Community

Community

It could be worse. Debtors used to be thrown in prison

for not paving their debts until their family paid or

they died.

The term “mortgage” has alternately been described as deriving from Latin and Old French as meaning literally “death grip” or “death promise.” Either way, it can often be a loss of freedom. When a person or family loses a job, and their income, the prospect of losing a home by not being able to pay is no less frightening than death.

It’s not all the fault of those who made the commitment. Obligations of this kind always have context. No one can foresee the various twists of fate, how life will turn. In a fair world, both debtor and lender must accommodate changing circumstances.

When this crisis first began, for many, some banks didn’t care in the least how fortune had shifted. Can’t pay? Too bad. And many lost their homes. Many still are.

But^the “invisible hand” of the market does not tolerate for long suppliers or lenders who treat customers with contempt. jJBy refusing to deal fairly when things got tough, the big- banks acted foolishly. We hope the market rewards their callousness appropriately.

That is why, as we have often said here before, community - including community banks - is the heart of economic life in this country.

You cannot treat your neighbors and friends hardheartedly, cannot refiise to work with people who have lost jobs, lost livelihoods and income without harming the very thing that makes it all possible: relationships.

We have witnessed first hand - through shared experience and stories - how this community is adjusting together to economic hard times, and that includes our community banks, whether it is Rappahannock National Bank or The Fauquier Bank.

There has not been the rash of foreclosures and repossessions that have plagued other communities, and that is in large part due to what we have here.