Before i was laid-off  i never gave a thought to those that were unemployed. I would get up and just go to work feeling secure and waiting for the day like my father, that i could retire. I guess that is all we do dream about. Then i was laid-off. Geee the changes that i had to go thru.

Searching for a job became a regular thing . Every morning getting up and searching for that next opportunity. I started to receive my unemployment compensation and my food stamps. We were making ends meet with some giving up on some things. My wife also started looking for employment in the Nursing field. As time went from Oct. 2008 to early in 2009 more started to change. The trips to the unemployment office to check on jobs that were listed in the Career job boards put op by Indiana Career Connect board started to become harder due to trying to keep gas in the vehicles. I went in a few times to be interviewed by work one employees. I never really understood what was going on so never heard any thing either. It’s hard to keep gas in a vehicle just to run down to a place. These sites that they list  as need to be checked by their employees need to have a better method of monitoring on who is applying like using email,or phone call.

After the stimulus money was added to my Unemployment check it got a little easier again cause i could put that money into fuel tank. BUT…. that then another snag came along. Indiana guide lines on receiving food stamps and health insurance said that now i was making too much and was over there cut off point by a few dollars i can’t remember how much but it was a small amount. So they would have to cut me and my wifes healthcare and stop our food stamps. lets see the federal stimulus was  $ 25.00 a week which came to $100.00 a month, health care for my wife and me not sure but must have been a good amount . Food stamps i think was around  400.00 amonth then was reduced to something like  360.00 when we had to have a family member move out and then went to zero when i received my stimulus money. So i asked if i could refuse the money and they said no. If you do the math the state saved money after the Federal gave me money.  Healthcare + Food stamps + Stimulus money =  Stimulus money.  So now all the Unemployment checks had to cover Food, Utilities, Gas,  house payment and insurance on cars.

We contacted our Mortgage company and i had been laid-off in Oct of  2008  and they said not to worry that our mortgage would be restructured due to the high unemployment rate. This phone call was made  at the end of Nov. 2008. They said we would be ok till  Feb. or March of 2009. So i thought this company was ok, they were going to help us out (beware of thinking this). After not receiving a call any time in Feb. or March of 2009 we called them again and was informed that they were applying us to a special program for restructuring our loan, they needed us to send them some info and of all things…..HOW LONG WILL I be able to collect unemployment. Like a nut i called the unemployment office and asked if i could find out how long will i be able to collect unemployment,,,,  on the other side a simple answer was given ” Till you stop working or till your benefits run out. I asked how long will i have benefits and here it come…… I don’t know, there has been extensions given but we won’t know how many will be given you’ll have to ask the President. As a sat there with no way to take that but i did understand it and asked if a fax could be sent so i could forward this info to my mortgage company they said no. Also was informed that others have been asking for the same Info.. So i know we were not the only ones in this shape. We sent all the info to the Mortgage company and informed them that the letter from unemployment office could not be done. We waited for a month and still heard nothing. We contacted them again and was told we needed to send them a payment to be placed on another restructuring plan as the first one we did not fit into. So we sent them money and  again was asked to send them all the Info that we had already sent them as it was not received yet. Our fax confirmed they received it at the number they gave us and we let them know this was the second time of sending this info to them. Lucky enough we kept all the info. in a file and we resent it.. Again after a month they did not contact us so we called them again. Their reply was why are we not sending them the info. that they are requesting,,,Huh. Well we said we have been sending it and their reply was ” must have been misplaced. This happen about two more times and then we received a letter from a lawyer indicating we needed to send in all back due to stop Foreclousure…I thought wait they said we were being restructured! So back to the phone and after many time to find the person that was handling our restructuring we were told they had made a mistake !!! We needed to call the lawyer back and explain to him we were in restructuring not foreclosure, and we needed to resend all the info. again.  I felt stupid calling a lawyer’s office and saying this cause who am i to tell him that the Mortgage company made a mistake. So I did any way and resent then info. again.

We received the letter stating that foreclosure on our house had begun. We had to scrap, plead, and beg to get the money together to go Bankrupt to save house and vehicles. I was doing all i could in good faith to this mortgage company and they lied to us. I have heard that others are getting the same treatment and i feel this has to be against the law, it has to be. I am praying that this mortgage company shows up to our hearing cause i want that closed-door conference with the Judge and them. With the recording, tele phone documents, fax documents i need to be able to say this is not just bad business practice this has to be illegal. I am saying all this cause if this has happened to you,you need to speak out.