Lissa Cunneen, 45, used to work in the home loan department at WaMu. Yes, that’s the same home loan department that helped cause this whole subprime mortgage mess in the first place. And no, the irony is not lost on her. Now she’s a part-time barista for a large coffee empire and struggling to pay her interest-only mortgage—which, of course, was given to her by WaMu.
I am one of those women who could end up in a cardboard box—or, if this were the 19th century, living off the kindness of more successful relations. A little over two years ago I got divorced and entered the job market just as everything started to fall apart. I foolishly invested in a condo and now owe more than it’s worth.
I got laid off from WaMu the day after Christmas. I had been an administrative assistant in the much-beleaguered home loan department. I went through four bosses in two years, so I wasn’t that surprised when the ax finally fell on me. I got a severance package, but it won’t last me past the mortgage payment for March. I try to look for work every day, but so far nothing—although, I do still have my part time job as a barista so the cable bill is covered. But the barista work also means that my unemployment benefits are being held up. Since I have a job (even though it is only 25 hours a week and pays half what I was making at WaMu) I may not be eligible. The irony is that my unemployment benefits from Wamu would probably be more than I’m making as a barista, but if I quit as a barista I might not get anything at all. It is a classic Catch-22.
My degree is in costume design and I have managed to do a couple of shows, but theatre doesn’t really pay that much, and my hand-made greeting cards, although well-received, aren’t that lucrative either. The designs are, not surprisingly, pretty dark, so maybe there is a future for me as a one woman Goth Hallmark store.
I have good days and bad days and yes, it scares the crap out of me that for the first time in my life I have no health insurance. This month I had to make a choice between my meds, because I can’t afford all of them anymore. So I picked the one that is supposed to keep my breast cancer from coming back and ditched the rest. I live in fear that my car will break down and I won’t have the money to fix it.
Still, I’m luckier than many. I have friends and family, and cutting back on my food budget means I might just finally lose that last stubborn 10 pounds, and hey, cheap whiskey gets you just as drunk as the nicer stuff.
So that’s my little story: 45, masters degree, single, big mortgage, no job. Woo Hooed by WaMu.
Lissa
With yesterday’s news filled with President Obama’s new plan to help Americans in difficult mortgage situations, I asked Lissa last night whether she’d benefit from Obama’s upcoming mortgage market interventions.
As I understand it, I would not be eligible for government assistance at this time. My interest rate is screamingly low, and I am, for the time being at least, current in my payments. In a month or two, when I am forced into delinquency and my hard earned credit score is in the crapper, then perhaps I may benefit from the program. I, of course, hope that it does not come to that.
Lissa
Have an unemployment story to share? Write to jobless@thestranger.com.
Please 1) cancel your cable bill, and 2) apply for unemployment. You won’t get full benefits since you have a job, but you are “underemployed” and looking for full-time work, which means you’re usually eligible for something. You’ll get a little bit extra every week, which will help buy a lot of cheap alcohol. Or some anti-cancer drugs. Your choice.
I had more sympathy for the pot smoker.
“the cable bill is covered”
Why would you keep cable? Cut it off.
“My degree is in costume design”
Well, that was your first mistake.
Man, I’ve really tried to refrain from “you should have done this” comments on these things, but, yeah. I echo the above commenters about the cable bill and unemployment.
CUT THE CABLE OFF
Cut off cable? What? No Battlestar Galactica?
What a dilemma-
work and support myself and have a little dignity or collect unemployment and sit on my butt.
Lissa,
If you haven’t done this already, get yourself down to the Seattle Labor Temple, 2100 First Ave, go to the IATSE office in Suite 229, and get on the list for Wardrobe Local 887. I don’t know what their current needs are for overhire and the like, but it’s possible you might be able to pick up some fill-in work that will pay a little better than the barista job, and hopefully, tide you over for a bit.
Also, go down to Cicada Bridal at 1121 First Ave., and see if you can fill out an application. They’ve hired several costumer friends of mine over the years, and they might be able to send a bit of work your way as well.
Declare bankruptcy already, or at least walk away from your condo. It doesn’t sound like your credit will make it out alive anyway and if you’re underwater, got an interest-only mortgage (which means you probably didn’t put much down and it is a ticking bomb to reset to an even more affordable payment) and are having to choose between your meds, cut that boat anchor loose and find someplace more affordable to rent.
