What's the Rest of the Story?

At first glance, the following story makes me feel good about the compassion of people. Then, on second glance, I have a few questions.

If you will, go ahead and read the story below. I’ll share a few thoughts at the end. And, I hope you’ll comment, letting me know your thoughts as well. Maybe I’ve missed something.

The story comes from Dallas, Texas. It seems that a Texas woman went to a housing auction distraught about the prospect of watching strangers bid on her foreclosed home. Then one of those strangers bought her back for her!

Now, Tracy Orr can return to her Pottsboro home, making payments to the woman who unexpectedly and impulsively bought it for her. “It means so much to all of us,” Orr told Dallas television station WFAA. “It’s not just a house.”

Marilyn Mock said she was acting on instinct on Saturday when she decided to buy a house she had never seen for a woman she had never met. Mock was at the foreclosure auction to help her 27-year-old son bid on a house when she struck up a conversation with Orr, who was crying about losing her home.

Orr had bought the house for $80,000 in 2004 but fell behind on the payments. She lost her job a month after taking out the loan, and earlier this year she lost the house. On the spot, Mock decided to buy it, eventually bidding $30,000.

“She didn’t even know if I had a job or was a nut case,” Orr said in a story for Wednesday’s online edition of The Dallas Morning News. “She didn’t even see a picture of the house.”

Mock told a crying Orr she could stay in the house, making payments to her instead of a bank.
“She needed help. That was it,” Mock told the newspaper. “I just happened to be there and anybody else would have done the same thing.”

Orr said she hopes others will do as Mock did. “More than my house, she gave me something inside, and that’s more important than material or financial things,” she said.

The two are waiting on final approval from Fannie Mae before visiting the home.

So, what do you think? At first glance, this is a great story. We should probably praise Ms. Mock for helping Ms. Orr. She was truly a blessing to someone who certainly wasn’t expecting a blessing.

Now, on the other side of the coin, Ms. Orr bought her home in 2004, and a month later lost her job. And, then in 2008, she finally lost the home. Did she not have a job from 2004 until earlier this year? Did she not work? Or, did she fall so far behind in payments that she couldn’t catch up? That part of the story isn’t complete. But, what I’ve found in life is that most companies are more than willing to work with you to solve back payments. Don’t take that as meaning that they do so out of the goodness of their heart. Instead, these companies had rather have steady payments coming in, instead of foreclosing on a house. Why? Well, in this case, the house originally sold for $80,000. When it was sold in foreclosure, how much did the company get? $30,000, less any fees charged by the auctioning company. Needless to say, they lost money on the deal.

I just hope in the months ahead that Ms. Orr does everything in her power to repay Ms. Mock every penny she is due. If not, will the next time they meet up be in court? Probably so.

I’m sorry if I seem cynical about this. There’s probably more to this story than I know. If you know more, please share. If you have comment, please do the same.