Foreclose or not to foreclose

I am going to try and make this short. My mortgage is at 6.5%. I cannot refinance because I am upside down on my mortgage, and my mortgage is not backed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. With insurance and taxes my mortgage is just under $1600. If I could refinance, I feel that I would be OK. I just payed off $4000 in credit card debt and have about $15000 left do to a needed new roof and furnace. I have a wife (because of back issues can only work part-time), I have a 16 year old son at home, and a mother-in-law who has lived with us for 20 years. I am a special education school teacher who teaches day and night school, make $65,000 a year gross, and my wife make $12,000. The question is coming. I have health insurance through my work that I pay $1200 a year. My wife and son do not have insurance. Through my school, to add them would cost me about $14000 for all of us. The question is: It is getting difficult to sleep at night knowing that they do not have insurance, and that there are no funds available to be able to afford insurce , and still pay all of our other bills. I feel that my only choice is to foreclose on the house and regroup in an apartment. Should I do this, or is there any free government agencies who can help me with this problem or help me to refinance? Every place I look at to refinance seems as crooked as the company i have know for my mortgage. What can I do?

I am looking for a new school district that will pay for family healthcare. I am also finishing my second masters in education administration, and in August will have to start paying back $13,000 for my student loan.

Terry Says: Oh wait — you have a lot going on here!  First step:  Call the National Foundation for Credit Counseling — 800-388-2227.   That will connect you to the nearest local office.  They may be able to intercede with your lender, or otherwise help you reorganize your finances — or qualify for some other benefits you don’t know about.   Second, and immediately:  contact your state insurance exchange and find out what the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) can do to provide lower cost insurance for you and your family.  Even with all the controversy, people tell me that if you persist through the process you can actually find lower cost health plans.

Then, please do me a BIG favor and write back and tell me what you find out on both those projects.  I will be thinking about you and wondering what happened, until you get back to me.  If you don’t want to post here, email me at Terry@TerrySavage.com.