Also, if she doesn’t have an Etsy store for the greeting cards, she needs to start one. It’s easy to do and it’s a great marketplace for that sort of thing.
as @1 said, you will receive some unemployment benefits even tho you are working… do it do it do it…
and keep the cable– you’ve got to enjoy life a lil too…
Why is it so hard for people to conceive of getting rid of unnecessary burdens like cable? Or shopping at more expensive stores like Whole Foods versus Uwajimaya? Or buying expensive materials for hand-made greeting cards that aren’t selling? I sympathize with this lady. But at the same time, speaking nonspecifically, it’s clear that most of the newly unemployed are too stupid to help themselves.
Hey! a useful comment on SLOG?
Where the hell am I?
I DEMAND YOU SHOUT YOUR STUPID OPINION CONFIDENTLY!
Cable? Good lord. Priorities, woman!
that was @7 of course, the following comments are up to SLOG standards.
PLEASE CONTINUE JUDGING PEOPLE ANONYMOUSLY!
Girlfriend, you need to find another man, stat. It is your only hope.
Interest-only mortgages… it really is the 1930s again, isn’t it?
The cable comment sounded like a joke to me. Or maybe having internet is not a “want” in this world anymore, but a need. I couldn’t do my job or homework without it. The library only lets you have an hour a day, even if you were willing to pay to have more. Lighten up people!
Ok, I don’t know why I’m asking slog commenters to cut the woman some slack…
Ew yes, an interest-only mortgage? Not wise. They’re for suckers only.
P.S. Comte is nice.
Who kind of nut job gets an interest only mortgage?
WALK AWAY FROM THE CONDO. Yeah ,your gonna ruin your credit for the next decade, but that mortgage is a noose around your neck, lady.
An admin assistant thinks she can pay for a mortgage by herself. Yeah, that’s a bubble all right.
Cable may be the way she gets internet. Kinda need that to find jobs, right?
Good luck with everything, particularly the cancer.
Some of my fellow dudes will get pissed, but can you ask/make your ex help out with the bills?
You mention “entering the job market” after your divorce. If you and your husband made a decision back when you were married to have you stay out of the marketplace- to raise kids, or maintain a home, or build a boat, or whatever- than he has a responsibility to share his professional success (if he has any) with you.
@20, WaMu knew how much she made, and they should have known what kind of trouble they were headed toward. They should never have approved her for the loan. If only people who were truly qualified got mortgages, the rapid appreciation into a bubble would never have happened. And then the mortgage-backed securities wouldn’t be completely worthless.
This whole thing sucks. I was not trying to be snarky earlier–but I can certainly see how that came across, as I re-read my comment. Seriously, the extra hundred bucks or so a week from unemployment (while you’re underemploed or working a temp job or whatever) really help. I’d be buying cheap booze too!
@ 21, you don’t need cable TV with cable internet. I know, we turned off the TV last summer but kept the internet. (Comcast punished us by slowing down our speed, but you don’t need that much bandwidth…)
@5 – I don’t have cable and I watch BG just fine on hulu.com.
I think Lissa was joking about the cable bill, but in general I agree with 11 – why do people think cable is a necessity? OTOH, when I first moved to Seattle, couldn’t find a job and was living on bananas for a month, I made sure I could buy a latte every other day – because sitting down in a coffee shop and drinking (an unnecessary) coffee like other people made me feel normal and that I could get through it. If keeping cable until the last possible moment keeps someone from totally losing it, go for it.
Adding to COMTE:
Definitely check out the costume union through IATSE. My ex is in IATSE (Local 15, stagehand), and while October 2008 – January 2009 was slooooooowwww, and she was broke much of the time, it sounds like things are picking up again. IATSE is a good organization.
And yeah, cut your cable, sell your TV.
For Lissa: check out the recent White House blog’s info on the foreclosure avoidance plan: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/02/18/…
Dunno what “screamingly low” is but it’s worth looking at anyway; a tiny difference in rates can show a substantial reduction in costs.
In other news, is a roommate a possibility? Clearing out a bedroom could yield a bit of $ via Craigslist and open you up to a little mortgage-payment relief.
I agree, I sensed the joke in the cable bill and even the whiskey line (mmm, Evan Williams). Judging from her photo and her life circumstance, she looks like she has a decent sense of humor. Keep smiling, Lissa.
