Dunaway Law July 2019

July 2019

DUNAWAY DIGEST

One Perimeter Park South, Suite 100 North, Birmingham, AL 35243 • 205.705.3590 • MatthewDunaway.com

Where the Heart Is The Difference Between a House and a Home

When I think of home, I picture looking through the door and finding my wife and kids there. On really good nights, I’ll grill some meat, my wife cooks the sides, and we have family supper around the table. Afterward, my son does his homework and plays video games, my wife and daughter watch TV together, and I get to read in my favorite chair. Home is where my family is. We as human beings have a deep need to find or build our home. We crave a sense of belonging, and a home provides that. But here’s the thing: A home is very different than a house, and over time our culture has conflated the two. Homeownership was a huge deal, and there were a bunch of programs and incentives to help Americans realize that dream. Owning a house wasn’t just something you could do; it was something you had to do. Today, renting is seen as “not good enough.” You’re not a “real” American unless you own your house. We’ve come to a point that even people who own their home are made to feel like they should always be thinking about getting a bigger house, even if they don’t need one. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to own your house or wanting a bigger house if you can afford it, but the all-or-nothing mentality behind homeownership has gotten us into a lot of trouble. Just look at how the housing crisis contributed to the Great Recession in After World War II, our society was really sold on the concept of “the American dream.”

A home should never be a burden.

valuable than the house your grandfather built and lived in for 50 years. Home is where you and your family are at in that moment, and the house you choose to establish those roots in should match. When you think about your house, it’s important that you can afford it. We should aim to live comfortably within our means and not be seduced into spending more just because we’re told this is what we’re “supposed to do.” The concept of a home has been adulterated by social pressures. That’s why we have so many people with homes they can’t afford, struggling beneath the burden. A home should never be a burden. My home can be anywhere: a house, a rental apartment, or even a trailer. It doesn’t matter to me. As long as I have my wife and kids with me, that’s my home.

2008. People were getting houses they didn’t need and being approved for mortgages they couldn’t possibly afford. I think if we as a society were able to take a step back and ask ourselves what a home really is, we could avoid a lot of stress. What’s the point of having a home? Is just to brag about a big house on the hill? No. A house is a shelter, and home is the place where our family is at. When I was growing up, my family lived in rental homes until I was a sophomore in high school. I never noticed the difference. I only knew that home was where I could go after school, where my family was at, and where I could feel safe. A home is a place where we establish our roots. They don’t have to be decades of roots. A rental home you live in for a year is no less

–Matt Dunaway

1 Phone: 205.705.3590

Published by The Newsletter Pro · www.TheNewsletterPro.com

Will Disney+ Get Your Kids to StopWatching Unboxing Videos? Ever since Netflix changed the way we consume movies and TV shows at home, studios have been locked in a streaming war. Amazon Prime and Hulu shook up the scene, along with more niche services like CBS All Access, DC Universe, and Crunchyroll. Is there room for one more? Disney seems to think so, and their new service is shaping up to be the king of streaming. What is Disney+? Disney has always prided itself on its family-friendly brand. This is the first major perk of their new streaming service, Disney+. There will be no R-rated films or TV-MA television shows anywhere on the platform. This is a great relief for parents who have had to deal with their kids accidentally navigating away from “Peppa Pig” videos on YouTube and finding more adult content. Keep in mind that “family-friendly” doesn’t mean limited. Disney+ boasts a massive offering of original content, such as the live-action “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” and “Loki,” a show starring everyone’s favorite trickster god. There will also be live-action remakes of Disney animated classics alongside original movies, including a Christmas movie starring Anna Kendrick. New isn’t always better, which is why Disney+ will also house decades’ worth of classic content. Every single movie in the Disney catalog will be available on the service, from “SnowWhite and the Seven Dwarves” to “Frozen 2.” All “Star Wars” movies and Marvel movies will also become available along with over 5,000 episodes of old Disney Channel shows. Is Disney+ Worth It? That depends entirely on your family. If you don’t care for Disney, don’t waste your money. However, if you share a soft spot for classic Disney movies, enjoy new Marvel content, or secretly long to rewatch every episode of “Kim Possible,” Disney+ might be the streaming service you’ve been waiting for.

