In foreclosure, just a vent - Page 2

[Mama~Love]

Originally Posted by Smithie

I hear widely varying accounts of what actually happens when you start missing payments - including some of people who have packed up, left, and then found out a year later that the place was still "theirs" bc the bank had not proceeded with the foreclosure and they were still responsible for taxes etc.!

I would try to talk (calmly and cheerfully) with a mortgage company rep about what the plan is for your house, what notifications you can expect to get in the mail, etc. etc. Try to get a sense of what they plan to do (which may very well be jack squat for the foreseeable future). If they don't proceed with the foreclosure, then I don't think that staying in the house runs a huge risk of incurring back rent. If you ARE officially foreclosed upon, then obviously it gets riskier to sit around waiting to be evicted, but at least you've had that time to try and save up some $$$ to live elsewhere.

We're keeping in contact with a Loan Officer at the mortgage company, and they are explaining everything to us.

Originally Posted by rainbowmoon

oh yes I definitely mean in "squatting" AFTER the house has been sold.

stay in the house until the auction! Some banks (through a real estate company usually) will also offer you cash to get out by a certain date after the auction ,so they don't have to go through the eviction process but that varies widely of course.

Oh, OK, thanks for clairifying that! We haven't got that far yet, thank goodness!

[momhugs]

No judgement here, but it puzzles me that people do not safe when the times are good. Than they expect help for their bad choices.

[vbactivist]

Originally Posted by momhugs

No judgement here, but it puzzles me that people do not safe when the times are good. Than they expect help for their bad choices.

wow. sure sounds like judgement

op- I'm sorry for what you're going through. I understand that sometimes times are never good enough for saving. Hang in there!

[vbactivist]

Originally Posted by momhugs

No judgement here, but it puzzles me that people do not safe when the times are good. Than they expect help for their bad choices.

This I cannot let go. I'm sorry. but do you knwo that sometimes people's bad luck has nothing whatsoever to do with their own "choices"?? things like illness or job loss or death?? What would you say to my friend whose husband died unexpectedly??? Whose bad choice was that????

[texmati]

I'm so sorry, mama. *hugs*

[Jane]

I'm so sorry. I hope you land somewhere good.

[wifeandmom]

Here's what I think I would do in your situation.

Assuming you have stopped paying the mortgage, figure out exactly what amount you will realistically be able to afford for housing once you DO have to leave your current house.

Start putting that money somewhere safe. I'd avoid a bank account of any kind in either of your names. Depending on how paranoid I was, I might be OK with putting it in a lock box at the bank. Another option is a fire proof lock box hidden very well somewhere on your property/in your home.

Assuming you have 6-12 months before you are actually evicted, you can rent something for CASH if you start putting back rent money right now. Your credit won't matter if you're offering cash money upfront for the term of the lease.

Then, once you've paid your rent forward, continue to save every month so you can do it again when your lease is up if they still don't want to rent to you with a bankruptcy on your report.

[Leta]

There is some very good advice in this last post.

My friend and I (we were never roommates) had similar things happen- young, no real credit, the credit we did have was fair to poor, so renting had been difficult. We both adopted the same strategy: we took our tax returns, and, in my case, a financial aid refund check (grants/scholarships for college), talked to the leasing office at apartment complexes, and paid surety, first and last month's rent, and several months in advance. In both our cases, leasing offices lept at this opportunity. Of 12 months of rent, I paid 6 months plus surety in a lump sum, and she paid 7. What this did, in effect, was halve my rent- I paid $300 every month instead of $600 for the entire lease term.

I did this in a place where gas (heat and cooking fuel), water, and trash were included, so my only bills every month were my $300 in rent, about $60 in electric, and my phone and car payments. It allowed me to actually save some money and get ahead, even though I was in school at the time.

When I moved, I had an excellent reference and got my $600 surety back with no problems. Similar ending for my friend. After that, renting got WAAAY easier. Actually, life got way easier after that.

So please, don't despair. Take advantage of at least a few months that you don't have to make a house payment, sock as much money away as you can (I would agree, in a lockbox) and go to rent with cash in hand. It will make a world of difference.

And talk to HUD. They are overwhelmed right now, but I have heard lots of positive things about what a good agency they are. The fact that you have children will probably help to make you a priority.

Sending you big hugs and good vibes.

[Mama~Love]

Originally Posted by momhugs

No judgement here, but it puzzles me that people do not safe when the times are good. Than they expect help for their bad choices.

Your post has me puzzled as well. Exactly what "bad choices" have we made? We were not expecting me to lose my job.

