The home foreclosure crisis has taken its toll on the life of a 53-year-old Taunton, Mass. woman, after she decided to end hers Wednesday afternoon.

Police said Carlene Balderrama faxed a letter to her mortgage company just hours before the company was to foreclose on her property and put it up for auction. The letter said by the time mortgage agents showed up, she would be dead. Police found her body at the home at around 3:30 p.m. Balderrama, a wife and mother shot herself with her husband's rifle. In a note, she asked her family to use the life insurance money to pay off the debt. Neighbors said it is a sign of the times.

"Everybody's struggling right now with the economy the way it is," said Brenda Santarpio, a neighbor of Balderrama's. "I don't know why somebody would go to that extreme to do something like that." And it is something local credit counselors are hoping to prevent.

Chris Viale and his team of credit counselors at Agawam-based Cambridge Credit Counseling Corporation get dozens of emotional phone calls every day.

"Once the debt starts to spiral out of control, with the high rates you're going to be charged, it makes it impossible to get your debts under control," said Viale, President and CEO of Cambridge Credit Counseling Corporation.

Viale currently assists approximately 1,200 clients. He says once debt begins to pile up, many consumers feel too ashamed to ask for help.

"It almost feels like your self-esteem has burst and you're a failure, but that's not the case," Viale said. "There are 35 million households that are having trouble keeping up with their debts right now." Viale added that, while tragic events like Wednesday's suicide in Taunton are rare, he has dealt with clients on the verge of their breaking point.

"There have been many times over the last few years where we actually have to get someone on the suicide hot line along with the consumer to try to prevent some of their feelings and some of their emotions when we're trying to counsel them," Viale said.

Credit counselors can assist in financial planning to help pay off existing debt and avoid future debt.
For more information on how to avoid home foreclosure, contact the Homeownership Preservation Foundation at: 1-888-995-HOPE.