It’s beginning to look a lot like a subprime Christmas

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119603767388403471.html 

Home or the Holidays?

Mortgage Woes Are Creating
A Subprime Christmas
For Consumers and StoresWall Street Journal

By ANN ZIMMERMAN
November 26, 2007; Page B1Susan and John Harriman normally spend about $500 on holiday gifts — $100 on presents for each other, $50 on their 29-year-old niece, then $25 on all of their other family members. But this season, the couple has a wrenching choice to make: celebrate Christmas or keep their home out of foreclosure.“We’re just sending out Christmas cards, with us standing in front of the house — the house that cost us,” says Ms. Harriman.With all their might, the couple is trying to hold on to their modest 1,100-square-foot ranch house in Central Islip, N.Y. In the six and half years since they bought their home on Long Island, Susan, a former postal worker, and John, a school district custodian, have watched their monthly mortgage payments skyrocket 66% to $2,454 due to home-equity loans for repairs, delinquent fees, and an adjustable-rate mortgage that has risen twice in the past six months. [click on above link to read full article]