Need prayers and physical help if possible

[J Miller]

All of you know we have wanted out of IL for years. But the money to move just was not there.

To complicate things in 2013 I spent a week in the hospital with ecoli and then another month going to the outpatient enfusement clinic for anti-biotics.
The e-coli was found in my blood, urine and in an abscess in the muscles that line up with the kidneys, spine, and the right leg bunch in my lower back. I lost a lot of leg use then. Still having trouble with it.
At this same time I had trouble with my right shoulder with tremendous pain and greatly diminished movement. The shoulder had been dislocated somehow. Popped back in as I was laying in bed at home. I was later diagnosed with a partially torn rotator cuff muscle and a large bone spur. That was scheduled for surgery at the end of March in 2014. But it never happened.

In mid March 2014 I spent a week in the hospital with pneumonia. It caused me such problems breathing that my heart went into a-fib. Nother words, it darned near killed me. Since then I can't breath as well as I used to.

My wife's truck started giving us trouble about the end of 2013 so it wasn't used much that year. When we did try to use it again in 2014 it wouldn't run right. So we've been using my Pathfinder for all transportation.

In 2014 near my 62nd birthday I filed for early retirement. It finally came in around November of last year. Now my wife and I have two solid regular pay checks, small though they are. Plus she's working a temporary job for the State of IL at this time. That is scheduled to end this week I believe.

To sum this all up, I'm pretty much dead in the water as far as heavy work goes. I have about 20 or 30 minutes of stamina left then I'm done.

Now, two months ago or there about we found out our land lord defaulted on the mortgages of several of his houses. The bank took him to court and he signed Quit Claim deeds for the properties to the bank.
We got a hand delivered notice of this. They said we could pay them the rent but gave us little information as to who or where to send the checks.

We've made several attempts to contact the bank personal with no success. All we get is secretaries, voice mail and nothing.

The bank wanted to come in and inspect the property. Fine with us as long as we are here. After all we've lived in the house for 12 years and have our belongings and pets here. They wanted to just waltz in when ever they wanted.
We said no, come here when we are here.

Friday before last we got a 30 day notice for us to contact them. Haven't done it yet. Still had time though according to that document.

Today we get a summons to go court this Friday. They are claiming we are in violation of the lease. We have signed no lease with the bank, and we've been living here paying month to month without a lease for 11 years. So it's going to be a mess.

We have put back some money in recent months and the time to move is now.
But, even though I've been in this situation before with my mother, I'm having a lot of trouble convincing my wife to pack and toss things. She simply wants to move everything. We have been unsuccessful selling things off. And as I said above I do not have the physical ability to do what is needed.
At this point if we are force out without a place to go we are going to loose almost everything.
My fear is that my wife will sink into an emotional state she won't recover from.
Me, I can stand to loose some, but not all. Most of what I have I could never replace.

When I was finally able to start diagnosis on my wife's truck I found the frame is so badly rusted out it's basically unsafe to drive. So it will probably be scrapped soon. We need two vehicles, but don't have any funds to replace hers.

So, I'm asking for those on the forum that pray to do so. We need spiritual, emotional, financial, physical help and guidance.

And if there's anyone with ideas of where we could move to in AZ, NM, NV, WY or IN that will allow our pets please say so.
This is a desperate time for us and and I'm not sure we're going to survive it as a couple.

To be honest I'm about to take my checks out of the bank, rent a truck and just leave. But that's not right either.

We need hands on help, we're praying on our end as best we can.

Please forgive this downer of a post, but I'm / we're in trouble and you guys are the ones I know the best.

Joe

[Malamute]

Prayers up for you Joe.

I wish there was more I could do, but I'm not in much better shape financially or physically right now. It may be a minor miracle if I dont end up losing my place.

[Blaine]

Just pick up your funds and everything possible and leave.....WY or AZ will have mobiles on lots for cheap.....For God's sake just do it.....

[.45colt]

Prayers up Joe.

[Grizz]

Joe,

1st: prayers UP. Best thing to start with.

b. I'm with Blaine on this one, but I understand the problem of the "stuff" and what it means. I can't think of a solution off hand.

question: is there a possibility of transporting a truck to someplace, the old drive-away idea? anything that could tow a flatbed trailer.

