…in foreclosure. The bank filed notice six weeks ago.”
My attorney, Ms. Bell, showed me the public record. My son, Ryan, and his wife, Courtney, were five months behind on their mortgage. If I gave them $150,000, most of it would go to the bank to stop the foreclosure. If they lost the house anyway, my money would be gone and so would my “permanent place to live.”
“And the agreement says they can ask you to leave at any time,” Ms. Bell said. “You’d have no right to your money back.”
I didn’t sign it. I didn’t move.
I called Ryan and told him I’d read Courtney’s message about the garage. He was silent. Then he said he hadn’t known she’d written that. He did know about the foreclosure. He’d been too ashamed to tell me.
“You could have asked me for help,” I said. “Instead, you tried to trap me.”
With the money from my house sale, I bought a small two-bedroom condo near my sister. I have my own bedroom, my own bathroom and a guest room for my grandchildren. My name is the only one on the deed.
Ryan and Courtney sold their house before the foreclosure went through. They rent a smaller place now. My grandchildren sleep over at my condo every other weekend. Nobody sleeps in the garage.
