Suicide right ahead of foreclosure auction

By: HousingWire staff
July 24, 2008

A woman in Massachusetts faxed a note to her lender at 2:30pm — 3 hours before her house was scheduled to be auctioned off in foreclosure — informing them that she intended to kill herself. And she followed through on her threat, right before interested buyers began showing up to bid on the property, too.

From the Associated Press:

A Taunton woman fatally shot herself soon after faxing a letter to her mortgage company saying that by the time they foreclosed on her house that day, she would be dead. The police said the woman, Carlene Balderrama, shot herself Tuesday, after faxing the letter at 2:30 p.m. The mortgage company called the police, who found Ms. Balderrama’s body at 3:30 p.m. The auction was scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and interested buyers arrived at the property in Taunton, about 35 miles south Boston, while Ms. Balderrama’s body was still inside, said Chief Raymond O’Berg of the Taunton Police Department. Neighbors said Ms. Balderrama, 53, her husband and her son had lived in the house for about four years.

We don’t know the mortgage company in question here, but this is sad to see.

Update: a more complete story from the Boston Globe (hat tip, Bill Bell).