My Life in Argentina and Beyond

I wish I could shame the real estate woman and the loan officer she recommended into giving me my money back—the $170,000 that I bought the condo in Atlanta for—as well as my lost excellent credit and all the other money I lost. I also wish I could shame them into giving me the condo in Buckhead back.I could give an interview and mention their names. That's one idea. Other than that, I don't know.They ought to be ashamed of themselves. Eugenia Renskoff

It was a two-bedroom, 2 bath condo in Buckhead, one of the best neighborhoods in Atlanta, GA. The location could not be better—near the supermarket, some shops and Borders bookstore. But shortly after I closed, I began to suspect that something had gone wrong—terribly wrong. I started asking people and looking on the Internet. Refinancing right away carried a penalty; the same for selling the place. I have overpaid and was now in deep trouble. I knew I was going to miss the condo (it was a quiet second floor walk-up), but the financial burden of keeping it would be overwhelming. I don’t know what is more devastating or damaging than losing the home that you love. A home is a place that more than shelters you. A home lets you be you. It keeps you when no one else does or wants to. You turn to it for more than a bed, a kitchen and a shower. And when it’s gone, there is no going back. It’s not just that things can never be the same—the damage is more harmful than anything a person has ever known. Foreclosure is a bad word. No one wants to pronounce it and yet so many people, like myself, have had to say it over and over again. My home was foreclosed.

I was foreclosed on in Atlanta, GA in November 2005 when I was out of the country. I didn’t have a lawyer to help me and I couldn’t afford one. I used up all my savings trying to save my beautiful condo in Buckhead. The mortgage fraud/foreclosure experience I lived through (I believe I was given a subprime mortgage though I had a credit score of 754) is still haunting me. The day of the foreclosure, I called the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office long distance and did everything I could to stop from losing my home. Someone had told me that maybe my civil rights were being violated because it was happening when I was far away. I didn’t know if this was or was not true. I just loved my condo and didn’t want it to be taken away from me. That afternoon, I used up I don’t know how many phone cards and talked to many people; some, like a woman named Ms. De Louise, were very nice and tried to help me. This has been a great personal tragedy. It has left a mark on me and my life that so far has been impossible to erase.

Thursday, October 1, 2009: I have been informed that there is a document saying I may have paid mortgage on my GA condo in 2006. This cannot be true since the condo in Buckhead foreclosed on Tuesday, November 1, 2005. I feel that this nightmare named GA will never stop. It is haunting me now, almost 4 years later, and will continue to haunt me for the rest of my life. In all my life I have never been as haunted by anything as I am by this--the horrible mistake I made when I took the Greyhound bus to Atlanta in May of 2002. Saying that I am disgusted and unhappy does not begin to describe my feelings at the moment. Everything conspires to remind me of it.

Another consequence of the GA foreclosure/mortgage fraud: When I was living in Atlanta (right after it dawned on me that I had been scammed) I would take just $20 out of the ATM and treat myself to some sourdough bread from Eatzy’s, the Buckhead deli. I felt a little guilty about it, but that sourdough was a reminder of my old and easier life, a life with no bad money problems.

Thursday, April 17, 2008: Today I got a letter from the Internal Revenue Service about my 2005 tax return. I was out of the country for almost 3 years, with no access to my US mail and I filed late. According to them, I owe $2,145.85 for getting foreclosed. It is a beautiful afternoon here, but to me it feels very cloudy and bleak. It seems that there is no end to my money problems because of the loss of the Buckhead condo. No end and I am drowning. Absolutely drowning.