Thanks for the encouragement though.

[Mama~Love]

Originally Posted by wifeandmom

Here's what I think I would do in your situation.

Assuming you have stopped paying the mortgage, figure out exactly what amount you will realistically be able to afford for housing once you DO have to leave your current house.

Start putting that money somewhere safe. I'd avoid a bank account of any kind in either of your names. Depending on how paranoid I was, I might be OK with putting it in a lock box at the bank. Another option is a fire proof lock box hidden very well somewhere on your property/in your home.

Assuming you have 6-12 months before you are actually evicted, you can rent something for CASH if you start putting back rent money right now. Your credit won't matter if you're offering cash money upfront for the term of the lease.

Then, once you've paid your rent forward, continue to save every month so you can do it again when your lease is up if they still don't want to rent to you with a bankruptcy on your report.

Originally Posted by Leta

There is some very good advice in this last post.

My friend and I (we were never roommates) had similar things happen- young, no real credit, the credit we did have was fair to poor, so renting had been difficult. We both adopted the same strategy: we took our tax returns, and, in my case, a financial aid refund check (grants/scholarships for college), talked to the leasing office at apartment complexes, and paid surety, first and last month's rent, and several months in advance. In both our cases, leasing offices lept at this opportunity. Of 12 months of rent, I paid 6 months plus surety in a lump sum, and she paid 7. What this did, in effect, was halve my rent- I paid $300 every month instead of $600 for the entire lease term.

I did this in a place where gas (heat and cooking fuel), water, and trash were included, so my only bills every month were my $300 in rent, about $60 in electric, and my phone and car payments. It allowed me to actually save some money and get ahead, even though I was in school at the time.

When I moved, I had an excellent reference and got my $600 surety back with no problems. Similar ending for my friend. After that, renting got WAAAY easier. Actually, life got way easier after that.

So please, don't despair. Take advantage of at least a few months that you don't have to make a house payment, sock as much money away as you can (I would agree, in a lockbox) and go to rent with cash in hand. It will make a world of difference.

And talk to HUD. They are overwhelmed right now, but I have heard lots of positive things about what a good agency they are. The fact that you have children will probably help to make you a priority.

Sending you big hugs and good vibes.

That is wonderful advice! Thank you both so very much!

[SunshineJ]

((Hugs!)) I'm so sorry! We're trying hard to avoid this exact thing in a few months. Would your lender consider a short sale of the house? That's bascially when you sell it for less than you owe on the mortgage and the lender "forgets" about the rest due. So if you owe $100k on the house, you sell it for $85k and everyone calls it a day. That doesn't help a lot but the credit ramifications are less from what I understand (note: I am NOT an atty or lender, so I would verify how exactly this works, that's just my understanding). If you're going to lose the house, then definitely STOP paying the mortgage any money from this point on and save it. As I said, we're in a similar situation and we hope that if we can pay 6 months rent at once our credit won't have an impact. Good luck, things are getting scary out there!

[mumstheway]

Originally Posted by momhugs

No judgement here, but it puzzles me that people do not safe when the times are good. Than they expect help for their bad choices.

I don't see how this applies to the OP's thread here. But, my mom has stated the same thing to me. And, a lot of people did that. They spent their money when they had it.

She just sent my sister money. For many years, my sister had a good income and little expenses (single, but now married). She upgraded their house, cars, etc. Barely saved anything. She lost her job last year. She got a new job, but they can't afford to pay for the new house because she's way behind. And the new job pays less. They had no savings, and lived off of credit cards. Because of a death in the family my mom actually has money to give her. So she lucked out, otherwise she'd be headed towards foreclosure or bankruptcy. My mom was planning on helping her other grandchildren with college expenses, but now that is probably not going to happen.

If she had stayed in a smaller house, had kept her 8 year old car (which was running fine) she would have been fine. If she had just saved that excess when she had it. She would have had an emergency fund at least.

My mom tells me it is a generational thing. She tells me about how when dad made 100K some years in the business she didn't live like he made anymore than 35K. Some years were like that though. Some years he did make more than others. Later on when he had a back injury and couldn't work as many hours for a few years they used that money because they needed it.

Having a family was the most important thing to me. My heart completely goes out to the OP. I bet she could never imagine she would be in this position. Do you have a church? My other sister's best friend recently took in a family of 7. They basically live in their basement. The church helped them to find a place to stay.

