An Open Letter

I have been neglecting this little space of the web lately. It’s been so nice outside, so the kids and I have been spending quite a bit of time out playing and enjoying the sunshine and warmer weather. I do plan on getting things back on track though this week. To start out the week though, I thought I would write an open letter to our neighbor (WARNING: It’s a bit of a rant).

Dear Neighbor,

Next time you meet one of your neighbors outside (for the 2nd time) and decide to start talking to them, you might want to think about what you disclose about yourself and your life. You see… while I thought that it would be nice if we got to know each other better since our boys are close in age, after talking to you… I hate to say that it just won’t happen.

Like you, we’re not fans of our homeowners association and we have our reasons for feeling this way. We also don’t like that they have been raising the association fees steadily over the past few years. If you would read the newsletters that they send out, they explain that one of the reasons they go up is because there are homeowners don’t can’t pay it. Imagine how surprised I was when you told me that you have stopped paying them, because you don’t agree with something they have told you regarding your property. YOU are one of the reasons why our fees are going up, because you are choosing not to pay them! You have no right to gripe to me about how high the fees are… you’re not even paying them!!

Oh, but that wasn’t all… I think my jaw just about dropped at your next revelation. Do you really think that telling your neighbor that you’ve stopped paying your mortgage and are going into foreclosure is going to win them over? Maybe they would feel sorry for you if you had lost your job and couldn’t pay your bills… but that’s not really the case for you now is it? You wanted to quit your job to stay at home with your child and it was very convenient for you that your employer was looking to reduce staff  at the same time… you volunteered to be let go. You went on to tell me that you’re planning on buying a larger house and your husband/boyfriend/baby’s daddy… whatever… is going to be buying it in his name only… so then it doesn’t matter that you’ve claimed bankruptcy and foreclosed on this place.

While I bit my tongue and didn’t say anything on that day, I do have something to say… Do you realize that our property values have been dropping? That there have been numerous foreclosures here in the subdivision that have caused our homes to lose value? That there are people out there that have lost their jobs and can’t make ends meet (they didn’t choose to be let go so that they could stay at home with their child)? I feel sorry for those people… I don’t feel sorry for you. I refuse to feel sorry for someone who is blatantly taking advantage of the system… oh sure, you’ve ruined your credit, but you don’t care… you told me so yourself, because you won’t be needing it for years, and when you do need it again… and I quote… “I’ll just have to tell them that I lost my job and they’ll understand.” Nice… just freaking nice. You’re so happy that you’re going to get an $8000 tax credit for buying a new home… in your husbands name only of course… I wish that the bank would surprise you and pull your credit too… they really should… lets see what type of loan they give you then.

My husband and I would love to buy a bigger home too… we would never do what you’re doing though. Do you realize that you basically told me that you’re f**king us over? Probably not. Let me explain in case you don’t understand why I say that… in going into foreclosure, you will once again be causing our property value to go down, because your place will be sold well below what it’s worth… that affects all of the homeowners around you… but you don’t care… you’ll be in your bigger home… and we’ll still be here.

So… because of all of this… I won’t be trying to befriend you… you can be happy that it was me that you talked to and not my husband, because he would have said everything I said in this letter (and quite possibly more) to your face… I should have done that too… but I didn’t and instead now I choose to avoid you. Great… it would have been nice… oh well.

Signed,
I really don’t care if you find my blog and read this