to show for it.
May Allah help your family with difficult situation. Allah will surely make things out of difficulty. Tell your father to relax and give him courage and himmat to deal with these issue. We are all tested one way or another.
i feel for you. I have been through the same hardship , seeing my father going in depression due to financial loss. May Allah make it easy for your family.
however i must say that men , especially independent asian men who have always been the bread earner, make life harder for themselves by not wanting to let go.
my father did never want to let go of his failing business as it was his pride, and this pride made him take wrong decision every year and it would consequently push the situation to be even worst. he could have let go and have some of his asset left, but he never let go and have nothing left now.
his health has deteriorated , he has close to zero finance now. sometimes whatever happens, even if it is a very bad phase, happens for the best. You should accept it and move on.
had my father let go and declare bankruptcy 6 years ago, today he would have his houses. but for the sake of pride and 'log kya kahenge' , he has now nothing and still worries about 'log kya kahenge'.
Hi all,
I just wanted to briefly update you guys as what is going on. My dad and I talked to a lawyer who basically states that the case is predatory lending and some of the stuff that they did is illegal. They are saying that we can try to talk to the bank and see if they will agree to a modification. Hopefully, they agree if they dont agree, we have to go to court. I posed this question to my dad that maybe it might be better to just give up and just start over. But he wants to fight as the lawyer thinks we have a good chance. Im thinking that hopefully we can settle out of court. It might be better to do that instead of getting it in front of a judge, as that might rule in our favor or it might not. My dad''s sentiment is that if we go down, we go down swinging.