Abstract

A national alarm has occurred because of the rising rate of home foreclosures in recent years which stand about 1 in 92 households in the United States of America (Press Release, Realty Trac, 2007). This has wide social effects including their unknown health related effects. According to Robertson, Egelhof, & Hoke (2008), medical crises is one of the major causes of home foreclosures among other factors including rising interest rates, a flat real estate market, loose lending and irresponsible borrowers. The findings of these authors predicted a grim picture; approximately half of all home foreclosure filings are from medical crises and appears that about 1.5 million American homeowners could lose their homes to foreclosure every year.

The consequences of home foreclosures on affected families include wiping the entire savings of the homeowner and even leaving significant debt on the homes they no longer own, unknown health related concerns as the result of the process of foreclosure, pernicious effects on the