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Disney+ launches in the United States on Nov. 12, 2019. Visit Preview.DisneyPlus.com to get notifications. Happy binge-watching! 2 MatthewDunaway.com

FISHING FRIENDS HIKING

4 Surprising Facts about Foreclosure in Alabama

4. You’ll get a letter after your home is sold. The mortgage company must send you a letter informing you of the sale and instructing you to vacate the property. If you leave within 10 days of receiving the letter, you can preserve your right of redemption, which means you can redeem your property within a year of the foreclosure sales if you can pay the amount the house sold for in the sale along with some additional fees. Can filing for bankruptcy save my home? When people decide to file for bankruptcy, it’s often in hopes of saving their home. Though filing for Chapter 7 will stop a bankruptcy for a while, if you want to save your home from foreclosure, you want to look into Chapter 13 Debtor’s Court. Talk to an experienced bankruptcy attorney by calling 205.705.3590. Learn about your options and how you can save your home from foreclosure.

When the burden of debt becomes too much to bear, many people begin to fear the threat of foreclosure. Around 1 in every 1,300 Americans are at risk of losing their home due to foreclosure, and in the state of Alabama, many people are caught off guard by what the foreclosure process looks like. If you are worried about foreclosure, here are four things to keep in mind. 1. Alabama is a nonjudicial foreclosure state. This means the mortgage company does not have to file a lawsuit to start the foreclosure process and take your home. 2. The mortgage company doesn’t have to send you an official notice. While many companies will send you a letter in the mail informing you that they have started the foreclosure process, it’s not a legal requirement and some won’t. 3. Prior to selling your home, the mortgage company must publish a “notice of Matthew 7:25 “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.”

foreclosure sale.” While mortgage companies don’t have to inform you of the foreclosure process personally, they are required to publish a notice in the local paper for three consecutive weeks before selling your home.

RECIPE:

Juicy Lucy Sliders

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs. ground chuck beef, 20% lean

•

16 small potato rolls, toasted

• 8 slices melting cheese (like American, Swiss, Muenster, or cheddar)

•

Salt and pepper, to taste

•

Your favorite burger accompaniments

DIRECTIONS:

1. Divide beef into 16 evenly sized balls. 2. Rip cheese into roughly equal pieces, creating 16 equal portions. 3. Using your index finger, create a small indentation in each ball. 4. Fill indention with cheese and pinch meat around to seal. Then gently form balls into 3/4-inch-thick patties. Season patties. 5. Meanwhile, heat a cast-iron skillet to medium-high. 6. Lightly coat skillet with oil and cook patties in batches. Brown one side undisturbed, about 3 minutes. Carefully flip and cook until desired doneness, about 3 minutes for medium. 7. Serve on toasted potato rolls with your favorite accompaniments.

Inspired by Bon Appétit

Phone: 205.705.3590

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205.705.3590 MatthewDunaway.com

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Inside This Issue

No Place Like Home Page 1

Disney Enters the Streaming War Take a Break Page 2 Can Filing for Bankruptcy Stop a Foreclosure? Juicy Lucy Sliders Page 3

Our Long Journey Home Page 4

Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’ A Page FromMatt’s Bookshelf

I, like many people, read parts of “The Odyssey” throughout my life for school assignments and the like. It wasn’t until I did my Year of

Odysseus has to deal with a man-eating cyclops, giant sea monsters, sirens, and a sorceress who turns his crew into pigs. No matter what

the Greeks in 2017 that I sat down and read “The Odyssey” from start to finish. There’s a reason this story has survived as a staple of literature for thousands of years. Recently, I decided to reread “The Odyssey” again because it’s just really cool. If you need a refresher, “The Odyssey” is an epic poem from ancient Greece written by the poet Homer. It follows the story of Odysseus, one of the heroes of the Trojan War, which Homer also wrote about in “The Iliad.” After the war, Odysseus and his crew sail back to his home in Ithaca. The trip should have only taken them a couple of weeks, but Odysseus runs into all these obstacles that keep him at sea for 10 years.

gets thrown at him, Odysseus keeps going. It’s not all hardships, mind you. At one point, Odysseus is offered immortality and a chance to live on a tropical paradise, but he turns it down. He wants to get home to his wife and son so badly that he’ll do whatever it takes. What makes “The Odyssey” such an enduring story is Odysseus’ humanity. That intense desire to find and return home is something we can all relate to. We want to find our home, on a physical level and a spiritual one. This mortal life is our journey to get back home. After 2,800 years, “The Odyssey” is still compelling because we’re still trying to find our way back home. Ultimately, Odysseus does make it back home, but his trials aren’t over yet. There’s another major obstacle left to deal with, but I won’t tell you about that part. You’ll have to read it for yourself.