Car Repo Getting Increasingly Violent

What would you do if you hear noises outside at 2:30 in the morning and see three men trying to take your car away? 

I don’t know what I would do, but what Jim Tanks of Halsell, Alabama did ended up costing him his life:  He grabbed a gun, walked out the back door, and confronted the men.  The men were not thieves, but rather, repo men trying to take Mr. Tanks’ car away.  Shots were fired and Mr. Tanks died with a gunshot wound to the chest. 

The repo man, Kenneth Alvin Smith, now faces murder charges.  He says he fired in self defense.  Mr. Smith works for Ascencion Recovery in Birmingham, AL, where a repo man was shot dead and yet another was wounded in two separate repossession incidents just this year.

Most financially-strapped people start getting behind on their car payment.  I am no different.  In fact, a tow truck near my car is one of the top ten things a broke person like me is afraid of.  In nightmarish imaginings I have always thought repo men take your car in the middle of the day, when you are at work, for full embarrassing effect.  Never in my life did I imagine repo men skulking around at 2:30 in the morning to take away someone’s car!

Read more about this tragedy here.

Photo credit:  Associated Content in their article Starting an Automobile Repossession (Repo) Service by Steve Thompson.

VIDEO: Boy Lived with Dead Mom For 10 Days

An 8-year old boy in Michigan lived with his mother’s dead body for 10 days. He survived by eating dried rice, butter and flour. A vigilant shopkeeper, concerned that the boy has been coming to the store by himself, quizzed him about his mom. The boy said his mom was “in a better place.”

May this video remind us parent that our children must be taught what to do in case of emergencies.

Children are Getting Abandoned in Nebraska

Since the Nebraska Safe Haven Law went into effect this July 2008, 17 children have been given up at various Nebraska hospitals.  The Safe Haven law was intended to protect unwanted newborn children, but no age limit is specified in the Nebraska Law.   Recently, the following were abandoned at Creighton University Medical Center:

• Nine children aged 1 through 17 who were abandoned by the father after the mother died last year and he lost his job this year. He allowed his 18-year old daughter to stay at home.  His in-laws lamented that he should have approached them first and they would have been happy to help.  They are now fighting to gain custody of the children.
• A 14-year old girl from Iowa who was driven to and abandoned in Nebraska by her grandparents in to “teach her a lesson”.  The grandparents later changed their mind and got her back.

Read the entire text of the Nebraska Safe Haven Law  here.

Experts now say there is great potential for this law to be abused, and with how badly the economy is doing nowadays, they fear that many more children could be abandoned.

Image from Stephen & Karen Conn’s Nebraska Travel Tips.

90-Year Old Attempts Suicide Over Foreclosure

Addie Polk, a 90-year old Ohio woman, attempted to kill herself with a gun as local deputies were arriving to evict her from her home.  Bloggers are calling her “the face of the crisis“, embodying not just financial hardship but also lack of financial guidance.

Ms. Polk has lived in her home for around 38 years, according to neighbors.  The mortgage was paid off in 1982.  She had since re-mortgaged her home three times since 1997 to ease financial burdens.  What would probably helped her is a reverse mortgage to allow her access to her home equity without having to make monthly payments.  Those lenders that have given her a mortgage since 1997 should have explored other options for Ms. Polk to consider based on her age.  Her last mortgage was with Countrywide in 2004, the mortgage company that had become infamous in recent times for its mortgage practices.

The people of Akron, Ohio have rallied behind Ms. Polk, including the OH Congressman Dennis Kucinich.  A Fannie Mae spokesperson has also said that Ms. Polk’s mortgage has been forgiven.  Ms. Polk is in critical condition at the Akron General Medical Center.