"We can
almost pay the mortgage," one Somerville resident told The Somerville
News, speaking on condition of anonymity. She and her husband bought a
condominium in 2006, and although the interest rate on their mortgage
has not increased, they earn enough money that they do not qualify for
assistance from the government. "We work very hard in this family," she
explained. "My husband and I each have two jobs, but we can't always
pay."

It is difficult to assess the true impact of the
mortgage crisis in Somerville, in part because many hesitate to discuss
their financial situations, and also because of the absence of a clear,
quantitative assessment of its impact. It is clear that housing prices
are down and foreclosures up statewide-average home prices have
decreased by about 20% in the past year, according to the Warren Group,
a real estate news/information source, and the number of foreclosures
in 2008 increased 64% from 2007 to over 12,000-but the relationship
between those numbers, and how they compare to the situation in
Somerville itself, is more ambiguous.

By some measures,
Somerville certainly appears to be better-off than the state average.
Real estate prices in Somerville have decreased by about 13% over the
last year, the Warren Group reported, and officials with the city's
Assessor's Office explained that the average assessed property
values-the figures used to calculate property taxes by the city-have
only decreased by a few percent so far. It did note that assessed
values are determined from last year's sale prices, and may yet decline
more. "Somerville has fared fairly well. It's fairly stable, with low
vacancy rates," asserted Phil Ercolini, head of Somerville's Housing
Department.

But foreclosures and evictions are happening. "In
the last 12 months, there have been at least 48 evictions from
foreclosed-on units," said Melissa McWhinney, Director of Advocacy at
the Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS), an anti-poverty
nonprofit agency in Somerville. She said that the real number of
evictions in 2008 was almost certainly greater than 48, but that it is
difficult to obtain a reliable number, because not all foreclosure
proceedings lead to eviction, and because some foreclosures may result
in the eviction of multiple tenants.

Whatever the actual number
of evictions, one thing is for sure: there were many more in 2008 than
there were even a few years ago. Exact numbers are hard to come by, but
McWhinney said that a figure of three to four foreclosures per year was
typical in the years before the real estate market peaked in 2006. This
dramatic change is challenging even the banks behind the foreclosures.
"Banks used to try to sell the foreclosed property, to get as much of
the principle back as possible, McWhinney explained. "When there were
three to four foreclosures a year in Somerville, it was manageable.
Now, I have no idea what they do."

But the real measure of the
crisis, of course, must be taken at the level of the individuals whom
it affects. For the Somerville resident who spoke to with The
Somerville News, the crisis has meant stress and frustration.

"I
love this country, I am an American citizen, and many people who don't
have a job get help. I don't receive help because I work, and I'm
supposed to have enough money," she explained. "We try, we work very
hard, but it's not enough."

Asked whether she could renegotiate
the terms of her family's mortgage to reduce the monthly payments, she
explained that "we want to, but I have made some late payments, so they
won't renegotiate." And she and her family cannot sell their
condominium for ten years, she said, for legal reasons associated with
aid they received from the city to pay the closing costs when they
bought the condo. For these reasons, she said, "we can do nothing with
the banks."

There are programs in place to help those facing
mortgage-related financial difficulties. The first line of defense is
often counseling and financial advice offered to those worried about
foreclosure. Many nonprofit organizations, like the Cambridge-based
Homeowners Rehab, Inc. and the Homeownership Preservation Foundation,
offer professional counseling services for those whose homes are
threatened by foreclosure. While Somerville's city government does not
offer counseling itself, it recently added information about the
mortgage crisis, including links to organizations that do offer
counseling, to its online database of FAQs.

"Our hope is that
people who may be experiencing foreclosure will seek counseling,"
Ercolini said. "We like to get to folks before foreclosure becomes an
issue," he explained, because "once the situation gets to foreclosure,
it becomes that much more difficult to find a solution. The city does
not have resources to remedy those situations."

CAAS does try to
prevent evictions once a bank has initiated foreclosure proceedings.
"If your home is foreclosed on, we do eviction prevention. We try hard
to keep people in their homes," McWhinney explained, but acknowledged
that negotiating foreclosures is complex and difficult. If eviction
does occur, many of the programs that CAAS regularly offers can help
evicted residents or tenants.

But no amount of counseling or
assistance can take away the stress inherent in losing one's home-and
even living with the prospect of that eventuality may feel daunting.
The Somerville resident who spoke to The Somerville News has found
perhaps the best way to cope with the stress. When asked whether she
worries about what might happen if she falls too far behind on her
mortgage payments, she said simply, "I never think that if I don't pay,
we will lose our apartment. I don't think that way. This is my dream,
living with my family."