U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions have increased 57% from a year ago according to ATTOM, a real estate data firm.
Foreclosure is a process that begins when a borrower fails to make their mortgage payments. Rocket Mortgage explains, “When a home is foreclosed upon, the lender typically repossesses and attempts to sell the house. This happens because mortgage loans are secured by real estate, meaning your home is used as collateral.”
Foreclosure can happen to anyone, especially in an economic downturn.
“Foreclosure activity across the United States continued its slow, steady climb back to pre-pandemic levels in the first half of 2022,” says Rick Sharga, executive vice president ATTOM said in an interview with Market Watch. “While overall foreclosure activity is still running significantly below historic averages, the dramatic increase in foreclosure starts suggests that we may be back to normal levels by sometime in early 2023,” said Sharga.
So, it’s clear that although foreclosures are extremely common, they can be tough to go through, but not impossible to recover from. As foreclosures don’t usually start until 60-120 after missed mortgage payments, you do have time to get your ducks in a row.
“Making your mortgage payment after the 1st of the month won’t be considered late,” says James McCann, branch manager at Cornerstone First Mortgage in a CNET.com interview. “Most mortgage servicers won’t charge a late fee until the 15th of the month and even when they do, it’s usually nominal. Mortgage payments aren’t reported late until the 30th of the month.”
Fortunately, if you’re experiencing that process, you’re in famous company. Many of celebs have found themselves being foreclosed on, and they’ve turned it around. From Toni Braxton to Jay Z, here are some of the stars that have experienced loss and come back stronger than ever.
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WATCH: These Celebrities Faced Foreclosure But Came Out Victorious
The foreclosure process is never easy, but you can turn it around! These celebrities are proof that you can experience loss but bounce back more stronger than ever.
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01
Jay-Z
The mogul couldn't reportedly avoid foreclosure when he and his partners fought lenders over a $52 million deal for his planned J Hotel.
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02
Toni Braxton
Our beloved songstress once faced a number of financial challenges, and eventually was forced to file for bankruptcy twice. Unfortunately, In 2011, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles ruled that her Chapter 7 liquidation of the previous year wouldn’t help her to stave off foreclosure proceedings on her Georgia home, CNBC reported.
03
Michael Jackson
In 2008,the King Of Pop's mounting legal bills during the time of his years-long trial forced his Neverland Ranch into near foreclosure. Fortunately, he managed to stave off the process by auctioning off the zoo and the amusement park rides in his multi-million dollar estate, which took about $10M/year to maintain at the time.
The famous Jackson has regularly appeared on reality shows following her music career, but they evidently were not high-paying gigs. Unfortunately, in September 2009, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported her Las Vegas condominium had gone into default and multiple liens had been placed against the property for delinquent fees, according to CNBC. Since then, it seems she has recovered as Jackson is continuing to make reality show appearances.
05
Chris Tucker
The star of the mega-successful Rush Hour franchise was at one time among the highet paid actors in Hollywood.
He was reportedly given $20 million for “Rush Hour 2” and $25 million for “Rush Hour 3.” Following the mega hits, the actor purchased a $6M mansion to match his newly upgraded lifestyle.
But in 2011, People magazine reported that the mansion had gone into foreclosure. The actor’s monthly mortgage payments were almost $26,000, and he owed more than $4 million to his bank. Since then, it seems like the famed actor has cleared his debt.
06
Damon Dash
Dash faced a setback when he lost his Tribeca duplex when it was foreclosed on while he was battling a bitter divorce from ex Rachel Roy.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s advocacy went beyond civil rights; he was a passionate proponent of jobs, economic prosperity and independence for African Americans. His vision for economic justice culminated in his final sermon on April 3, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, known as the “Mountaintop” speech.
The speech would be King’s last. The following day, while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, he was assassinated. Though his life was cut short, the powerful words he shared that evening continue to echo, inspiring the ongoing fight for equality and justice.
King was led to Memphis many times that year, inspired by Black men striking against the city’s labor practices. Catalyzing the strike, and King’s unwavering support, was the city’s refusal to accept responsibility for a malfunctioning garbage truck that caused the death of two of its workers. The sanitation workers’ rallying cry, “I Am a Man,” symbolized their struggle. But it also reflected King’s increased activism in revolutionizing America’s persistent economic inequalities.
More than 55 years after his death, Dr. King’s speech to these sanitation workers and his broader advocacy for jobs, economic prosperity and economic independence for African Americans still resonate.
Here are 4 ways King’s Mountaintop speech and its advocacy for economic justice continues to inspire us:
1. King argued for fair and safe labor conditions as a human right.
“And that’s all this whole thing is about,” he said. “We aren’t engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God’s children. And that we don’t have to live like we are forced to live.”
Our current corporate culture encourages the belief that Americans should merely be happy to have a job, regardless of its low wages, unfair treatment, or labor conditions. Merely having a job was not enough for the 1,300 Black sanitation workers protesting Memphis’ labor practices in 1968 —where they were forced to work in the torrential rain that led to the deaths of Echol Cole and Robert Walker. And it wasn’t enough for King.
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While Memphis’ mayor said the garbage collectors, comprised entirely of Black men, could talk about labor conditions after they returned to work, the resounding message that crystallized their protest was that they were human beings, not slaves or indentured servants subject to an employers’ whims. Their humanity preceded their identity as a worker, and King grounded his Mountaintop speech in this assertion.
2. King recognized Black people’s immense economic power.
“Individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively, that means all of us together, collectively we are richer than all the nation in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France and I could name the others, the Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That’s power right there if we know how to pool it.”
King’s recognition of Black people’s economic power wasn’t merely to recreate capitalism, a system he thought had outlived its usefulness. Rather, he thought of it as a protest tool. He argued that if white companies could not treat their Black employees with respect and equality, then Black Americans could withdraw their economic support and massively hinder the country’s economic system.
3. Strengthening independent Black institutions is crucial to improving our economic condition.
“We’ve got to strengthen Black institutions. I call upon you to take your money out of the banks downtown and deposit your money in Tri-State Bank —we want a “bank-in” movement in Memphis… You have six or seven Black insurance companies in Memphis. Take out your insurance there. We want to have an ‘insurance-in’.”
In addition to advocating for fairness in jobs provided by white employers and economic withdrawal, King argued for Black institution-building. His calls for unity was just shy of the Black Power messaging espoused by the Black Panther Party and other more radical freedom fighters of the era.
4. Economic justice is a moral responsibility for anyone who believes in fairness, whether or not they are personally impacted by injustice.
“Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point, in Memphis. We’ve got to see it through. And when we have our march, you need to be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together. Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness…The question is not, ‘If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?’ ‘If I do no stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?’ That’s the question.”
King knew more than most about sacrifice. In the midst of working on his Poor People’s Campaign, King was led to Memphis three times to support the striking sanitation workers. It was during King’s third trip to Memphis that would be his last. His final words—in which he professed that the threats against his life did not matter because he’s been to the mountaintop and has “seen the promised land”—highlighted King’s “dangerous unselfishness.” Even though his work threatening America’s economic system was probably more dangerous to the status quo than his battles against segregation, he knew the fight was necessary.