Judes

Hi to all who seek help and the ones who offer hope on this board. After more than a year of struggle and mediation we finally got an approval for a reinstatement. Payments reduced by less than $100.00 (not anything to get excited about). Remember, they had to add the missed payments, attorney fees, court fees, etc. which added an additional $50,000 to our original loan. Then, during that year and a half, we apparently had a judgment lien put on our home for a medical debt for $3,000.00. All of this due to job loss and life-long medical condition our daughter is suffering with. We finally get another job, better pay, but 3,000 miles away. Could not maintain two living locations so taking the reinstatement wouldn't even make sense. We can't rent the house for anywhere close to what we owe (underwater by $140,000). Our current problem is, according to the latest info received by our lawyer, now that our lender knows we can't take the reinstatement, we are back in limbo. They don't want to finalize the foreclosure but are stating that we are still responsible for the home and that blight laws come into play, and basically we have to maintain the home (winter is coming) which brings to mind the huge (heating oil) bills etc. All during the mediation process they had no trouble reminding us that foreclosure was looming and they would take the house in a minute, now that we are finished we don't know why they would want to drag their feet. Our lawyer is at a loss and said basically we just have to wait. Anyone else heard of, or going thru this? This has to be the worst roller coaster ride we've even been on (and we thought medical turmoil was bad). We originally wanted nothing more than to fight to keep our home and live in it forever. Thanks to all who have commented and shared their stories, it helps to know we are not alone. Thanks

Thanks to all for the replies....validation helps in times like these. This is an amazing site and we're glad we found it. I'll let everyone know when we move in....

Hi to all, The Realtor working with the landlord of the potential house we want to rent would like us to provide our own copy of our credit report for them to review. We think that's great, however we're not sure which one to pick. I know from past experience that Experian seems to have the most negative reporting out of the three and it seems no matter what we do we can't get problems fixed. I guess what we are wondering is out of the big three bureaus, is one better than another that landlords might prefer, or does it even matter? We really want to rent this home and want to help the process as much as we can. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. thanks to all

Hi, just a quick note. We have been trying to dodge the foreclosure bullet for months, even enrolling in our state's mandatory mediation program. That is proving to be a joke too, but one thing that was mentioned by our lawyer was a loan re-instatement. However, unlike your lender wanting the arrears upfront, he said some lenders take the arrears and tack that on to the back of the loan so there is not much out of pocket to get it re-instated. Not sure how true that is or whether or not that will occur for us, but we are hoping it does. Also, I would be a little concerned that your lender is providing you with an attorney. Sounds like a conflict of interest to me. Best of luck with this and I hope you keep your home.

Hi to all, Recently we obtained copies of our credit reports to see that lender has reported foreclosure even though there is no foreclosure. Is this the norm? According to our State laws on mediation, all foreclosure activity stops until the outcome of the mediation. If by some small chance our mediation proves successful and we remain in the home, how would that look on our record?

Hi All, OK. I'm confused. I have read up on this and thought I had a pretty good handle on the subject until the recent meeting with my lawyer. I have been going through mediation for a loan modification for 6 months now and just had my latest meeting postponed AGAIN because there is still confusion as to who our actual lender and servicer are. Apparently the lawyer we have met with on prior meetings was not even the lawyer for our servicer! If this weren't bad enough, now the word is: The actual note doesn't mean much! It is the contract that means everything! Since when? We were told that as long as there is a contract signed between the lender and the servicers each time the loan is transferred, the note doesn't necessarily have to follow. Not a big deal. If the note can't be produced, according to the courts, that's OK as long as the contracts can. Even if the note is produced, judges are looking for those signed contracts as the thing that will hold in court. Has anyone heard of this? What is all the hub-bub about the actual note if the courts don't care? We heard that nobody can find our note, however, there are signed contracts from the lender to the servicers each time the loan as been sold and that is supposedly the golden ticket. I'm at a loss.. Anyone out there agree with this or are we being mislead? Thanks to all who post and support here..

Hi All, We have been in load mod "Heck" now for a while with no progress in sight. No house payments made in almost a year! Must clarify though, we have been trying to get a modification through mediation now for the last 6 months, but opposing counsel can't figure out who our servicer is and our dates keep getting postponed. Our Lawyer seems to think that because our situation looks much better now - our lender will come back to the table with an offer to reinstate our present loan, ask for an additional down payment, and wrap any monies due from non-payment on the back of our loan and move on. Obviously no incentive for them to modify our loan when the current job is pretty much the same as the last one that we qualified with. Stats are: bought house in October 2008 $450,000 (high price - wrong time to buy) Lender encouraged loan stating there would be no trouble getting appraisal for purchase Job loss in June 2009 Tried to sell house short-sale from June 2009 through December 2009 - 4 offers came in - lender never responded Lender decided to appraise the house in November 2009 - came back at $360,000 December 2009 took house off market What the lawyer is thinking will happen is they will offer a reinstatement of our current loan at $450,000 PLUS all additional monies owed with fees, taxes etc. bringing the total to approx $480,000. Here is where I'm having the problem, how can this work with the house being $120,000 upsidedown? I thought there was some formula in the works that helps lenders decide whether or not foreclosure would be the better deal for them, and it has something to do with the net present value? OUr market here is further declining and houses similar are now going for about $340,000. Does this sound like anything you have seen out there? My emotional side is wanting to keep our home at any cost where my more educated financial side is saying we would be foolish to try to keep the home. Any ideas or thoughts out there?

