341 and we get this so-called "diligent" trustee

[freeatlast09]

"They move really fast!"

Yeah - right! Now that's funny!

Not to hijack the thread, but we've been waiting over 3 years for them to take the our house. Calls to them are answered with "We'll get to it when we get to it." Actually, we just received a letter this week from their 3rd party collections arm (REDC) asking if we'd like to proceed with a DIL instead of foreclosure. If we do, we would be released from any obligation for the mortgage. Huh? Maybe they aren't aware that the discharge took car of that.

Anyway - @R2BK - I'm glad things are getting better on the apartment search. Sorry about the cats and other nonsense you're going through. Keep us posted.

As always - best wishes.

[tobee43]

des, that is such a wonderful idea.

just stick it to them. Resigned, i know it's difficult, but i would get out as soon as possible, although, i know you are trying and it's hard with animals and kids.

[despritfreya]

The ultimate would be if you find a very nice rental, move and then the house sits vacant. Since the Trustee has taken control (no abandonment and active MLS listing) it is my position that the Trustee, upon you leaving, will be responsible for all the upkeep so that the property remains in compliance with city code and is not vandalized. Oh, and if certain utilities such as water cannot be shut off upon moving, the accounts need to be switched to the Trustee.

Des.

[Resigned2BK]

Updates:

I'll start off with more pleasant things. We've been looking at apartments furiously for the past couple weeks and found a really nice complex today. We will qualify based on income as they are fine with 2x rent (there's a lot of 2.5x and some 2x because there's a tax credit managements can get for renting to people who can be good tenants yet aren't making Boeing or Microsoft type high salaries). The sticking point with them could be the bankruptcy as they say on the app they want BK closed with positive credit history beyond. We're discharged for a month now, we've been continuing to pay the whole time on DH's student debt, so we figure we'll try and hope their credit standards are against pre-discharge rather than specifically requiring case all the way closed. But if all else fails, there is a place at 2.5x that said discharged.

And now I get to rant and rave and be pretty damned pissed off for awhile....

Homebuyers placing our house back into pending (we have reason to believe now that they aren't the original airheads coming in for a 2nd visit to measure windows for treatments two Saturdays ago) did their inspection this afternoon. They are Russians (I've never had anything against immigrants in my entire life until these folks), the inspector was Russian, the real estate agent was a fill in American for their agent who could not be here today. We have reason to believe the inspector didn't really go as thorough as inspectors tend to do. Hmmm, more on that later.

DH set his computer to audio record for the whole time. We are doing this just for our benefit, not to share, and yes, I know technically people are supposed to be told they are being recorded -- yet burglars have been apprehended by people having their home computer video recording. If the latter is legal... anyway, I digress. This is just background set up.

#1 reason I am very mad right now: I've mentioned I have cats. I've mentioned I'm really stressed out about what to do about the fast tiny cat in particular in the case of an inspection. I have signs at outside doors telling people to keep them closed so cats aren't let out. My cats are declawed, they are 100% housecat, they are also elderly. And they matter a lot to me. So half an hour before arrival, I captured the troublesome cat (other one is a big fat slug) and locked her up in a carrier. Then when they arrived, I asked the inspector very nicely to do our laundry room first so that can be all done and I can release my cats in there so there's no chance of a cat escape mishap. And the inspector looked a bit gruff but did comply. I managed to get both cats moved in there about 20 minutes later, released the fast cat from her carrier, and closed the door firm enough that neither cat could possibly open it (it stuck in the door jam). That room has their feed dishes and litter box. I promptly after gathered up the kiddos (DH is off at work for the inspection) and got us all out the door. Come to find out from audio that the cats were not only released within 10 minutes of us leaving (and these people were there about 1.5 hr total!!!) but that they were obviously letting the 15 month old harass the big slug cat, cat hissed, and they just laughed and said "Oh, I like him!" WHAT.THE.F---!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It took a few hours since us being home for both the cats to calm down and be normal again.

