home, most state laws don’t require moving out immediately. Typically, the tenant can remain in the home, payment-free, until receiving an official, written eviction notice. It’s often more practical to move out prior to eviction.
EMOTIONAL COMPONENTS
In the Introduction to this book, we touched on the fact that facing the prospect of foreclosure can affect our mood and thinking process. Foreclosure can seem overwhelming, and when we’re overwhelmed, it’s hard to think productively. You might have read or heard about the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. This model was created to demonstrate the emotional states that terminally ill patients experience after a diagnosis. Since then, it’s been loosely applied to everything from a bad breakup to the death of a loved one. It’s natural for individuals and families faced with the prospect of foreclosure to experience their own range of emotions. Many homeowners experience self-doubt. “If only I had done things differently,” they tell themselves. But reasons for foreclosure are almost always more complicated than the actions of one individual. Consider job loss, for example. Were you or your partner laid off from a job? Your employer ultimately made that decision, and the reasons were probably more complex than they seem. Did the economy — or management’s own poor decision making — make layoffs necessary? Did the company where you worked experience a sudden loss of business because of fewer customers, seasonal buying habits, rising material costs, or other conditions beyond your control? Perhaps your former employer had to cut costs or eliminate an entire product line. Maybe new owners or managers simply wanted to start with a “clean slate” and hire their own people. Regardless of the reason or reasons for the layoff, your employer made a final call that you (or your partner)
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