By Angeljean Chiaramida, Gloucester Daily Times, Mass.

Oct. 6--SALISBURY -- The sign being waved along Route 110 is short and direct ¬­-- "Save Our Home Yard Sale."

The sign is not an overstatement. If Bill and Tabitha Ralston can't raise another $5,000 soon, the Hayes Street home they've owned since 1995 will go up for auction on Oct. 15.

"We've been fighting this for the last five years," Tabitha Ralston said yesterday, as her family and friends worked at a yard sale in the parking lot of Tom's Discount Store to try to raise the needed cash.

"We got behind on the mortgage and tried to catch up," she said. "The mortgage company put us on a payment plan. That worked for a while, but then something always came up: The kids got sick, the truck broke down, someone lost their job. Penalties and interest starts adding up, and now we owe about $27,000 and they foreclosed."

The mortgage company -- Litton Loan Services out of Texas -- told the Ralstons that if they pay half of their debt, or $13,500, before Oct. 15, it will hold off the auction and a new, more manageable payment plan would be developed.

As a result, over the weekend, family friends donated unneeded items of all kinds so the family could sell them at the "Save our Home Yard Sale" that took place over the past few days at owner Tom Newman's discount store on busy Route 110.

The family will hold a yard sale at Tom's Discount parking lot again next weekend -- Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"My daughter used to work for Tom, and he was so generous to let us set up this sale here," Tabitha Ralston said yesterday. "Over the past two days, we raised about $1,750. With everything else we have, we're still about $5,000 short."

Although the federal Loan Modification Program worked to modify the second mortgage on the Ralston home, they said a glitch in the system prevents it from doing the same for the first and larger mortgage.

"We're not deadbeats; we both have jobs," Bill Ralston said. "I'm a trucker, and my wife works at Target. On paper they say we earn too much money and don't need the help. But with the economy, I got laid off for a few weeks, and with four kids, we can't make ends meet. It's the old joke: There's too much month and not enough money."

Tabitha Ralston said the couple bought their home in 1995 with a reasonable $805 a month payment, then took out a second mortgage to buy a needed truck, which they still drive. But the economy and one expense or another led to 16 missed payments over the last five years. The two mortgage payments, interest and penalties accrued on missed payments means a monthly payment of $2,700, which is beyond them, they said.

Since the $805 original payment is only 19 percent of their monthly income when both are working, Tabitha Ralston said the family doesn't qualify for the program.

"When we're both working we bring in $5,100 a month," Tabitha Ralston said. "Making that payment is more than 50 percent of our monthly income. We just couldn't keep it up consistently. Something always came up."

Faced with losing their family home, Tabitha Ralston started brainstorming ways to raise cash. With yard sales so popular in the fall, she started calling around. Friends and family didn't disappoint.

"All this is donated," Bill Ralston said, waving his arm at the furniture, electronics, books, clothes and household goods lined up under the tents of the yard sale. "And the ladies have done all the baking for those home-baked goods over there."

The turnout has warmed the Ralstons' hearts, and both feel it exemplifies the Salisbury community at its best.

"All my friends and family stepped up," Tabitha Ralston said. "The reason this is working is because of this community."

For friend Gloria Marks, holding a bright yellow "Save our Home Yard Sale" sign for hours was her duty as a community member.

"I've seen their kids grow up," Marks said yesterday in between waiving the sign to attract passing motorists. "My daughter told me about this, so I came to help. It's what we're supposed to do in times like this. And I've been cleaning out my house, too, which is good. I have too much stuff anyway."

The Ralstons are gladly accepting donations at their 8 Hayes St. home.

-----

To see more of the Gloucester Daily Times or to subscribe, go to http://www.gloucestertimes.com/.

Copyright (c) 2009, Gloucester Daily Times, Mass.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NYSE:TGT,

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.