I do intend to complain about the cats being let out when I expressly told the agent and the buyer that the cats are NOT to be let out. This might seem silly to some, but this is a big friggin deal to me. I bent over backwards to be nice and make sure the inspection can go smooth in terms of the animal factor and this is what I get back in consideration. We are on food stamps, we should not be forced to kennel the cats for an inspection that only lasts 1.5hr.

***growl***

#2: Real estate fill in woman is chatting my kids up like crazy, the eldest in particular. Nothing that big of a deal, but it irked me yet I didn't want to antagonize just in case they might do something against my wishes regarding the cats. Obvs I need to just be rude and not be such a nice person. Anyway, she's asking who has our mortgage, I figure it's not a big deal to say BofA, then she says "They move really fast!" then chuckles and says, "You better get a lot of boxes and get all this packed up quickly!" Really, lady, because I've had at least 10 other people tell me BofA is slow as molasses on all things Short Sale. I just didn't say anything because I didn't want to cause a scene in front of the kids. She also is asking the kids about school, asked if the youngest is in preschool at which oldest says "No" and then the woman says, "Staying home with Mommy? That's nice. You got to stay home with Mommy too, eh?" Ah, just assuming I've been stay at home the whole time. Clueless. Then she picks up a little chotchky on DH's very cluttered front room table and starts quizzing the kids. Nice! Oh good grief. Needless to say I was very glad to get out of the house and away from clueless chatty Cathy.

#3: Indication from audio that clueless chatty Cathy is not as clueless as she might seem (although I knew she couldn't be regardless). It's scratchy, but we can hear her say, "This is a bankruptcy... it's sad as they probably lost their jobs..." If you had any empathy, don't start telling someone while laughing that they need to pack their house lickity split because BofA approves low ball short sales fast. I was not fooled when I was talking to you what your intentions are. You are trying to help your colleague by convincing us to move out early so we won't have a chance at cash for keys. Think again, b*tch! Your colleague's client will not get their keys until the last moment unless they want to pay. Period. I don't f-ing care if we have nothing left in the place, we'll put on the slider latch and exit out the garage with our remote opener.

#4: I'm trying to get the kids into the car and the inspector walks up and starts asking me about the house furnace. He wants to know if it works. I just said, "I think so..." and left. Um, he's the inspector, isn't he supposed to inspect??? NOT COOL. We have visible indications that he may not be thorough. Like it was a really short inspection for one -- when we were buying the inspector took at least 2 hours. There was only a tiny puff of insulation from the attic suggesting he just took a quick head peek and did not really go up there. There's indication that he maybe looked below the house briefly as there's a big scuff in our kitchen linoleum. Under sink bottles were just moved aside slightly. Eh, I don't know much about house inspecting, I just see potential it's not on the up and up when we hear a lot of Russian convo between him and the buyers -- kind of like they wanted to play dumb on language to hide things from the agent. Lots of "Da, da, da" so saying "Yes, yes, yes" about something. My conversational Russian skills from college are almost 20 years out of use.

Anyhow, if you made it through the rant, congrats. We'll see if BofA is willing to even approve their low ball offer. Who knows. We're just going day by day. But we are firmly decided that unless there is an order from the BK court somehow, these people will absolutely NOT be allowed in as long as we are still allowed to legally reside here. They got their inspection and additional in depth look, that's all they get until after closing.

[tobee43]

I wouldn't mind moving, Tobee. Heck, I moved out here to a job 12 years ago. DH spent the last 13 years building up an ongoing business that, should we relocate out of the area, it would probably take him 4-5 years just to get back to reasonable level of business. He also has a group he finally connected into last year that has been really making good progress over time at getting consistent well-paying work. I've applied for numerous jobs over the years that would be probably enough on that one income to float us awhile until he could establish in a new place, and nothing ever works out. It's not just hard here, it's hard just about everywhere. That's why we (DH and I) laugh when the politicians and newscasters just call this economy "The Great Recession." We call it "Great Depression #2."