3. where to go? I'd look for low cost of living, energy needs and housing costs can be discovered online. too cold and the heating cost goes way up, too hot and the cooling cost goes way up. too tony and everything costs more. if you are better adapted to heat than to cold, then below 5500' elevation. and vice versa. My Dad found 5500' to be ideal for him, a little snow in winter sometimes in Dewey, AZ, and less heat than the Valley, although still hot. Shade makes all the difference. Dewey itself is over run and tonified and as cutthroat as Phx by now.

5. there are lots of liquid, mobile RV communities that gather up in various spots that are out of the way, out of sight, but exist as communities, perhaps that's a goal. I understand that the capital costs might be out of reach right now, but think in terms of those who are graduating beyond those needs, leaving behind their equipment. Also, I would guess that those folks are some of the most connected to the kind of info that would help you out. Problem is I can't think of where I read about those communities. When I tumble to it I will update with a link here. Sri.

7. I am just saying all this to try to stimulate your thinking AND hopefully to spur some actual useable information from some of the brothers. It's the pits to find yourself at wit's end.

c. I live in the Pacific Northwest, west of Blaine a bit. It is simpatico if you don't mind rain. It never gets AZ hot, although temps can hold over 100d for a spell, which wipes us out. Temps can drop below freezing, but not for long. We can get a couple feet of snow, but it doesn't stay around long. Distances are long, public transportatation services are spotty, and downright dangerous in some locales. The roads are crowded and unfriendly, and housing costs are crazy high in most places. Not sure about the remoter spots. It's almost impossible to get around without a vehicle. I bet there aren't many places in the country that are much different. About the best feature here'bouts is no income tax, yet, and access to the pacific ocean via the massive inland nooks and crannies of the inside waters, making the water-gypsy approach tenable, if that has any appeal. It does mean paring down to zilch, but the standard of living goes UP exponentially.

I hope something I've said is at least somehow encouraging. Be of good cheer. Christ loves us infinitely. I trust He is always present to help us get through the hard bits.


So sorry to hear of your distress Joe, I am praying this way right now. Lord God, please look in on and help Joe and his wife. Please give them the physical healing they need, and the stamina and strength they need to make the move they need to make. Please help them find a place to go where they can be secure in their persons and where they can find community with others, where they can bless others and be blessed by them. Please give them sound thinking, and bless them as a couple to help each other. Please help them with the "stuff", to keep and move what they need and want, and to let go of whatever they don't need any longer. This is tough Lord, please show them how this is done. Father I ask all of this in Jesus' Name.

Grizz clan

[gamekeeper]

Real sorry to hear of your plight Joe, I'm praying things turn out better for you and the wife soon. If I were you I would grab the necessary stuff and get out of there now, possessions are not as important as a decent life in a better and friendlier environment.

[Rusty]

Prayers up for wisdom.

[AJMD429]

They have 'storage pods' that are weatherproof and mobile. Many people I see using them in lieu of mini-barns. You could have a couple delivered, load 'em up, then they will take them wherever you 'land'. http://www.1800packrat.com/

You might contact a local church or two for a possible donated vehicle (or even a loaner); we did that a couple of times when we had an 'extra' vehicle. We'd either sell it for $5.00 or in one case the lady who needed wheels was a hair-cutter, so she gave the family each a haircut in exchange for a really nice-condition used car.

[Ben_Rumson]

Joe...You don't have enough info to make an informed decision... One thing to do is check with your local Seniors Center ... They may be able to advise you on your rights/legal situation with the bank ...Friday's court date doesn't mean you'll be out on your ear that day ... Good Luck!

[J Miller]

Joe...You don't have enough info to make an informed decision... One thing to do is check with your local Seniors Center ... They may be able to advise you on your rights/legal situation with the bank ...Friday's court date doesn't mean you'll be out on your ear that day ... Good Luck!

I have talked to the senior center here. Unfortunately they are evasive. I have talked to the renters right hot line. Each time that they have transferred me to an attorney, said attorney does not have the knowledge to give us information to help. They are looking for information on their computers because they have said as much to me. They are just volunteers just passing the time.

AJMD,
I/ we priced some of those pods. I looked at one today. They are way to small and overpriced. Something like $95 a month plus the cost of the transporting it to the next local. It will be more cost effective to rent a storage locker here and sort and save what we want to keep and then rent the truck to hall things out.