Yes, I know what you mean, but you have to know that they have been in limbo now for about 9 months and are no closer then they were when they started! Lawyer fees, etc, it's been pretty bad. They would have loved nothing more than to complete their modification and keep their home but it seems nobody will let them! Sad. We know first hand because we are basically going through the same thing. It is really hard to live in limbo.

Hi to all, I have posted on the board regarding my own set of problems with modifications and the problems that go along with that. I found a friend here in town to commiserate with who is also going through similar circumstances and finds herself (family) going through loan modification hell also. She has not had anyone she can really talk to about it until we started talking. Unlike me who really would like to keep our home, she is beyond fed up and would like to go a different route. Originally they fell behind on their mortgage when her husband was injured and off work causing him to lose his job. Since that time he found another job, higher pay, and have managed to pay off most of their debt while waiting for the home mod. But here is where they want to go, instead. The questions is, since they have not gotten any response from her mortgage company in their attempts at modification (stalling for months) her husband found another house in town for a ridiculously low price and would like to purchase. The home is bank owned and they list lease/option, help with financing, and need offers, any offer considered. The home has been on the market for a while now and I just think they want it sold. They are asking $135,000 for this house and they have saved a 25 percent down payment. Their current home mortgage (the one they have been trying to modifiy) is on a home worth $400,000.00., so if they did somehow get this house it would be quite a savings on a payment each month. Would a bank even consider talking to them when they are currently in their situation with their current home? My guess would be no, but I told her I would ask here on the boards. I know the banks are looking for money though, so maybe?? Thanks for the help here...

Hello, Sorry, this may be in the wrong area, but need some info. We have noticed that several of our bills over the last year have often been "immediately" turned over to collection instead of giving any options for payment. On top of that, when we contacted the actual company to arrange payment in FULL, we were told don't bother. We had a ZERO balance with them and would be forced to pay the collection company. I then asked, so if we used our debit card and paid you TODAY in full, you would not take it? NO. That would be all well and good, but we noticed a trend. Each bill owed on the collection company letters had an additional $28.00 to $100.00 added to the ACTUAL amount owed with no explanation. When we decided to pay the actual bill company instead of the collection company by mailing them checks for payment in full, they cashed our checks! what a surprise. However, can we trust anyone to cancel the collections at this point? probably not. Just wondering about the added fees and what kind of justification that warrants. We all know they buy debt for pennies on the dollar so they make money that way. thanks again and sorry if this is off topic for this board.

Hello to all, It is inspiring to read and know that we are not alone, but it is so difficult to live through this, I feel for all of you. We, too, are also experiencing the worst time in our lives and not sure what to do next. Job lay off, and new job 3,000 miles away causing issues. Maintaining living arrangements on two coastlines is expensive. Home is in foreclosure even though we are trying our state mandatory court appointed mediation program, for loan modification. so far, not looking good. We have two vehicles, 1 is 9 years old, 1 is 7 years old. The latter just won a judgment against us (even though we had no idea they were going to court) and put a lien on our foreclosing house. We owe about $15,000 (including $5,000 in credit card debt). We also have medical bills due to our youngest daughters lifelong medical condition. We have no idea what to pay first when we get a few dollars. On 3 credit cards, it does no good to pay them anything because each month the balance goes up just over $100.00 on each due to over limit fees, and all other fees. So, for each one of them we would have to pay $600.00 plus just to get below the credit limit to stop accruing the fees. We can't do that at this point in time so each month they just keep going up. We have tried the phone calls, the letters, all to no avail. Why nobody wants to work things out is beyond me. We now have 3 liens on our property and it seems like it just never ends. Any ideas? We are fed up, becoming physically sick and stressed out and I can't afford to go there because someone has to be strong to deal with the daily stress of having an ill child. I'm tired and worried. Because we must leave our home, and due to bad credit, we have no place to live. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks to all who write on these boards.

Hi, We too, used a credit counseling service back years ago and we stayed on that program for 3 years and paid off every last dime! Very proud moment in time, however, we found out almost immediately that even though the creditors agree to the payment arrangements of these companies, they still get to report to the credit bureaus that you are late each and every month up to the max of 120 days late! Imagine our surprise when we are finally able to breathe and are making only one payment to this company thinking that we have done the right thing and when we eventually applied for a house, it was all over. Every account that was part of that re-payment was reported as 120 days late (when NONE of them actually were late at all) Apparently their logic is that your original agreed payment with them was let's say ($60.00) per month. Through the repayment program it gets reduced to $35.00 per month. The balance unpaid per the original agreement is what allows them to report as late because the $35.00 never equals the $60.00 per month as agreed. I hope this helps because I can't imagine much has changed over the years. Best of luck to all

Thanks for replies, we are in CT. I'll have to look up the laws of this state. Just seems a little overwhelming right now. Thanks again...

Hi to all, I'm so stressed out right now, please don't beat me up too bad with this question. but, I seriously don't know the answer. We have been through hell the past two years and found out that we have 3 liens placed against our home which is currently in foreclosure. All of them recently placed against the house. One is a lawyer for prior divorce fees, one on a credit card and the most recent, a car loan that we couldn't keep up with. The latter didn't want the car back, just the money from the judgment, plus all interest and attorney fees (for a court date we didn't even know about) Anyway, when the house forecloses, what happens to those liens? obviously they won't be satisfied from the sale of the home. It is already $100,000 underwater. We would love to be able to satisfy them, but right now that can't happen. Thanks for the help.

Thnx, Brian B for the info. We kind of had the feeling we might be in for a wait. However, we will look into the banks lending their own money! always hope, right? thank you