Sixth Grade
Worksheets
What Is a Foreclosure?
Buying a house is part of the American dream. There is nothing quite like "home sweet home," especially when you own the house! However, one event can steal a homeowner's dream and turn it into a nightmare. Foreclosure is when a homeowner can't afford to make the payments on his or her house anymore. The bank or lender that he or she owes money to then gets the house. The family has to move out.
You may have seen the word "foreclosure" in the headlines or heard the word on the news. The stories about foreclosure are not usually happy ones. People go through foreclosure for different reasons. Sometimes they have lost their jobs. If people have medical problems and can't work, they can have a lot of financial stress, too. Other times foreclosure occurs because of a divorce. In these situations, the people might not be able to pay their mortgage. A mortgage is the name of the loan that people get so that they can buy a house. Not paying the mortgage leads to foreclosure if it goes on long enough.
Foreclosure statistics are troubling, but personal stories about foreclosures are far more heart-wrenching than any numbers in the newspaper. Here is one story about a family that has faced the situation with courage. This lady and her family decided to move to Florida in order to be closer to her mother-in-law. She thought that their family could survive on one salary if necessary. It seemed like a safe move in terms of the family's money situation. It looked as though they would be able to cover most of their bills easily.