Blaine,
If we had a place to crash we would do exactly what you suggested and probably will. We do not want to stay with any of our relatives.
ELAINE

[Ysabel Kid]

Real sorry to hear of your plight Joe, I'm praying things turn out better for you and the wife soon. If I were you I would grab the necessary stuff and get out of there now, possessions are not as important as a decent life in a better and friendlier environment.

+1 both counts.

[Nath]

Joe, old friend. Very moved by your plight. Not much help but encouraged by Grizz I also hope you are too.
Nath.

[92&94]

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles Joe, that bank jerking you around is really low.

Last time I rented was in AZ, and there the landlord absolutely could not enter the premises without the renter's permission. It was in all the leases because it was a matter of state law (or so I recall, this was around 1995 so my memory may be fuzzy). It sounds to me like the bank is trying to force you out for whatever reason. Whether they do so legally or not, it sounds like they are encouraging you to move out by being a big pain in the butt.

Rents down here usually run $500 to $1000 in the towns and small cities, maybe $1000+ in places like Albuquerque. The $500 places do tend to be small and not the greatest house on the block, but that is to be expected. These are just rough figures of course, but the nice thing these days is you can find listings on line anywhere you are interested in and get a pretty good idea what is available for the $$$.

Grizz gave you a good outline of climate down here if you're looking at moving. Older places can be hard to heat too, since they seem to have figured you don't need heat in the desert. First house I lived in in Tucson was about as cold in the winter as the house I'd just left in Maine.

Personally, I love the area around Benson, AZ, but then I have a lot of fond memories in that area, so perhaps that colors my thinking a bit. Little cities like Socorro, NM and Alamogordo are also very affordable and have much of what one needs. Out in the boonies where I live, property or rent tend to be dirt cheap, but you have to drive an hour or two for groceries or appointments.

You can find lots of local info just about anywhere in the country on the citydata forum.

[C. Cash]

Prayers up for you both! I will call my brother today and get an idea of what he pays for rent....in a trailer park in Mesa, AZ. Another brother lives close to him in an over 55 community/complex and I remember his rent is very low....500 or less and it is a clean, well run place. Very little money down as well when we got him in there.

[J Miller]

If anyone is in contact with Mescalero, please have him contact me via pm or email. Thank you

Joe

[firefuzz]

Prayers sent up. This alone feels pitifully small but it's all I can offer right now.

Rob

[AJMD429]

Would it be feasible to buy an old semi-trailer, load it up, and have it hauled, and live out of it for a bit. In some more remote rural areas, if you could do that, you'd have a "place to stay" and have your stuff. You'd need a porta-potty or something and/or be close enough to a public facility of some sort you could use.

Just thinkin' through all the possibilities.

[C. Cash]

Start pluggin and chuggin on the net for places of interest. If back to Phoenix area or thereabouts, and you want me to dig on a certain area, let me know. I have family all over that area and Flagstaff. My Dad is 81 but maintains his AZ real estate license and can search the area. I have a truck with a hitch.

[Grizz]

my son lived on a (tiny) 500ac tx ranch while going to u.t. Tyler. he and a room mate shot deer, coyote, and hogs, fished in the two ponds, and kept watch on the non-resident owner's house and stuff. they lived in a double-wide trailer and paid a small amount of rent. I don't know how to connect with these kind of opportunities, but someone here'bouts might know of something similar.

20' containers make serviceable housing, the refer vans are insulated and water tight. lots of online info on using them for shelter. two of them side by side with a common roof make a dogtrot with parking or bbq-ing space between. a truck and travel trailer might be the most economical way to start out fresh.

as for waste management, a bucket with a toilet seat and a bucket full of sawdust is simple, waterless, safe, oderless, and makes good compost. legal on boats too. rice and beans for basic sustenance. a basic 'load'.

[Blaine]

My sincere apologies, Joe. But it's time to put away The Wishbone, and saddle up The Backbone.....You can do this if you want.....

[Chuck 100 yd]

Prayers up for you and the wife Joe. That said, I agree with Blaine on the need to get some backbone and just do it. Leave the stuff behind just like you had been in a tornado and had nothing but life left.
My family (5 of us)moved to WA state in '61' with all we could haul in a '55' Chevy and a 4' x 4' one wheel trailer. Stuff can and will be replaced in time. Good luck!

