What I Learned from Watching a Family Navigate Foreclosure (Up Close)

[David Litt]

Over the past year, I’ve quietly watched a neighbor go through the slow unraveling of a foreclosure. Not a stranger — someone I used to wave to every morning. A family with kids, a dog, and a once-perfect lawn.

At first, it was subtle: less upkeep, mail piling up, fewer lights on at night. Then came the sticker on the door. That was the moment it became real.

They never threw a big tantrum. No screaming fights. Just a steady series of quiet setbacks — HOA complaints, missed trash days, relatives showing up to "help," then not showing up again. You could tell they were trying to fix things but didn't know where to start. And by the time the notices came, the options had shrunk drastically.

The hardest part? The shame. They stopped talking to neighbors. The kids started taking a different route home from school. They didn’t ask for help. And nobody offered it.

It made me think: how many people are right on the edge, afraid to speak up? And how many of us are too uncomfortable to ask if someone’s okay?

No pitch here. Just sharing something that’s stayed with me. If you’ve worked with or supported someone facing foreclosure, I’d be curious to hear how you approached it — or what surprised you most.