[mumstheway]

Originally Posted by SunshineJ

((Hugs!)) So if you owe $100k on the house, you sell it for $85k and everyone calls it a day. That doesn't help a lot but the credit ramifications are less from what I understand (note: I am NOT an atty or lender, so I would verify how exactly this works, that's just my understanding). If you're going to lose the house, then definitely STOP paying the mortgage any money from this point on and save it. As I said, we're in a similar situation and we hope that if we can pay 6 months rent at once our credit won't have an impact. Good luck, things are getting scary out there!

From a credit perspective she's already got a bankruptcy on her credit report so it doesn't matter, a short sale would not help. And, if she did it she would be responsible for the taxes on the difference.

How much time you will have in your home depends on your individual state.

I've know someone who lost their home in CA immediately. I believe there the house is still actually owned by the bank until you pay in full. So, if you miss payments the bank can evict immediately.

Someone I know on another message board lived in their house for nearly 7 months without paying in FL. There it's not the bank that owns the house. They have to do judicial foreclosure proceedings.

It depends on whether or not is non-judicial foreclosure or not.

[PenelopeJune]

No judgement here, but it puzzles me that people do not safe when the times are good. Than they expect help for their bad choices.

This is an incredibly hurtful thing to say when people are having a hard time. Some people have already wiped out their savings because the bad times have gone on so long.

I'm in a similar situation as the OP. In our case, times have been tight for over two years, and we've wittled down our meager savings to absolutely nothing over those two years. We've never had "good times" we've had passable times. Prior to these past two years, we've saved what little we could afford. But the past two years have been so incredibly tight that not only have we not been able to add to it, we have had to use our savings to pay ordinary bills, replace tires, auto repairs, new water heater, etc. Now it's gone and we're screwed.

We aren't looking for a hand out, we're looking for a way out. It certainly sounds like the OP is the same. She's looking for some where to rent for her family to live. What is wrong with that? Would you expect her and her children to live on the street simply because they've had the unexpected happen? You simply cannot plan for extended job loss. You can't. You can save and save and save, and at some point, if you can't find a job, that savings is just gone.

[rainbowmoon]

The bank can NOT evict you immedietly after just a missed payment or even several missed payments. This is why the foreclosure process exists. Your friend is not telling you the whole story because the banks don't WANT Your house. Trust me, they want the mortgage $$ so they will give you time to see if you can make it work.

The foreclosure process takes at the LEAST 90 days until the bank auction. Sometimes longer but 90 days is standard across the board and across the states. After the sheriff sale THEN the bank can evict you or start charging you rent, depending on your state it could be 48 hours to weeks until eviction..

btw, in some states if your home is not auctioned for at least the balance due on your mortgage THAT difference can also wind up your responsibility as the bank may sue you for it.. It varies by state.

Originally Posted by mumstheway

From a credit perspective she's already got a bankruptcy on her credit report so it doesn't matter, a short sale would not help. And, if she did it she would be responsible for the taxes on the difference.

How much time you will have in your home depends on your individual state.

I've know someone who lost their home in CA immediately. I believe there the house is still actually owned by the bank until you pay in full. So, if you miss payments the bank can evict immediately.

Someone I know on another message board lived in their house for nearly 7 months without paying in FL. There it's not the bank that owns the house. They have to do judicial foreclosure proceedings.

It depends on whether or not is non-judicial foreclosure or not.

[Usually Curious]

So sorry. Just wanted to say that we are a family of 8 that moved from a 3000 sqft house to a 1400 sqft house w/only three bedrooms and 1.5 baths. For us, it was a conscious move - less money in taxes and utilities, more land, smaller town. It is possible, w/very little effort, to function in such a small place.

Good luck finding the right rental!

[vbactivist]

Originally Posted by momhugs

No judgement here, but it puzzles me that people do not safe when the times are good. Than they expect help for their bad choices.

This is really passive aggressive.

[angie7]

Originally Posted by momhugs

No judgement here, but it puzzles me that people do not safe when the times are good. Than they expect help for their bad choices.

I didn't know the OP was psychic and could predict that she would lose her job . That is such a horrible statement to make in a thread about someone being laid off and losing their home....Perhaps when you are in a situation that you have no control over and your life is turned upside down, someone will come along and kick you when you're down too.

OP

[leavemealone]

Unfortunately, no one is able to predict when bad times will happen. If anyone thinks "it can't happen to them" then they are wrong. You can have a year's worth of expenses saved up, but if you lose your job, suffer a serious illness or injury that money can be whittled away in no time and, all the sudden - poof! - you are in the same situation. Sure, some of the people are living beyond their means, but a lot of it is people who have fallen on hard times.

[Amylcd]