Had our foreclosure hearing this morning

[BROKEDED]

I was really expecting the worse. Our hopes were that we could have the sale date postponed to buy us some time with a modification application but eventually having to file CH7 unless we hit the lottery. We got there when the doors opened and I didn't know if this was going to be a production line like I've heard some 341s are but we were the only ones there until right before our meeting and then one other couple came in.

We walked into a seperate room for the meeting and the Clerk of Superior Court and the Substitute Trustee Attorney introduced themselves and we all shook hands. The Clerk started out by explaining his roll of "fact finding" as I was told he would and my hopes kind of started sinking at that point. I thought, well here we go. It's gonna be an open and shut case. We really had no defense other than our word that we had a modification application in for review and that was only recently. I explained that we were frustrated with the process of what was or was not required and the attorney spoke up and said that most lenders still had a heavy backlog and were still not prepared for the workload.

The Clerk then said that as the Clerk of Court that during these hearings he could postpone the sale by up to 60 days (which I knew) IF....IF... this is where I'm thinking he's going to say if I find Just Cause (and I figured there was none). But NO, he says IF you would like me to... I'm thinking, is this a cruel joke or something? But I collected my senses and said that would be most appreciated. The attorney smiled and nodded in approval. The Clerk left the room to check a calendar and then came back with a new hearing date that was actually about 70 days later and told us to hang in there and keep working with the lender.

We thanked them, shook hands again and then left. Wheeew!

[BROKEDED]

October 12th...Had our SECOND foreclosure hearing this morning. It didn't go as well as I had hoped. I had spoken with a Clerk's office assistant before this meeting and had asked if the Clerk of Courts could only postpone that one time or if he could continue to postpone. I was told that he could continue but that it was on a case by case and that it wasn't that often.

So we met with the Clerk and the Substitute Trustee attorney and the Clerk immediately asked what the progress was on the modification which is basically nothing. My last call to the mod servicing company resulted in the lady saying, "Oh, this has been here a while. I will have to get this expedited immediately to be assigned." The Clerk then said that we should just go ahead and have the hearing then, seeing as it had been postponed once. I then spoke up and asked if he could postpone it a second time. He looked uneasy and said that technically NO. At that point the Sub Trustee spoke up and assured me that he was a neutral party in the case but said that he did have the discretion to postpone the sale date, which was at the first of November, for four weeks to the end of November. So,that bought us at least one more month.

I explained to him that the process was getting down to the wire and that the modification servicer said that I couldn't request a sale date postponement no sooner than 7 days before the sale and that I was told that it could take up until the actual day of the sale to reach a decision. The trustee advised me to call them as many times as I felt necessary to postpone the sale date. He said that if I wait until the 7 days, that the sale had to be published by then and that would be even more costs added to the property. Ultimately this won't matter but it's a sticking point to be made to the mortgage company that I need them to give me a mod decision or postpone the sale, according to the Sub Trustee. He said that they will, most often, postpone the sale.

He told me that it's normal for them to head out for court to read the sales on the courthouse steps with 30 foreclosures and by the time they get there, to only have 4, due to sales being postponed at the last minute. He also told me that if the sale does go through not to worry about having to move out on the sale date. I already knew this but didn't think it prudent to tell him that I learned it while posting on BKForum. I did know that the redemption period in NC after a sale is 10 days...SHORT!!! However, he stressed that it would be at least a month before I would have to move out if the mod, unfortunately, did not work. As for the modification, the Trustee and the Clerk both said that right now in NC, few mortgage companies are foreclosing on homeowners who are trying to get a modification. I'm not real sure about that one.

Anyways, the only other tool that may come available is if my mortgage company halts the foreclosure process due to the recent fraud investigations going on and which was requested by the NC Attorney General.

I hope some of this info can help someone else in the same stages or at least those in NC where it may pertain to them.

[mommi2many]

I hope all goes well. I have my fingers crossed for you.