A Good Deed I will never forget.

As I waited at the stop light, I began to open the envelope slowly dreading what I was about to read. I knew this day would come and I would have to suffer the consequences of not taking care of business. I didn’t have the remaining money that was owed to catch up on my past due balance but I thought they would at least give me a pass considering that I covered about 50 percent of my past due balance just a couple months ago.

As I finally got the paper out of the envelope, the light turned green, I put the paper in the cup holder until the next red light so I then can read the evitable.

I began trying to convince myself they wouldn’t do this to me during a pandemic.

As I continued on my drive all my thoughts became negative.

Are they going to tell me, the monthly $150 investment over the last few years was a complete waste?

Are they going to give me a couple weeks to pay a couple thousand dollars, which I don’t have, to save my land?

I’m not looking forward to hearing my Dad tell me how I will regret this in 10 years.

As my negative thoughts began to pile up by the minute, I began to wonder why every stop light that I’d approached was green. For the first time in my life, I was looking forward to being stopped at a red light.

The anxiousness that came with wanting to know what was in the letter made it difficult for me to focus on driving. After passing through yet another green light, I decided to pull into a McDonald’s parking lot where I could park and read the letter.

As I opened the letter my eyes focused directly on the section that read: FORCLOSURE.

At that moment my head dropped and reality set in. I immediately started to beat myself up about not staying up to date on my payments.

Eight years ago, I had invested in an acre of land in Arizona, about 50 miles from the Nevada, with the idea that it would be a long term investment that would pay off in about 15 years. For the first 5 years I paid on time every single month. During the last three years I fell to hard times and missed more payments than I would have preferred, digging myself too deep to be able to dig out of.

Sitting in the parking lot filled with disappointment, I began to actually read the letter in its entirety. With each word that I read my disappointment turned to jubilation.

I could not believe what was just happening.

The letter read;

Dear Valued Land Owner,

As you most certainly know, the COVID-19 virus pandemic has affected everyone. Your property in Arizona is one of the safest places in the area because of clean air and size of properties, all in excess of one acre.

Our goal is to remove one uncertainty by working with you to keep your property. You may choose from the following two options.

Option 1: We will reduce the amount owed on the property by 50%. For example, if your balance owed is $12,000 we will reduce the amount owed to $6,000. Thus, your payments will go towards the new balance of $6,000. Your payments per sales agreement are due as scheduled with the new balance.

Option 2: If you do not want to keep your property you may sign a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure giving the property back to the trust.

After completely reading the letter, I sat there in disbelief that somebody could actually be this generous . Sitting in my car for about 30 minutes, I decided to call the number at the bottom of the letter to make sure what I was reading was in fact true.

I called and spoke to a lady named Amanda and she confirmed to me that it was true. We talked about Ralph, the owner of the deed, and what a great man he was to give anyone struggling a break during this pandemic.

After paying about $10,000 over the years, I still owed about $20,000 so essentially Ralph, a man I never met in my life, gave me $20,000. He saved me from wasting the $10,000 that I had already invested and took off $10,000 from what I had owed.

So as wiped away a few tears, my phone rung and it was my sister.

When I answered, the first thing I said was;

" Hey, somebody just gave me $20,000 today."