Can we leave?

[sleeplessinohio]

Hello all,

We live in Ohio. Our Bk was discharged in September, 2009. Our home was IIB. We did NOT reaffirm. We tried to keep our house, but when the bank would not renegotiate our 9% interest rate, we were advised to let the home go. Wells Fargo is the bank.

A complaint for foreclosure was entered in July 2011. We did not answer the complaint.

A motion for default judgment was entered on March 6, 2012. It has not yet been granted.

Strangely WFs' attorney filed a "certificate of readiness" on both March 6, and again on June 25.

We are ready for this nightmare to be over.

Can we move? Can we leave and start our lives in a rental home?

We are still paying HOA, and homeowner's insurance and will continue to do so until the deed is out of our name.

I've called the courts, WF, and the attorney working for WF. No one will tell me if we are safe to sign a lease on another home.

Can anyone tell me or point me in the right direction?

Thanks so much. I'm so sorry we all have to be here instead of somewhere else enjoying our lives.

sleepless in ohio

[tradinglife]

Hello all,

We live in Ohio. Our Bk was discharged in September, 2009. Our home was IIB. We did NOT reaffirm. We tried to keep our house, but when the bank would not renegotiate our 9% interest rate, we were advised to let the home go. Wells Fargo is the bank.

A complaint for foreclosure was entered in July 2011. We did not answer the complaint.

A motion for default judgment was entered on March 6, 2012. It has not yet been granted.

Strangely there WFs' attorney filed a "certificate of readiness" on both March 6, and again on June 25.

We are ready for this nightmare to be over.

Can we move? Can we leave and start our lives in a rental home?

We are still paying HOA, and homeowner's insurance and will continue to do so until the deed is out of our name.

I've called the courts, WF, and the attorney working for WF. No one will tell me if we are safe to sign a lease on another home.

Can anyone tell me or point me in the right direction?

Thanks so much. I'm so sorry we all have to be here instead of somewhere else enjoying our lives.

sleepless in ohio

If I had to do it over again I would have stayed in the home rent free till they kicked me out. We moved out after filing cpt7 including home in August 2010, home sold at sheriifs sale a couple months ago. We could have probably extended the process quite a bit if we tried. We could have saved nearly $20,000 staying versus paying rent elsewhere. We moved our family to 2 different rent houses and lived like gypsies for nearly 2 years changing rent houses.

[sleeplessinohio]

Thank you TradingLife,

We actually have stayed here for the last year and a half and have paid no rent. However, we have paid a very high cost in stress. As my "name" indicates, I don't think I've had a good night's sleep in the last four years.

I guess I'm ready to go now because I believe the process must be coming to an end. I *think* we're waiting for the motion for default judgment to be signed. I assumed the sheriff's sale would happen soon after (within weeks rather than months). I'm a teacher. I'm off for the next 8 weeks. It would be very helpful to move now instead of when school and my son's football season are in full swing. But, I also admit, that my stress level is the primary reason for wanting to go now. I'd like to have a little peace of mind. It's been so long since I felt that.

Anyway.. this sounds like a whine and I don't like to do that. So many people are in more dire straights.

I.. just want... to... know... if... we... can.... go...

sleepless in ohio

[adviceplease]

I'm not sure the answer to your question because I am just now at the end of our foreclosure ordeal but I wanted to let you know that I feel you. This has been the most stressful experience of my life. I am so tired of looking over my shoulder and screening my calls.

[tobee43]

yes, you can leave. however, you MUST continue to pay all and any associated HOA fees as they follow you everywhere you go until the deed changes hands, that only happens after the sale of the house.

have you filed BK or are you doing the foreclosure without the back up of a BK? i ask because if and when the sheriff's dept sells the house, the bank, since ohio is a deficiency state, can go after you for the balance of what they sold it for and what you owe, so just be aware of that. i'm certain you are also aware that you could have gone to court to attempt to stop/delay the process since ohio is also judicial state.

[davetedge]

What did the court clerk say when you asked about the process? Did they tell you what WF needed to do next in order to finalize the foreclosure and sale?
It might be worth going to legal aid or meeting with a foreclosure attorney just to get an overview on how the process is currently operating. You should bring copies of everything WF filed with the court, since they'll be able to read them and tell you where stand.

If you learn something along the lines that WF has to prove standing in order to foreclose but can't prove it, or they lost the note, then you and the bank are in a weird limbo state where nothing will move forward.

For me, the generally available (google) advice told me I had about 6 months from when my bank started the process. But after talking to the court clerk and legal aid, they said that the courts were flooded, judges were not happy with the banks, and the timeline was stretching out to 3+ years. My bank's foreclosure filing was odd in that they didn't include a copy of the mortgage note in the exhibits.

I was also losing a lot of sleep worrying about what to do, but that bit of information calmed me down a lot and I decided to clean up the place and commit to staying until the foreclosure was truly complete. If they had said 6 months I would have slept better too since then i'd know it would be over soon. It's the not knowing that gets you.

[sleeplessinohio]

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for responding.

adviceplease... thank you... I hope that with the end of your foreclosure you'll be able to look ahead and won't have to look behind so often. Best wishes to your family.

tobee43... thank you for responding to me. I've read you in many threads and you seem wise and kind. Yes, I will pay the HOA fees. We're very fortunate in that the fee is only $75 annually. And, our house was part of a Chapter 7 BK and the house was IIB. We did not reaffirm. I actually think we received some inadequate? wrong? legal advice from our BK attorney with regards to the foreclosure. When the original complaint for foreclosure was filed, he advised us not to answer it. I eventually learned that we should have answered it as we would have more options now, in particular, because of the following.

