JOHNS HOPKINS: HEALTH CARE COSTS SOAR WITH FORECLOSURES

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Foreclosures are making Florida homeowners sick.

A series of studies over the past year, including one that zeroed in on Florida and other hard-hit states, found that people who go through home foreclosures suffer more stress-related illnesses, from high blood pressure to depression to heart trouble to nausea.

With foreclosures expected to begin rising again in the coming year, doctors and mortgage counselors said they expect to see more distressed homeowners fall ill.

“We’re beginning to [prove] the causal relationship. We’re finding that foreclosure actually does lead to poor health,” said Dr. Craig E. Pollack, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University who led several of the studies. “As foreclosures go up, so will the number of people who get sick.”

The financial strain of foreclosure brought down both Annette and Ellison Hixson, who came within days of being evicted from their Miami Gardens house in March.

Ellison, 71, had a heart attack and had to stop working as an independent truck driver. Their lender eventually foreclosed. Within months, beset by stress and sleeplessness, he had another heart attack and a stroke, his wife said.

Annette, 63, said she lost 45 pounds and had stress-related flareups of diabetes symptoms, such as high blood sugar, eye trouble and pain in her hands and feet.

“Worry makes things that much more serious than they are,” Annette Hixson said. “Stress is like a disease in itself. You never know if tomorrow the sheriff is going to knock on the door. That’s a pressure that is with you day and night.”

Both Hixsons have stabilized and felt better since a credit agency helped them refinance the loan and keep their house, she said.

Foreclosure counselors said they routinely hear similar health complaints from clients struggling with foreclosure proceedings.

Most report increased bouts of asthma, high blood pressure, racing heartbeat, sleeplessness, colds and flu. Psychological trouble may appear as well, including panic attacks, depression, irritability, temper outbursts and hopelessness, mortgage counselors said.

“They have an extreme amount of anger and frustration and despair at the whole foreclosure situation,” said Maria Gaitan, president of Consumer Credit Management Services, a counseling agency in Delray Beach. “These people are at their wits’ end and that brings out the worst in people.”

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Tags: bankruptcy, borrower, countrywide, disclosure, foreclosure, foreclosure defense, foreclosure offense, foreclosures, fraud, LOAN MODIFICATION, modification, quiet title, rescission, RESPA, securitization, TILA audit, trustee, WEISBAND
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