[AJMD429]

Another idea source....

http://www.countrysidemag.com/

[Malamute]

I dont know others experiences, but to say "just buy" or "just do" things that cost money, and you dont have money, it isnt going to happen.

I do think the time to sell/give away/abandon things that cant be reasonably dealt with to be able to move has come. If possessions hinder doing important things in life, they need to be reduced in priority, lest the situation end up being decided for us and not at all the way we may have been done if we had any choice at all. What will become of the possessions if we end up homeless and absolutely no money or choices? Hard choices are exactly that, and sometimes theres no real practical choice but to deal with it as expeditiously and mercilessly as possible, unless one hangs on to the last second, and loses it all.

Doing exactly as Joe said, keeping what fits in the vehicles and a small trailer, putting that in a pile, everything else sold for whatever ridiculously low amount you can get for it and move on.
Anything left, walk out the door and dont look back.

If simply warehousing things into a storage unit, one often ends up paying more for the stuff than it would have cost to buy it all new. I had a good friend that owned a mini-storage. He ended up with many people that paid their storage bill for a long time, then ended up not being able to and losing it (the storage owners own it if you dont pay the storage bill). Very rarely was there anything in the storage lockers that was actually worth what they had already paid in fees, then ended up losing anyways. He saw it many many times over the years.

[ndcowboy]

First things first - Prayers sent! That by far is the most important thing I could do for you.
Second, I know North Dakota wasn't on your list of states, but there is work EVERYWHERE here right now. The oil fields took away people from thousands of other jobs, and those places are all hiring and paying good money. If you are at all interested, contact Job Service North Dakota and you will get an idea about how many jobs are open here. Every place has help-wanted signs!

[Old Time Hunter]

Prayers up for you both! I will call my brother today and get an idea of what he pays for rent....in a trailer park in Mesa, AZ. Another brother lives close to him in an over 55 community/complex and I remember his rent is very low....500 or less and it is a clean, well run place. Very little money down as well when we got him in there.

Just talked with my neighbor...he is a snowbird and migrates to AZ from beginning of November to beginning of May. He said to check the campground sites around the Phoenix area (he doesn't have knowledge of anywhere else). For short term, some have travel trailers which are rented by snowbirds during the winter that the campgrounds beg for some one to occupy through summer. That might buy you some time.

He and his wife found where they stay after he retired by towing around a 28' travel trailer all over the country until settling on AZ. That was a five-six years ago. Two years ago they convinced the owners of the campground to allow them to put a double wide on the spot. Per him, the campground charges a yearly fee of $2400...that is $200 a month lot rent which includes full use of amenities such as two pools, a social center, and a golf course, along with water-sewer hook up...it also includes Wi-Fi. He pays for electricity...that is it. He sold his travel trailer to the campground so he figures he has four to five years of free living.

[GonnePhishin]

Very sorry to hear of your recent troubles. Prayers offered up for you and your wife. Have faith and the Lord will provide.....

[w30wcf]

Joe,
Very sorry to here of your situation. I will be praying for you.
If I lived in you area I would help you move some of your stuff
but I am 500 miles away.

w30wcf

[J Miller]

My wife and I have been really doing some soul searching. I'm not sure what conclusions we've come to yet, but much of our stuff has to go.

We have a court appearance at 1:30 this afternoon. If that goes well ( Hope and pray ) we'll sort a lot of this stuff out. If not, then we'll take what we need and donate the rest.

Basically we need some more time to find a place to go then get there. We've got feelers out in several locations, but as of yet have not heard back from them. My wife was working at a temporary job with the State of IL and was waiting for that to end before going to IN to check out some places she's been looking at. Her sister lives there.

We've already got much packed and some even removed from the place.

We could use the help, any help, but in lieu of help we'll get something done.

Joe

[J Miller]

Well, the court date is done ... for today. Got another one next Tuesday.

Verdict is we are most likely screwed.

Our former landlord has lied to the bank telling them we were not paying the rent, we got the receipts to prove otherwise, but it won't help.

If we pay up the back due, then we're stuck here for longer. That is if the bank would accept it.

Oh boy is this fun or what?

Joe

[1894c]

prayers sent...

[oregon73]

Joe, I sent you a PM.

Rob

[J Miller]

Joe, I sent you a PM.

Rob

Got it and responded.

Joe