As the foreclosure rates increase across the nation thousands are finding themselves homeless for the first times in their lives. Nationally, 233,001 homeowners received notice from lenders last month due to overdue payments; that's a 57% increase from a year prior.
We hear phrases used such as "they lost their house", when the truth is many of these people are now homeless. These people now have ruined credit scores in a society that makes just about every decision based on that score. Employer's pull credit on job applicants, landlords for rental approval, insurance companies to set your rates, and of course credit card companies.
Credit card companies can even close the debtors account even if they are current in their payments; a sort of preemptive strike against the cardholder running up a debt they cannot afford to pay. Where will all of these people go? How do you rent an apartment or home with a foreclosure on your record? How do you buy a car to go to work? These people, who were our clients not so long ago, now may find themselves living in a shelter and the family pet they once loved sitting at the pound
Sadly, even house pets have found themselves homeless as a result of the fiasco, and are being abandoned across the nation. Although there is no way to track the actual number of abandoned pets, it's thought to be in the thousands. There have even been instances where pets were found starving inside abandoned homes and had to be Euthenized.
What can we do?
Maybe we can lighten up on judging people by what credit bureaus say, and talk to the people themselves and see what's in their heart. I recently rented a home of mine to a fellow who had gone through a divorce, and I ran no credit report on him. He impressed me as being a good person, with a good heart, and he had a good job (that's still required). I also knew his employer does strict background checks and drug screening, so that helped.
He was quite surprised when he asked how long before he had an answer regarding his application, and I said you can move in tomorrow. He was shocked and quite happy to say the least. He's been an ideal renter, always pays on time, and keeps the property spotless.
Now to be honest, he may very well have impeccable credit, to this day I still don't know. My point is that intuition still works, and some of these thousands of people out there will need a break. They will need landlords that will judge them by their character, and the fact that they have a job and need a home for their family.
So I would ask those of you that are in a position to give somebody a break, and a chance to start over, to consider doing so. I'm certainly not suggesting you should rent to anyone that comes down the pike, and criminal background checks are still a must, but a person shouldn't live and die by their FICO. Perhaps just ask to look through their foreclosure docs and get a feel for what happened to them, after all, they're not alone in this, it's happened to a lot of good people.
Also, if you want a pet, go adopt one (I did), they could use a break too! 
Thanks for looking at this situation for what it really is. We have Real Estate agents going into Foreclosure just like the guy that works at Mc Donalds. Hard times can effect anyone at anytime. We have to be mindful and know that just because it is some else today and can be us tomorrow. Thanks for the wonderful post.
Thanks for listening. I just think we sometimes forget that all of those people losing their homes, bought them with a real estate agent at some point; and now they're down on their luck. You can't just take interest in folks when there's a buck to be had, and then ignore them when they're down on their luck.
I had a client that lost her home to a Trustee sale. She wasn't my client when she bought the home, but I had listed and tried to sell it short, but we simply ran out of time. She asked me "where am I going to live?"; apartment managers wouldn't even consider her. I found a nice fellow willing to give her a chance and do a lease purchase with her. I had to write a letter explaining her situation, since she didn't fully understand it herself. We also provided him with the foreclosure docs. I didn't make a dime off the deal, actually lost money carrying the listing. People sometimes just need a break.