Four affected by foreclosure discuss Obama mortgage plan

— -- President Obama proposed help Wednesday for up to 9 million struggling homeowners. From those who've lost their homes, to those looking to buy, these people say they hope this points the way out of the housing mess.

Struggling to keep her home

DETROIT — Stacy Ruddy can do more than most people. She can move tons of dirt, lift columns of steel and dig a foundation.

But she can't control the economy or the weather. So the Taylor, Mich., resident finds herself unemployed for the winter months of most years, laid off from her job as a heavy-equipment operator working on road and construction projects.

As a result, Ruddy, 37, is often behind on the $1,032 monthly mortgage on her two-bedroom, 1,000-square-foot house. After being laid off in November, she made her last monthly payment in December.

Now, she's two months delinquent and facing foreclosure on the house she bought nine years ago. And she's looking to President Obama for help he's offering homeowners such as her.

"I hope (the president's plan) will help me get the bank to give me a break — maybe put what I owe at the end of my mortgage, instead of having to come up with it now," Ruddy says of her 30-year fixed mortgage. "I have no problem paying the bank back. I don't want a free ride."

In the meantime, she's working with a local homeowner-assistance program to try to lower her 7.5% mortgage rate and postpone foreclosure.

Ruddy has looked for a job during the winter months, but they likely pay less than the $724 in unemployment benefits she gets every two weeks. When she does work again, she'll make enough — between $25 and $32 an hour — to get caught up on her mortgage. Her fear, though, is the economy may not bounce back and reinvigorate the construction industry.

"All I do is sit at home and think about my bills," she says. "I wonder, 'What can I rearrange? Who do I not pay this month?' "

She has plans for the home: new drywall in the kitchen and family room, and a garage out back. But first she's got to figure out the mortgage.

"I really don't want to move back in with my mother. I worked hard for my house. I love it here," she says.