The number of people who can support themselves with a costume design degree would be extremely limited whether it was good times or bad. Like the poster says, I guess some people are really just here to serve as a warning to others.
Definitely set up an etsy shop for your line of cards. Etsy is a great place for tiny crafters. I have many friends who make/sell all kinds of things through Etsy. It won’t cover all the bills but it does provide some money.
“Sub Prime” really is the person and not the loan product. YEAH gosh that means some people are “Sub Prime”. That person SHOULD NEVER have thought they could afford a $500K home on a $150K income. Sub prime brain power.
Gotta agree, no more credit for poor people.
Did anyone notice that Lissa can write? Three cheers for being smart and educated ‘n’ stuff.
On the health insurance side of things:
1. I thought I had read that Starbucks offers a health insurance plan to their baristas. I know Whole Foods does.
2. If you’re under $1700 a month in income, you would qualify for both Basic Health, the state’s low-income health care plan. (You’d still have to pay their monthly premiums, and from what I can tell, it’s a shitty plan.)
3. If Basic Health does not provide enough coverage, look at Regence Blue Shield’s individual plans. They are quite reasonable (around $150-200 for you), especially if you’re not a smoker. You can call them and ask about their drug coverage. (I know one plan has everything but dental/vision and has no copays.)
Oops, accidentally deleted the half sentence about food stamps. The cutoff is the same as Basic Health, around $1700.
More info at: http://foodhelp.wa.gov/basic_food.htm
RE the choice between meds: Many of the drug companies offer free/ discounted drugs. Check out their websites. Check with your doctor for samples. See if any of the ones you’re on could be replaced by generics at less cost. I’d stop paying the mortgage before I’d stop medicine!
I don’t hold a lot sacred or sinful in this world, but the idea that someone, anyone can’t afford the drugs they need makes me breathe fire. It is a sin, a brutal dark sin, for a society as affluent as ours to leave even a single person out of the advances we’re so privileged to have.
Yes, I’m bellowing, but I think about this a lot when my mom is railing against Canada’s socialized medicine. You know what? Waiting like they do sucks, enormously, but no one is going bankrupt due to illness. No one has to choose like that. And those two things alone are goddamn fucking leaps and bounds ahead of the clusterfuck we’re all simmering in here.
@30. Uh. A $500k home on a $150k income is not really a stretch, if you put 20% down and have good credit. With a 5.5% or 6% interest rate your monthly payments would be about $2,300 (plus taxes and insurance, say a total of $3,000 a month). That’s only 24% of your gross income, which is well within reasonable guidelines.
Mininova.org + Coda.fm + $10 wire to hook up your computer to your TV (for Macs, anyway) = Better than cable, Netflix, and iTunes put together!
@32,
Since Lissa had breast cancer, she is not getting on an individual insurance plan. Even if she could, those Regence plans have very high deductibles.
Plus, from what I understand @32, because of the budget shortfall the State has basically frozen new sign ups for Basic Health; they’re trying not to cut anyone who’s on it currently, but when people do drop off, they’re not opening those slots up to new applicants.
@18:
Shhh! I’ve got a reputation here to uphold!
@8:
I would NOT recommend declaring bankruptcy except as an absolute last-resort. For one thing, it’s become much more difficult to file since the so-called “reform legislation” that Congress passed back in ’05, plus it’ll fuck up her ability to get new credit down the line, and depending on her circumstances, she may STILL be on the hook to some of her creditors no matter what.
She’ll probably be better off holding out for a couple of months until President Obama’s “Homeowner And Stability Plan” kicks in.
I didn’t know that sign-ups for Basic Health had been frozen. I don’t know anything about high-risk pool insurance, either.
And COBRA is a joke. Mine was $450 a month…and I’m a healthy, non-smoking twenty-something.
Why is it that if you go on unemployment, you don’t get automatically enrolled in a federal health insurance program like Basic Health? Doesn’t this seem blindingly obvious? In my pie-in-the-sky thinking, they could deduct an unseen percentage from your UI benefits, and maybe give tax credits to the insurance company who covers these people.
Think about it: people who get laid off are a mixed group and sufficiently numerous that the risk for any one person would be distributed across the insurance pool.
If this were actually feasible, however, someone would have done it already.
