As Ricky Stephens walked around the paintings, tables, chairs and other possessions stacked outside his home awaiting foreclosure, he reflected on better days.

He recalled the many birthday parties for his son, now 12, and the Thanksgiving dinners that took place in his 26 years in the Sylva home. He loved the home’s large deck and the privacy it afforded. A sign next to the front door read “Welcome to Our House — The Stephens.” Stephens always hoped to leave the house to his son.

Stephens, 55, broke down in tears as he shared the story of his financial problems and family health woes that led to the foreclosure.

Now all he’s got left are the memories.

“I own nothing. I literally own nothing,” he said, adding that he doesn’t see things getting any better: “I see things continually getting worse.”

The house’s locks have been changed and foreclosure notices posted, and sadly, Stephens’ situation is not unique. While the plummeting stock market and bailout bills dominate news of the economy, the rash of foreclosures that swept the nation is considered the trigger behind the crisis, with stories like Stephens’ playing out in neighborhoods across America.

There have been 48,183 foreclosures filed in North Carolina in the first 10 months of this year — up 6,825 from the same time last year. There were 49,696 foreclosures in all of last year, according to the state Administrative Office of the Courts in Raleigh.

How it all started

Stephens hung onto the house for as long as he could, but it reached the point where he could no longer afford the payments or upkeep of the home.

Health problems put him and his wife out of work, forcing them to live on disability checks. Stephens, who remains unemployed, said he had a heart attack and three back surgeries. His wife has lupus, fibromyalgia and most recently a brain tumor.

Stephens, who was the co-owner of a Long John Silver’s franchise in Sylva before he had to quit in 2000 because of health problems, said the disability check he draws wasn’t enough to make ends meet, and he couldn’t even afford groceries, which his parents often bought for him.

Then things started going wrong with the house, including a leaking roof and failing septic tank. Stephens didn’t have the money for repairs.

Stephens lost his right eyesight to disease, which precluded him from doing small household repairs.

“The little things started piling up,” he said.

He consulted county social services, but they said the Department of Housing and Urban Development couldn’t help.

In June, Stephens moved his family to a rental that was $750 a month compared to his mortgage payment of $850.

Moving into the rental saved the family $100 a month, but it’s not enough, so his parents still buy his groceries.

Stephens said his back troubles have prevented him from working and that some days he can’t get out of bed because of scar tissue around his spine.

His wife, a nurse for 24 years at Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva, can’t work either.

Hitting bottom

Stephens said he had an opportunity to sell the home for $75,000, but the lender wouldn’t take it because Stephens owed $100,000 on the home.

Stephens said he told the lender that he didn’t think the house would sell for much more than $75,000, and he decided not to try. With a 12-year-old son and a sick wife, it was more than he could do.

“I’ve got too much on me,” Stephens said.

He tried to have the payment lowered, but it could only be reduced to $800 a month, which was still too much, and he said he decided to let the house fall into foreclosure.

Foreclosure is going to damage his credit, but Stephens said his credit is already “screwed up.” He owes money to doctors and hospitals and just tries to give them $5 to $10 a month.

The current economic times have also put a strain on the family with rising gas prices, he said, adding that trips back and forth to doctors in Asheville get expensive. And, he noted, when gas prices go up, so does everything else, including food.

Knowing firsthand the country’s economic problems, Stephens thinks it will take 20 years to get out of the economic turmoil the country is in.

“They’ve let our country go to hell,” he said. “Some of the crap they’re doing blows my mind.”

He said the $700 billion bailout bill for Wall Street was wrong and that the money should have been given to the “people” and the economy “would flourish.”

“That would fix it all,” he said.

Foreclosure Filings

North Carolina

Jan. 1-Oct. 31, 2007: 41,358

Jan. 1-Oct. 31, 2008: 41,183

Haywood County

Jan. 1-Oct. 31, 2007: 231

Jan. 1-Oct. 31, 2008: 219

Jackson County

Jan. 1-Oct. 31, 2007: 191

Jan. 1-Oct. 31, 2008: 180

Swain County

Jan. 1-Oct. 31, 2007: 25

Jan. 1-Oct. 31, 2008: 36

Macon County

Jan. 1-Oct. 31, 2007: 79

Jan. 1-Oct. 31, 2008: 123

Source: State Administrative Office of the Courts in Raleigh