On another legal note, we happen to be one of the ones whose mortgage company seemed to do most things right. I don't know how nitty gritty to go into the details - however.. for those who are following this or interested:

When Wells Fargo's attorney filed the complaint for foreclosure, they did NOT attach the note. There has been a big fight in Ohio about whether attorney's could file complaints for foreclosure without the note. In our case, the note was eventually attached as an exhibit later in the process. Apparently, someone challenged this process of not attaching the note to the the original complaint for foreclosure and a case made it to the Supreme Court of Ohio. To be honest, I don't know what was decided there. I do know if they found our favor of homeowners, then our case would have needed to be refiled with the note attached to the original complaint for foreclosure. (gosh that's confusing to type.. I hope it's clear)

When I later returned to speak to our BK attorney about this, he said that even though the note was not attached in the original complaint for foreclosure, that the note was eventually filed and that we didn't have any recourse (because we hadn't filed an answer to the complaint)

And finally, I did make one attempt to contact a foreclosure attorney in the area for advice. He told me that if we signed a contract to pay him $1,000 per month, one way or another, he could stall our foreclosure indefinitely. (!!!)

I was so upset with that answer I did not contact another attorney.

So.. a very long answer to your question... but perhaps.. someone will find the information useful.

davetedge.. When I speak (I've called a few times) to the court clerk, all she will really tell me is what I can already see on the public court access and that when we see our house being advertised in the paper, we'll know that the sheriff's sale is imminent. She did advise me to call the attorney who has filed the documents. I've tried to call them a number of times. They will not return my call. I've also tried speaking with Wells Fargo. They assigned us something called a "home preservation specialist". We received numerous letters telling us to contact them. At the start of this, we contacted them daily for months. They simply wouldn't speak with us. We'd leave messages, write letters that were signed for upon delivery. They would call, but if we picked up they phone, they would hang up (caller id.. we know it was them). So, the bottom line is that for whatever reason, we have had no idea what's been going on during the entire 1.5 year process. I keep waiting for someone to knock on our door, tell me I didn't do something I was supposed to do and that we had 24 hours to be out of the house. I KNOW that isn't going to happen.. but that is what it feels like is going to happen.

Thank you very much for sharing your experience with me. I do try to calm myself down. And, occasionally, I'm even successful for an hour or so. Then.. I remember that I have to figure this out and find a solution for our family.

Thanks again to everyone following and advising in this thread.

sleepless in ohio

[davetedge]

sleepless,
I'm constantly astonished how convoluted and disrespectful the foreclosure process is for so many homeowners. I find it hard not to believe this an intentional effort to keep all these homes from flooding the market and breaking the backs of all these banks and mortgage servicers. I wouldn't put any trust in WF or their attorneys. They're overwhelmed with cases, and they don't care.

From a cursory glance at Ohio's foreclosure process, it looks like you'll have about 10 weeks from the sheriff's listing to eviction. Better than 24 hours, but just enough time to make things difficult. At this point I'd try to find someone who's really working hands on with foreclosures and evictions to get a read on how backed up they are and how fast they're moving. Legal Aid or the Sheriff's office are probably your last hopes for any honest information. I noticed something called Save The Dream Ohio that might be a good place to start.

[tobee43]

sleepless, i'm not knowing much about the wise, but kind i'm reaching for .

the good thing is that the bank cannot go after you for the deficiency. the other thing is this: if you really want to keep this house i'm certain WF has plenty where that came from. i would call them or better yet go in and see if it's not too late to work out something with them. stranger things have happen? right?

as far as atty's go, these times are very strange and many atty's don't have a clue or the answers as to how the bank would respond. for us, as example, i know had we gone back to chase they may have worked with us, actually, even after 4 years they attempted to contact us about doing something. of course, we do not want the house, own another now, and our feelings are that they left us out to dry. have you attempted to contact WF ...that is, if you WANT to keep the house?

[laurannm]

But going to back to the OP's question, since you didn't reaffirm your mortgages, you can walk away ay any point and sign a lease whenever you want, and be free and clear.

I'm a little confused as to why you are talking to foreclosure attorneys (Or even worred about the process at all) when your goal is to walk away from the house and sign a lease somewhere else?

[davetedge]

Yes, what laurannm said: you can leave now.

Since the HOA is so low, it's not worth staying just for that. You're trading free rent for less stress and moving on your terms.

To add insult to injury, I'll bet you that when you inform WF you're leaving the home, they'll have a crew out to winterize it and change the locks within 24 hours.

[spidge]

I did not see it in the thread, but did you ask for cash for keys?

[berkeleygl]

Our condo, which was included in our Ch 13, has been sitting now for 2 years. It is in a different state than where we live now, and since the HOAs were so high ($529/mo!!) we eventually decided to rent it out to cover HOA and insurance. I'm not sure how the rental market is where you live, but if you could rent it out month to month for just enough to cover your expenses (or a little more even) than that could be an option. We were completely honest with our new tenant, so she knows the place is in default. This could be a way for you to move to a new rental on your terms, reduce your stress, and not take on more financially than you can handle.

[Billssuck]

We haven't paid a cent on our Mortgage for 26 months and just moved about a month ago. Still no foreclosure. But we have drastically downsized (from paying $2K a month to $300 dollars a month). It's a long story but basically we are renting from a relative for just what the monthly mortgage payment is and within 3-5 years we'll have enough saved to pay for the house out right from them. The amount we're paying for housing by itself we save in gas per month by not commuting to work as our jobs are literally around the corner and my son's school is 2 min down the road. So it was a "win win" for us to move rather than stay any longer. We were approached by a local realtor today that he has someone interested in trying to buy our old house as a short sell. We shall see if that leads any where...BTW no HOA fees or such for us to worry about. We do go over and mow the yard for the neighbors and plan to do that until the NOD is served.