Hey Lissa, call your doc and see if they can scrounge some med samples for you. I often give out free meds to our out-of-work patients. Also, if your breast cancer was treated in Seattle you may be able to get some help with meds from the social work department at your hospital. They may know of some special charities addressed toward breast cancer patients (e.g., one blessed sister here in Eugene endowed a discretionary fund for the needs of unemployed survivors). You won’t know if you don’t call, and people really do want to help.
@39 – bankruptcy only tightened a lot for those with above median incomes, which doesn’t sound like it includes Lissa.
And Obama’s plan won’t help her. With an interest-only loan (and therefore non-agency) she won’t qualify for the new re-fi rules. She can only qualify for a rate reduction on a non-agency loan under the plan if she has the income to afford the fully amortizing payment at 38% or less of gross income after a rate modification and maybe ten year term extension. As she can’t even afford the interest-only teaser rate payment, this seems unlikely.
A part-time barrista, part-time crafter just doesn’t have the income to service a bubble-sized house debt. It’s just the brutal truth. She should face that fact and walk away or try to negotiate a short sale sooner rather than later.
@42:
Thanks for that clarification; I knew that some people with sub-primes could re-fi, but wasn’t sure about the specifics.
But, that being said, CAN she just walk away? Right now, it sounds like the value of her condo is less than what she paid for it; sure, someone MIGHT want to buy it, but that’s not going to get her off the hook in that she’ll still owe $$ on it and I presume the holder won’t let her just walk away from that difference, will they?
Perhaps it’s because I, too, am an overeducated, underemployed 40something (don’t be smug; it happens), I feel for Lissa. Maybe we should all start a colony or something.
If health insurance is out of the question, what about Qliance? I hear good things.
COMTE: So long as you just have the original, single mortgage on your primary residence, it is usually “non-recourse”. If you stop paying, the lender gets the property, but they can’t come after you for the difference between what it’s worth and what you owe. Even where it is a “recourse” loan, it requires a judicial foreclosure and a suit to recover the remaining balance, which is so expensive they rarely bother.
So, yes, if she can’t negotiate a short sale to save her credit, she can and should just stop paying, find a cheaper place to rent and let WaMu have her condo back.
Comte–
As I understand it, in foreclosure would leave her liable for any shortfall once the bank sells her place. So she’d have to declare bankruptcy to get rid of that debt (good times).
But it might be possible to negotiate a “title transfer,” essentially giving the keys to the bank in exchange for being left alone.
http://www.mortgagereliefformula.com/rec…
I surely hope her comment about the cable bill was a joke. And really, if she’s scared of her car falling apart, maybe she shouldn’t be driving it.
“Oh but I am rich and entitled to a car! It is my status symbol, and I cannot imagine riding the bus or buying a bicycle like all you unworthy heathens.”
I mean, really if it’s a choice between cancer drugs and the convenience of driving, pick the fuckin’ drugs. Our transit system may not be the nicest in the country, but it’s damn good and will get you from point A to point B.
http://www.rxassist.org/
for help with needed prescriptions.
When I was last in dire financial straits, I ditched cable, Internet, cell phone, and switched my landline phone to a “limited-service” plan (30 minutes of outgoing calls per month). I basically turned off the heat and used as few lights as possible. I quit driving my car and called my insurance agent to tell them the car was being parked for a few months (they can usually work out a lower-cost plan for you if the car is unused). I bought cheap soups by the case on sale and ate a lot of that. I cut out wine and coffee.
Obviously, all discretionary (meaning non-food or bills) spending is off. You can go to the library to use a computer and get books. Cancel all magazine and newspaper subs. If you have anything delivered – water, movies, anything with a recurring cost – cancel it.
Next, call the mortgage company right away and work out a payment plan that allows you to stay in the condo. Since she was WaMu, that might not be possible, but that’s usually your first recourse; be dead honest with them about your lack of income and assets. Most lenders don’t want bad debts and will try to work with you to get whatever payment you can make.
It’s not exactly a joy and delight to live this frugally, but it’s quite possible and not really all that miserable. You can subsist just fine on less-fancy foods and without all the entertainment and communication options we’ve come to take for granted.
CANCEL YOUR CABLE BILL!
STOP PAYING YOUR MORTGAGE AND FORCE YOUR LOAN HOLDER TO SHOW YOU THE CONDO DEED/TITLE!
Many of these crappy loans got bundled and sold then re-sold then bundled again and re-sold ad naseum.
Your bank may not be actually holding the deed to the property = no more paying the mortgage!
consumerist.com