In rereading the previous post of mine, I should have just said I need to make $1000 or $1K, obviously not $1000K. Oops. LOL. We aren't in deficit by a ton and if I really really have to, *shudder* I will seek employment at a fast food place where that $1000 can be a reality. Awful to think I'll be turning 39 and working minimum wage!

i'm certain you will find something to cover that amount. i know i find work when ever i can and actually my load is growing (of course at a time at this moment where i would it actually to be a bit less). but at least i'm finding ways to make it all work and i'm certain you will as well.


as jb points out:

For what it's worth, a BK isn't a "bad" credit practice. There are many people that use bankruptcy as a strategic tool and come out with pretty good credit scores thereafter. It's how one dealt with credit prior to filing bankruptcy (or the event which precipitated the bankruptcy) which is indicative of the person's true financial habits!

and honestly, that's exactly what we did, however, it does take some time for it to all come together.

[justbroke]

Man, we'd be screwed with your criteria.

It's not my criteria. It's a national association of landlords that sets the standards. As a landlord who has been burned before -- caused my bankruptcy -- I can tell you that these standards should be the bare minimum guideline. Otherwise, you end up with turnover, evictions, property destruction, etc.

In no way does that reflect o you, but it's the same as looking at a FICO score to determine credit worthiness. While FICO doesn't say how much you make or if YOU yourself have ever defaulted, it gives a reasonable estimate of the likelihood of default. Unfortunately, a person who has had 5 different jobs in the past year does not have stable income.

Your case is fact specific. You have some hardship. I could weigh that, but, again, I'm a private individual. When I rent, you paying most if not all of the mortgage . You don't pay... I'm in a bind!

For what it's worth, a BK isn't a "bad" credit practice. There are many people that use bankruptcy as a strategic tool and come out with pretty good credit scores thereafter. It's how one dealt with credit prior to filing bankruptcy (or the event which precipitated the bankruptcy) which is indicative of the person's true financial habits!

[Resigned2BK]

I wouldn't mind moving, Tobee. Heck, I moved out here to a job 12 years ago. DH spent the last 13 years building up an ongoing business that, should we relocate out of the area, it would probably take him 4-5 years just to get back to reasonable level of business. He also has a group he finally connected into last year that has been really making good progress over time at getting consistent well-paying work. I've applied for numerous jobs over the years that would be probably enough on that one income to float us awhile until he could establish in a new place, and nothing ever works out. It's not just hard here, it's hard just about everywhere. That's why we (DH and I) laugh when the politicians and newscasters just call this economy "The Great Recession." We call it "Great Depression #2."

In rereading the previous post of mine, I should have just said I need to make $1000 or $1K, obviously not $1000K. Oops. LOL. We aren't in deficit by a ton and if I really really have to, *shudder* I will seek employment at a fast food place where that $1000 can be a reality. Awful to think I'll be turning 39 and working minimum wage!

[tobee43]

i know many cannot do this, however, have you ever thought about leaving the state. i know i'm from the west coast originally and there was no way we could live there. we left the north east because it was way to expensive after we lost our jobs, so we had to relocate to another state where we were able to afford to live on our pension and ss and at the time our unemployment insurance payments.

it was really hard to leave our kids etc. but we knew there was no way we could live or make it where we were.

today, i think many people except the darn banks don't necessarily think people with a BK shows they are irresponsible or have bad habits, shoot, this was millions of people unemployment in this country and losing their homes. there is strentgh in numbers..LOL!! even bad one's so i know at least here in florida it's not that difficult to rent a place now if you had a bk, since there have been so many in this state.

i know you will land on your feet. this is such a tough, unforgiving road it seems at times. i can't wait until the time you can look back and say "remember when we had to go through this or that" it will come!

