Today, Citigroup announced a $18.1 billion write down because of the housing crisis, passing UBS’s record $14.2 billion write down. Last quarter, Merrill Lynch to a $7.9 billion hit on bad mortgages and are expected to take another $10 to $15 billion dollar hit on Thursday. Bear Stearns got hit for $1.9 billion and is looking for a new CEO. BankAmerica had $2 billion in write downs.

All of this helps keep things in perspective a little bit. You see, I am expecting to write down hundreds of thousands of dollars in Chapter 7 bankruptcy. As my life and my career changed, I could no longer afford the expensive house I had in Stamford, CT. Just like the thousands of people being laid off by Wall Street firms, I have not been able to find jobs that pay well enough to cover my mortgage.

So, a year ago, we put our house on the market. At the time, we were told the market was soft and the best we could expect was about 80% of what it had been appraised for when we got our last mortgage. Other people were less optimistic and said we wouldn’t be able to get even 70% of what it had been appraised for.

We worked with a great realtor who recognized the value of the house and marketed it well. In July we went to contract. One of the issues in the contract was removing an underground oil tank, which was done in early August. The buyers claimed that their inspection said there might be another underground oil tank, which we found out was not the case when the tank was removed. In attempting to clarify that and make sure that all underground oil tanks were properly removed, the buyers got cold feet and reneged on the contract, claiming we did not have a meeting of minds on removing the oil tank.

Their deposit is now tied up in a court suit as they try to get back the money that came with the contract. It is my belief that they acted immorally, unethically, and that they are obligated for not only what they’ve paid so far, but for additional damages as well. The question remains if the judge will agree.

Yet all of this gets to timing issues. If they had been willing to settle, perhaps we could have forestalled bankruptcy, maybe even long enough to find a buyer. We do have several interested parties. The problem is not only on their side. We’ve attempted repeatedly to work with the companies holding our first and second mortgages to find ways of mitigating the loss short of Chapter 7. Neither company has followed through, even though they have said they would. So, it looks like the buyers that reneged on the contract and the mortgage companies that are attempting to foreclose on us will get a chance to fight it out in court. Perhaps they deserve each other.

I feel horrible about writing down hundreds of thousands of dollars in the housing crisis. I worry about other people that will get hurt by our filing Chapter 7. I worry about how we will heat the house this winter. Yet the write downs of the major banks helps keep our write downs in perspective, and perhaps helps add a little perspective on their write downs.