foreclosure | pen, paper, and crazy

Okay. I am usually a very calm and collected person. But I need to vent a bit.

I’ve been a paralegal (at least part-time) for 6 years. I was a Purchasing and A/R agent for 4 and a half years. I practically ran a whole office that grossed $100 thousand a year during that time.

I’ve easily adjusted to this Housing Assistance job we got back in March that requires extensive knowledge of legal foreclosure proceedings as well as intimate knowledge of multiple financial grant programs. I increased productivity within days, and reduced almost all file errors within weeks.

Within a mere two months I became the top expert at our entirely company on the entire Ohio Restoring Stability (RSS) program.

Yet I still make less than $800 a month. Not because of the pay rate, which actually isn’t that bad, but because I can’t even go over 20 hours a week. Yet I have stacks of files waiting for me every day and get chewed out constantly about “pushing productivity further”. I’m only one person with extremely limited time and I can only work with what I’m given.

Not to mention I also occasionally assist three different counselors because they won’t hire true assistants for each one, despite the workload demanding it (and more). We lost our RSS counselor three months ago and I’ve been doing her job, her responsibility- without her pay, benefits, or recognition.

This is because I can’t be a full RSS counselor, as Ohio’s stipulations on being an accredited financial counselor requires at least 6 months of experience shadowing of another counselor or Bachelor’s degree in finance/accounting. They aren’t counting my first month or two (claiming it was all administrative), so I’m a couple months away from even “qualifying”.

And now they want me to train the new counselor in RSS. My supervisor claims it’s a “temporary” thing and that I’ll be elevated to counselor status as soon as I’m certified, and they’ll switch this new counselor to some other program or function.

So I’m supposed to still stay at less than $800 a month, but train someone to know the RSS program as intimately as me??? That is just…just-
I know life isn’t fair. Of course I know, I mean, I’m a flippin’ alter in the broken mind of an abuse victim.
I’m also competent as hell. I’ve single-handedly kept this system afloat at times. I am goddamn amazing and I know it.

I don’t deserve to be forced into training my own boss.

I am frustrated with my lack (or perhaps someone else’s…grr) of foresight to bring enough caffeine for me to work on getting our office’s foreclosure workshop for this evening fully prepared.

I shall be able to manage, I’m sure, but it would be a lot easier if I had the wondrous drug of keeping me awake.

I’m also trying not to get too distraught over the idea of how much socializing I will have to do with clients, city officials, and attorneys at the event tonight.

At least our mother will be there. Long story. Wait. Maybe not. Our department supervisor said he needed a couple attorneys at the workshop to speak about the legal aspects of foreclosure, so we offered him our mother’s number. There. Not so long a story.

I will not cause a switching frenzy. I can do this. I can do this.

-Serefina