By BJ Austin
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-848086.mp3
Dallas, TX – Tuesday's auction brought a large crowd to the Dallas County Courthouse downtown. Many were investors, and at least one bidder just hoping to keep a roof over his head. Fred - who declined to give his last name - arrived in the U.S. from Iran in 1979.
Fred came to the auction to buy the house in East Dallas where he's lived for the past six years. He says he and his landlady had a verbal rent-to-own agreement, the house would eventually be his. But the owner went bankrupt and the house went on the auction block.
This turn of events has taken a toll on him, his son, and a friend who live there.
Fred: The location was good for me, close to highway. And anywhere I go it was like 15-20 minutes distance. Basically I can say it's my house. But reality on paper, it's not. For the last month and a half, it was like a purgatory. You didn't know, move in, move out, stay in, stay out, you know nothing. So now, today is a turning point. Whether we've got it or we don't, God's will, whatever happens.
Joe El Nwigwi, with George Roddy Foreclosure Listings, says the down economy is ratcheting up foreclosures at a fast pace: 2,700 this month, up from 2,200 in June. He says the first-Tuesday-of-each-month auctions are part chaos, part tedious procedure, and part tragedy.
Nwigwi: Especially on a homestead, when you have a family involved, and things of that sort. That can get very emotional. It can be an ugly process.
But, there is a happy ending for Fred, who borrowed money from friends to try buying the home. His bid was accepted and with a $25,000 cashier's check, he secured his "American Dream."
Fred: Thanks for friendship. Nobody turned me down. They gave me what they had.
Support for KERA comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Our upcoming TV special, Facing the Mortgage Crisis is part of CPB's Public Service Media Economic Response Initiative.
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