Private

[B12]

Do creditor calls ever come up "private" or do I have a secret admirer? I have gotten a lot of privates this week.

[HHM]

Yeah, some collections agencies will come-up as private.

[B12]

Thanks HHM. And.....darn.......I thought some rich, old man was secretly pursuing me.

[DebtHeadache]

My phones have also been coming up with privates...I just answer the ones I know and let the others go to voice-mail.

Never-ever answer the privates if you do not want to talk to a creditor.

Here's two December...that's when we intend to file.

[B12]

I answered the first two calls that came in "private" at the beginning of the week. No one was on the other line. Then I let the other ones that came in "private" go to voice mail. No messages were left.

What is up with that? Are they just trying to see if it is a working number?

I stopped paying my mortgage in August. Only got two phone calls, both from India, man named George and a woman named Kate, LOL.

Thanks to this forum, I knew to identify myself and then hang up.

Why aren't they calling or sending me letters?

It is Countrywide. Are they planning something big to drop on me?

[SinkingFast]

We were with CW. And keep in mind, our Foreclosure was before the chit hit the fan in the Mortgage Industry.

Our payments were due on the 1st of the month with a grace period to the 15th. I called them when we started missing payments. They never called us.

CW waited until we'd missed our 2nd payment. Then, on the 16th of the month, they mailed us a letter. A Notice of Default and Acceleration. That's the "Pay up or we're gonna call in your loan" letter.

The "Privates" you answered where no one was there,......... It was probably an auto dialer. If so, most likely you answered and hung up before the live human being noticed you'd answered and was able to respond to that particular line.

Even now, I hate "Private Number" "Private Caller" on the caller ID. It brings back bad memories of the phone ringing off the hook, and what do we tell these people.

[B12]

Thanks Sinking.

I guess I will be getting that letter soon. What happens after the letter? I am in a judicial foreclosure state, so I am guessing I have about 2 more months to get out of the house. I would have missed 4 payments by then.

Does that sound about right?

Also, should I say anything to CW or just wait until I file?

Thanks in advance for all the help.

[SinkingFast]

We were "Right of Sale" foreclosure. The statement was in the contract. So CW could move as fast as they wanted.

We wrangled with them a little. We were trying to sell so we hoped to buy some time. We went thru the submitting income and expenses info to try to restructure. Then we worked on offering a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. All that bought us about 2 months of time.

We did have a buyer swoope in at the last minute and save us from Foreclosure. We got the mortgage paid, and all costs associated with selling. Thank to realtors taking commission breaks.

With Foreclosures up and Lenders carrying more REO properties on the books, it's really had to say how quickly CW will act. CW has been one of the hardest hit in the sub prime market. They are stuggling to keep their heads above water. So they may take their dear, old sweet time getting around to your propery.

This is living life playing it by ear.

[jp2861]

I usually give them a few seconds to pick up the phone. After 10seconds or so someone usually starts talking. Citibank is the worst. They use the autodialer which then leaves an automatic pre-recorded voice message. I'm not sure if there's even a human body attached to other end.

[SinkingFast]

Thanks Sinking.

I guess I will be getting that letter soon. What happens after the letter? I am in a judicial foreclosure state, so I am guessing I have about 2 more months to get out of the house. I would have missed 4 payments by then.

Does that sound about right?

Also, should I say anything to CW or just wait until I file?

Thanks in advance for all the help.

The Notice of Default and Acceleration Letter gave us 30 days to bring our acct current. If you get the same letter, that's a month right there.

Then, CW will wait a bit. They've got to transfer your acct to their Foreclosure Dept. And, most likely, they'll have to contact the Law Firm that represents them as the Foreclosure Trustee or Referee in your State.

In our State, Lenders are required to notify the borrower via Certified mail twice prior to listing the house for Foreclosure Sale. Then, they had to advertise the property for a month prior to the Sale date.

The procedure will vary according to the State you live in and the local market. NY is a Judicial Foreclosure State and it typically takes 18 months.

If there's lots of Foreclosed properties available for sale, your Lender may take their good, old, sweet time about moving on your house. BassBoy lives in Ohio. His Lender didn't sell his house for over a year.

[BKOnce]

A "private #" is a special computer-dialer program (used by collectors at their desks) & designed for 2 purposes:

1. A Scare BK tactics.. just try to annoy people and make them aware... their present 24/7 with constant ringing... and

2. Save human-time resources (or un-neccessary/wasted calls) by using computer dialers FIRST to "spy" and/or "probe" for available responses at empty houses. If there was someone WOULD pick up that call, then a real "human" call would promptly followed later... if not immediately...


That's about sumps up...

[jp2861]

Put a message on your machine saying that the line is only used for OUTGOING calls and for the caller to leave a message. Then turn off your ringer and forget about it. If someone really, really needs to get a hold of you they'll leave a message. If they don't leave a message it couldn't have been very important. Don't let the phone be a source of extra stress!

[chpxiii]

I usually give them a few seconds to pick up the phone. After 10seconds or so someone usually starts talking. Citibank is the worst. They use the autodialer which then leaves an automatic pre-recorded voice message. I'm not sure if there's even a human body attached to other end.

You're generous with your time. If I don't hear an answer by a human being almost immediately, I hang up. *I* do NOT wait around for a computer. Further, if it's a computer message, I just hang up as well. I don't wait for computers. I program them ... they are under MY control.

There had been times when a computer recording would say, "Please wait for a very important message." If I hear that, I'm hanging up before it can finish saying, "Please..." Like I said, if it's not a human being that is on the other end when I answer, I hang up.

One thing I keep in mind: *I* am paying for MY phone. It is for MY convenience. If it isn't convenient for me to answer my phone, I don't answer it. I am not at the beck and call of phone. And I treat it that way. Now, if I know I'll have a call coming through (like today I was waiting for my doctor to call me back) I'll keep it near. And even then, I check the caller ID.

[chpxiii]

Even now, I hate "Private Number" "Private Caller" on the caller ID. It brings back bad memories of the phone ringing off the hook, and what do we tell these people.

Ditto.

Also, I was like that with mail. It got so bad with notices that I wouldn't bother to pick up my mail for atleast 2 weeks, sometimes longer. And even then I wouldn't open my mail for a long time. Sometimes never. I hated the calls and the mail.

I'm just now barely (after YEARS of being like this) coming around to getting mail more often and actually OPENING it too. It's changed since. So I generally don't mind phone calls or getting the mail now.

[Cassiopeia]

Ditto.

Also, I was like that with mail. It got so bad with notices that I wouldn't bother to pick up my mail for atleast 2 weeks, sometimes longer. And even then I wouldn't open my mail for a long time. Sometimes never. I hated the calls and the mail.

I'm just now barely (after YEARS of being like this) coming around to getting mail more often and actually OPENING it too. It's changed since. So I generally don't mind phone calls or getting the mail now.

Oh, I was just like that with mail! I thought I was the only one, LOL. By the time I hired a lawyer, I had a huge box of unopened mail for months and months and months. I spend an entire weekend, nonstop, opening every last bill in order to give my lawyer all the info he needed about my creditors.

You are so right. It was a very scary time for me. I would never have told anyone.....they would have thought I was stark raving mad for not even opening business mail. Truth is, I was terrified, frightened and in a huge denial mode.

I am SO glad that part of my life is over.