How I got here

In the "About this Blog" section to the right, I tried to give a quick glimpse of how I arrived in this horrible position. But I feel like it is important to give more details to dispel any knee jerk reactions. I'm certainly not blameless in this situation but I am also not a deadbeat.

• At the end of 2008 I lost a job and to survive I created my own business in haste. 

Admittedly I was not in the position to carefully devise the best business model.  I do blame myself for not correcting that issue long before now.  I put all of my eggs in my political research basket even though that can be a very seasonal enterprise.  If you have a decent year, it can make up for that fact but if you have a disappointing one, it can put everything else in jeopardy.

Thankfully I've recently started getting some outstanding criminal defense related work. I can only hope that part of my business grows and quickly.  It could end up being a lifesaver in many ways.  I can only hope that I didn't wait too long to start diversifying my services.

• My home is a duplex and right after losing my job I lost an outstanding tenant.  If I could rent the upper unit out again it would solve my mortgage issues longer term.  But then there is the furnace...

Unfortunately I also lost the furnace for that unit so I can't rent it and I've been unable to make enough to fund the cost of replacing it.

• The bank induced Great Recession has been murder for home values and mine has certainly not been immune. 

Had my home value not fallen so dramatically I would have had an early option to possibly refinance at historically low interest rates. Perhaps I could have used some cash from the refinance to replace the furnace and rent out the upper unit. Perhaps I could have at least used the savings from a lower payment to eventually fund the installation of a new furnace.

• After my mortgage was bought and sold many times it unfortunately ended up at the Bank of America.    They have been a bad actor long before they ever bought my loan from the string of defunct banks before them.  

Here is one relatively recent example of their shady dealings getting them in legal trouble. 

And another...

And another...

Well you get the point...they are threatening to drag me into a Milwaukee County courtroom and God knows that they have more than enough experience being in one of those (often as a defendant). 

Again, I've not been perfect in my choices during some challenging times but there have also been a number of things that were beyond my control and for which I will accept no ownership.  There you have it, that is a bit more detailed explanation of how I got here.