By the time you foreclose on my house, I’ll be dead

Wow. Those chilling words were included in a fax a 53 year old wife and mother sent to her mortgage company before killing herself on the day that her house was to be foreclosed on (Taunton homeowner kills herself prior to foreclosure).

"I had no clue,” said John Balderrama explaining that his wife handled all of the couple’s finances. “I’m just lost. I tell you, I’m beside myself.” He said Carlene had been intercepting letters from the mortgage company and shredding them without his knowledge. He had no idea she hadn’t paid the mortgage in 42 months. “She put in her suicide note that it got overwhelming for her,” he told The Associated Press in a phone interview today. “Apparently she didn’t have anyone to talk to. She didn’t come to me. I don’t know why.”

Even though the housing bubble and resulting credit crunch have impacted many people all over the country, this is the first time that I have heard about it resulting in suicide. My deepest sympathies go out to the Balderrama family.