I love the smell of oleocapsicum resin in the morning. Or in this case, the afternoon.

Great.

I figure if I was being foreclosed upon I would utterly destroy the home. I'm sure there's laws against it, but that'd be my response. All that would be left of the internals would be open space. No walls, wiring, fixtures, nothing.

What are the laws on that anyway?

Seriously, Jo? Is that reaction to any situation where you fail to keep your side of a contract? It's a loan, remember? You agree to make payments or face the consequences. And yeah, "..there's laws against it."

Just googled the rules. Looks like it's legal, or legal enough, to strip your own house. There are some internal morality questions you need to ask yourself before you do such a thing, but if the bank has used your good and honest nature against you, like they do, then the gloves should come off.

Lemme know if you need to borrow a crowbar.

I love the smell of oleocapsicum resin in the morning

Well then, you should have been in my house last week, when my 10-year old daughter decided to see how the bear spray worked, while sitting at the dining room table. Really.

PDX - Generally I would agree with you man, but IF you have been treated poorly by your bank you owe them no debt of loyalty or fair play.

Generally I am pretty sane and fair minded, but I recently had a friend foreclosed upon even though he made all of his payments. I've seen the receipts, the bank statements, everything. By the time I got involved the foreclosure had gone through. He had no idea it was even happening, he was still paying every month. He's terribly dislexic and didn't read the notices. He figured they were just more junk mail from the bank.

Totally defeated and frustrated he just walked away from his childhood home. That sort of thing will piss you off, as you can imagine.

So not in every case would I play dirty, but I will lower myself when warranted.

"He's terribly dislexic and didn't read the notices."

So of course, it's everyone elses fault.

Exactly Gibby. Everyone else. You, me, God, everyone. Just not his. That's exactly my point. Thanks for restating it. You are so helpful.

God knows why I'm even bothering to discuss this with you, "Jo," but are you telling us, in all honesty, that the mortgage payments were made in a timely manner, the checks endorsed by the bank, and "your friend" is still facing foreclosure? If so, I am sure there are many attorneys happy to accept this case on a contingency basis, enabling "your friend" to move on up, so to speak. But I think you may not be telling us, "... the rest of the story."

Jo, I do have empathy for your friend. The problem I have is that so few will accept any personal responsibility for their own predicament. There is a book written by Chicago economics professor Casey Mulligan titled "The Redistribution Recession" outlining how our efforts to help those not so much in need may be bankrupting us. It crystallizes the old Chinese proverb (Not from the Bible by the way), “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Sure is nice to see the popo defending the banks against the people of Portland. Maybe the banks will step up and pay those fancy police salaries and pensions.

PDXLifer - I has happened more than once, but is admittedly rare. In this case my friend's illiteracy results in him getting pushed around.

Your faith that the justice system would not allow these sorts of things is misplaced.

As far as not giving the whole story, that is not the case here. I admit it's so horrible that it defies one's sense of fairness. That's the point of the story, really. I'm not making it up to justify my poor attitude. This incident largely created that attitude.

As far as taking responsibility, he did come to me, his friend and attorney, to try to salvage something once he found out what was going on. The bank had no record of his payments, but he did. He'd have to prove they actually received it. Also the process was nearly complete. I gave him a few numbers to call of attorneys with this specialty, but he was overwhelmed. So just gave up.

He lacked the will, knowledge and sophistication that he was right. Also he lacked the energy. That's part of the strategy in all civil actions. To overwhelm you with things and get their way.

It must be remembered that this man is a 'non-sophisticated' farm hand. He works at least as hard as anyone I've ever met, and pays his bills. He only made it to the 8th grade, dropping out in frustration over his inability to read. Eastern Oregon school really suck when it comes to things like dyslexia.

He can't make heads or tails of our legal system. He shouldn't be expected to either. God I get pissed just writing about it.

I suppose I shouldn't base my attitude on one event like this, but reading about the massive fraud and predatory practices enacted by the big 10 (now big 8) banks is just despicable. Then this happens to a friend I've had since the 3rd grade.

So I would never play fair with them, they'll use it against you. I'd do everything I could to stick it to them were I being treated badly. Admittedly it's a fringe attitude, but it's a true and (I think) justified attitude.