Oceans 2003 | Navigating the Ocean of Business

Joe Aldeguer of Chicago based homeowner advocacy firm tell clients that material objects are not worth risking what is truly home.

A house is nothing more than bricks and mortar, says Joe Aldeguer. It has no feelings. But even for homeowners who readily acknowledge this fact, facing default or foreclosure is difficult. Sadly, laments Joe Aldeguer, many people in his hometown of Chicago are now confronting this challenge due to the mortgage meltdown crisis facing our nation today.

For most, accepting that it is time to let go, reports Joe Aldeguer, is the hardest part of a foreclosure. As homeowners we put so much into our houses that we often forget that the idea of “home” isn’t the rooms we occupy; it’s who occupies the rooms. Joe Aldeguer sees every day how emotional attachment to a house can actually convince individuals and families to stay and continue to fall behind. Imagine, says Joe Aldeguer, living in a house alone, without your family. It doesn’t feel so important then.

Home isn’t an address.

“Don’t hide your head in the sand,” encourages Joe Aldeguer. You didn’t feel shame when you bought the house, you shouldn’t feel shame when you let go. What you perceive as a loss now, believes Joe Aldeguer, may honestly change your life for the good. You never know what is just around the bend! Hold your head up high and be proud that you are strong enough to make tough choices for the betterment of your family.

Taking a fresh approach to your finances, points out Joe Aldeguer, may take some getting used to. As a society, we have been conditioned to treat financial obligations as the most serious of promises.  Joe Aldeguer encourages homeowners to keep in mind that their responsibility is to their family, not to the bank that put them in this position to begin with. At the height of the economic boom, many Chicago banks were giving loans out to families without fully explaining the drawbacks associated with such a large financial obligation. This failure to disclose the cons of many of the mortgage products of the day, says Joe Aldeguer, is a key factor that caused the housing collapse.

A family suffers due to a defective mortgage, not the bank.

If you now find yourself in this position, you are far from alone. Joe Aldeguer reports that millions of hardworking Americans are now wondering how to pay the mortgage, feed their family, and provide for everyday necessities. In Chicago alone, over 45,000 homes have been foreclosed on. That is a staggering number of people, many of whom, Joe Aldeguer believes, may have been conned into an unmanageable loan.

Overall, states Joe Aldeguer, you have to move forward, and not look back at the loss. It is, after all, just a business decision. As business owners must sometimes cut their losses after a failed financial maneuver and move on, so must homeowners.

Joe Aldeguer and his homeowner advocates staff are available for appointments in their suburban Chicago office. To schedule and appointment and learn how you can make a fresh start, call 312-945-8105.