desolationpress

Hello to the Other 99!

My name is Steve, and, aside from many years of listening to Big Audio Dynamite (who penned the classic song "The Other 99"), I do have a dog in this fight. After the crash of 2008, I lost my job, my home and my life savings. The Fortune 500 insurance company I was working for got rid of a bunch of consultants after losing an unspecified (er, LARGE) amount of money. Then, my employer black-balled us under the terms of a non-compete agreement (not really valid, but the threat of a lawsuit did the job), and since there were no other jobs in my field in that town (Bloomington, IL), I had to relocate and put my home on the market. A modest home I had poured $75k into over six years. Bad luck on the price point -- came out a bit under the price of all the McMansions in foreclosure. So, it sat for 16 months before some bottom feeder took it in a short sale 3 days before the big foreclosure. The bank (PNC) only made about $60k off that deal -- I got nothing, 'natch. Oh, and another bank foreclosed on my Mother-in-law up in Michigan that same month. She had lived there for 40 years ... now she's 67 and living in our basement.

Big dogs in this fight. Very big and mean. Best part -- there's a PNC branch in the parking lot of the building where I now work. Every day I get to resist the impulse to, well, you can guess.

I don't know how much I can do in this action, but I will try to make some of the festivities here in the midwest (three young children, mom trying to finish up her last year of college, and mother-in-law need me to be in the hot seat). If it's not too hairy, maybe I'll dress up my girls and bring them down to witness some democracy in action.

I've also put together some free educational content to help the long-term mission:

See http://www.desolationpress.com

Try the link for "A Primer on the Mortgage Industry"

And there's more on the topic for teachers -- try the resources link for a lesson plan, presentation content and tests. I'm hoping some of the more brave (or beleagered) teachers will use it in the 6-12 classrooms. And the home schoolers can help themselves to it as well.

Pass it along -- the real title alone says it all.

Joined Oct. 3, 2011