An elderly Indiana man and his wife became victims of America’s broken healthcare system when they were crushed by un-affordable medical bills. They nearly lost the rental property that they have been living off of since retirement.

G.W. Plunk purchased the two-unit building in 1986 and renovated the entire thing.  “Basically I rebuilt this house,” Plunk recalls.  “I did the plumbing, I re-wired it, I did the siding.  My sons helped with the work.”

Since Plunk retired from his job at the Sullair Corporation, he and his wife have primarily relied on income from their rental property to survive. But Mrs. Plunk fell into medical troubles, and the ensuing bills triggered a near foreclosure on the property.

“It was July the 12th, 1969,” Plunk says in a tone that suggests this date has been burned into his mind since it passed.  “My wife was in an automobile accident and broke her neck.  She lost all feeling in her hands and arms.”

Then she had another auto accident in 1996, compounding her earlier injuries and causing her condition to rapidly deteriorate.  The Plunks were retired by this point and the medical bills kept piling up; in 2006 Plunk’s wife had major surgery to realign the vertebrates in her neck.  “She got the feeling back in her hands after that,” Plunk says.  “That was one positive.”

Plunk is one of many Americans who has faced foreclosure and financial ruin at the hands of a healthcare system that leaves around 36 million people uninsured, and many more lacking affordable care.

The property would take on additional significance to Plunk’s family when his daughter and her husband lived there for several years after their marriage.  Since he bought it, every single one of Plunk’s adult children has lived in his building at one point or another.

“It meant a lot to them because they lived in it, and it meant a lot to me because I put so much into that properly.  I completely re-did it.  And it was the first building I ever purchased.”

And it would have been lost to them forever had the mortgage not been purchased by American Homeowner Preservation.  We worked with the Plunks to find affordable terms that would allow them to keep the house.  In the end, AHP accepted just $1,836 to settle all delinquent interest and fees and lowered the monthly payment to $379.69.

Now, with his wife fully recovered, their medical bills coming down, and their mortgage secure, Plunk is ready to move forward with their life.  “She’s coming on really good now,” he says, pride in his voice.  “We had this rough spell for three or four years now, but everything is finally coming together.”

When asked if he is confident about being able to afford his new mortgage, Plunk replies with characteristic bluntness: “Yes sir.”  To celebrate, the couple will be going out to dinner, the first time they’ve done so in months.  Spirits are high.

“I appreciate AHP helping me out at this time,” Plunk says.  “It really means alot to me that finally things are gonna move forward from here on out.”

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