Foreclosure victim or serial refinancer?

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There’s an Interesting piece of citizen journalism taking place over at Curbed LA: First Curbed linked to a story in New Angeles monthly about the plight of a Boyle Heights foreclosure victim. The story, billed by New Angeles as ‘particularly haunting,’ describes a couple who refinanced twice, in 2004 and 2005; the husband died of cancer, the widow now faces an unaffordable mortgage payment and foreclosure.

Here’s the twist: a commenter on Curbed LA researched the loans against the property, and found numerous refinancings that made a once-affordable house unaffordable: ‘This house was purchased on 8/21/97 for $98,000. Over the next 9 years they pulled out $282,000 which is $31,300 per year. This is a case of someone living off of their equity, not bad broker taking advantage of them.’

Our take: It is harder and harder for journalists to stay ahead of the readers these days -- which is a good thing, we think. The fact-checking and second-guessing that takes place on blogs is a long-overdue reality check. In the case of the foreclosure crisis, blog readers are adding serious, hard-headed analysis that is often lacking in media accounts.

Our other take: It is getting harder and harder to keep your financial life secret, which is not such a good thing.

Your thoughts? Comments? Email story tips to lalandblog@yahoo.com.