Thaindian News

Oct 14 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The headline reads “Bank repossessions and foreclosure auctions hit new record.” The numbers, the statistics, yet another report of the failing economy of the United States lost among the many stories read so many times that the citizens have become numb to it.

A report which was released by ‘Realty Trac’ shows that the number of repossessions and foreclosures did indeed reach an all time high in the third quarter. The estimated number of foreclosure auctions held during this time were 372,445, and 288,345 homes were repossessed. A total of 930,437 foreclosures were filed in this quarter. That adds up to one foreclosure for every 139 homeowners.

Those are the numbers, and usually, that is the end of the story. People read the totals, shake their heads, and never fathom what those numbers actually mean.

In just this quarter, 930,437 families, not single persons, but whole families lost their homes. If each of the households had 4 members, there are now 3,721,736 American citizens who were just made homeless in one quarter.

Three million people are looking for somewhere just to sleep warm, a bed to rest in, a table to eat at, a house, a home. Many of them will move in with family, causing a different king of strain. Nine hundred thousand people had their mortgage foreclosed, which will be on their credit reports for years to come, and even if things do pick back up, they will likely never be able to own a home again. They are not just numbers, they are citizens of the United States. Politics aside, people are in trouble, and a solution seems no where in sight.