[Resigned2BK]

Personally, I wouldn't allow a multi-month deposit. In fact, there are rental laws which prohibit us from charging more than 1.5 times the monthly rent as "security". Pre-paying rent could be useful, but I can't require it as a landlord.

They have laws here that prohibit more than one month's rent in security deposit.

I'd rather approve you on your good rental history

None as we've purchased a home the past 8 years

good (stable) job history

No job history as I've been unemployed/severely underemployed for almost 5 years and DH is self employed for around 13

less than 33% RTI (rent-to-income) ratio

Nope again for the long term unemployment/underemployment reasoning, at best we can maybe swing the 2.5 times that is standard for the affordable tax credit programs if I can somehow get at least $1000K a month to add to our monthly income

and recent "good" credit habits.

And clearly BK shows "bad" credit habits.

Sometimes, it's just not as bad as it looks.

Man, we'd be screwed with your criteria.

[justbroke]

Personally, I wouldn't allow a multi-month deposit. In fact, there are rental laws which prohibit us from charging more than 1.5 times the monthly rent as "security". Pre-paying rent could be useful, but I can't require it as a landlord. I'd rather approve you on your good rental history, good (stable) job history, less than 33% RTI (rent-to-income) ratio, and recent "good" credit habits.

Sometimes, it's just not as bad as it looks.

[tobee43]

ahhhhhhhh....i just know something will come up somehow! maybe an excellent job, maybe something GOOD PLEASE!!!

[Resigned2BK]

90 day approval would be nice. Tobee, we already tried a realtor we know. We met a really nice one when we thought about trying to short sale last Spring and do that HAFA program which she and her partner called the "HA HA" program. Anyway, she went through and did a search on what she has access to and every last house was just over budget, period. We've been cruising through neighborhoods and those that list are way over. Even my haircutter, hearing of our plight last Friday, was asking if we'd be interested in her rental that is coming open but it was $1300 she was asking for, so significantly above our means. And apartments that are reputable looking always have corporate management. Just the way it goes. But if we can get an approval that locks in for as much as 90 days, that would be very nice indeed. We were hoping we could just get one to lock in for 30 days to give us the option of one for sure place while we still examine if another better place can work.

Now if I can just secure work immediately to push our income up!

Even if this short sale stuff drags and drags and I suspect it will, for the sake of the kids and their feeling of stability with their schooling we'd really like to move in July or August at very very latest. Youngest will enter Kindergarten if all goes well, otherwise we might just hold her back a grade if we have to do a Fall move for some reason.

[ValleYum]

I know that here in SW Washington, different rental companies have varying policies on the length of time since your BK. It's about a 50/50 split between those who want 1 year since BK and those who just want a discharged BK. Several of the companies offered a pre-approval that was good for 90 days. We did that with 2 places - just in hubby's name - and we were approved by both.

Tobee, you are so right - R2BK and her family have been through so much already I just hope their quest for a new home is as smooth and easy as possible.

[tobee43]

as jb points out, it's the discharge, as an asset case can be open for years and actually it's only the particular situation in question that is not discharged and all other debts are.

if i were in this situation to have to seek a rental, i would try to do it privately and offer a large deposit or 6 months in advance rent. many times private landlords are looking for the rents and really not so much the situation as to why you need to rent. again, as most of them do credit checks i would be right up front.

here in florida it's not that much of a problem as there are so many vacate places and SO many people that filed, i know in our HOA money talks and a bird in the hand.

also, try some local realtors in your area. you might be surprised to know they may have some heads up on rentals. i know this will all work out. you have been through so much!!! i don't wish bad on anyone, but this trustee you have is just beyond beyond!

[Resigned2BK]

We're fine for deposits. We actually were hoping we could just pay like 3-6 months in full if that could help them sort of look the other way when it comes to the bad credit and open bankruptcy, but no dice.

Oh, and as of this afternoon, we are in pending status all over again. No official word from the listing agent's office about that, DH has been compulsively checking our listing through MLS and Zillow multiple times a day, otherwise we wouldn't even know still.