Just like the enraged husband, the homeowner is losing after a terrible financial ruling in family court. This crucial, last minute decision has wrecked her credit score, likely beyond repair. With her mortgage currently five months past due, she’s in the thick of looking for ways to make sense of this weird, brave new world.
We held the family court set conditions that severely curtailed the homeowner’s financial decision-making prowess. The convergence of these factors proved to be extraordinarily difficult for her. Her home – a financial anchor she’s found hard to unload – hasn’t helped, putting her in an even worse bind. I sounded out for advice, but was given nothing from the Judicial Office and Law Society that might have prepared me. They don’t have any remedies available for people who are facing mortgage foreclosure under these conditions.
The homeowner was looking for legal counsel regarding her own case. To address the havoc wreaked on her credit score, they told her she could no longer go back to family court. This limitation results from the fact that the credit rating concern is not within the court’s jurisdiction. As a result, she is now stuck in a legally dubious scenario that she did not create.
She got help from StepChange, a UK debt charity. These were folks who had very recently released a groundbreaking report on coerced debt. StepChange gives a wealth of useful, practical information and advice helping those in problem debt. It’s unclear how their recommendations can be adapted to her particular situation.
With her mortgage arrears rising, this homeowner is weighing her alternatives. One possible solution is including a new “notice of correction” to the records of each of the three largest credit reporting agencies. This written testimony helps explain why she is in such dire financial straits today. None of this gets to the heart of what’s actually driving her credit score down.
The homeowner’s experience sheds light on a much larger issue—how family law intersects with Americans’ financial well-being. Thousands of people across the country are forced into these same impossible situations where legal realities come with unexpected economic burdens. Adding to those hardships is the inability to seek redress through the family court.
Unfortunately walking through these kinds of complexities needs more than just legal consulting, it requires emotional endurance. She continues to look for an answer. The Michigan homeowner remains optimistic that through this advocacy a path will emerge for those similarly trapped in this untenable situation.