I am a loans officer at a bank and sometimes you just feel bad for people that come in to visit you.  Mainly I deal with loans and mortgages, and I have a story to share with you today.

Steve (name changed due to privacy laws) came in to talk to me today about his mortgage.  He has been living at his home now for about ten years and he is an excellent client.  He always pays on time and really there are no problems.

He came in today to renew his mortgage as his five year term was up.  Steve seemed kind of embarrassed and more timid than usual.  I asked him what was wrong and he looked at me with sadness in his face,

"I went bankrupt."

He seemed really ashamed.  Talking to him a big, I found out that their business had gone under and his wife needed some expensive surgery and they had used all their life savings.  I felt bad for him as this was something he really didn’t have a lot of control over.

I proceeded to explain that this time we would have to go through and file his application as a bad credit remortgage.  You could see fear in his eyes:

"We cannot lose our house!"

I calmed him down and explained there were a couple of hoops to jump through.  I also explained that since he never missed a payment, there shouldn’t be much of a problem getting is remortgage.  Worst case, he would have to pay a higher interest rate, but that was it.

He left my office feeling better than when he came in.  I will find out in a few days if he got it or not, but I feel in my gut that he did.  I am sure that will lift a weight off his shoulders.