Surrendered...stay lifted how long?

[onlineuse]

Our attorney like many is fairly useless. We went to our 341 meeting where he informed us that one of the secured holders on a vehicle was looking for relief of stay. We did not object and turned the vehicle in before the stay was even lifted.

After finding this site I found out about Pacer and logged in. 10 days before the 341 the mortgage company also filed for relief and it was granted. We had to call him to verify what we already knew. We asked when this meant we'd be foreclosed on "could be 5 weeks or 5 months". What we wanted to know was "when is the earliest"? The removal of stay was granted on 10/30. As far as we know we are at square zero, the bank had done nothing towards foreclosure at the time of filing. We are scheduled to be discharged around 12/7.

We're in MA, and just don't know when we should expect to see them at our door. We're already making plans to move, but if we had some idea we could delay saving 1500-2000 a month as the homeowners we're renting from are very flexible. We want to be out before the Sheriff posts the notice and sticks the sign in the lawn.

Is the posting of the notice seperate from the sign? IE, do they only stick the sale sign in the lawn when they are within 21 days? The house is upside down so there is some talk that the bank may not want it back too quickly.

Thanks

[BassBoy]

I'm no expert on MA foreclosure (judiscial or non-judiscial), but in most cases around the forum, it's anywhere form 12-18 months before you get the Notice to Vacate.

As I am hoping, your attorney told you that the Granted motion to lift to stay meant the mortgage holder can proceed with foreclosure. This is a step that must be done by the mortgage company. Can't foreclose while the stay is in place.

Anyways, you have time to stay in your home and save up some money. Meanwhile, take the time to look around and see what's available to you as far as wanting an apartment or a house to rent.

[onlineuse]

MA is non-judicial FWIW. I'm just frustrated that he never brought it up. We called him after we looked it up. We were never given the chance to object to the relief of stay, and would have only been notified by mail long after it was done.

I'm assuming even in a non-judicial state we have 45+ days minimum before they can even get to the point of putting up signs etc?

[HHM]

I found this

Power of Sale Foreclosure Guidelines
If the deed of trust or mortgage contains a power of sale clause and specifies the time, place and terms of sale, then the specified procedure must be followed. Otherwise, the foreclosure may proceed as follows:

A notice of sale must be recorded in the county where the property is located. The notice must also: 1) be sent, by registered mail, to the borrower at his last known address at least fourteen (14) days prior to the foreclosure sale; 2) published once a week for three (3) weeks, with the first publication being at least twenty one (21) days before the sale, in a newspaper of general circulation within the county where the property is located.

Said notice must contain the place, time and date of the foreclosure hearing, the date the mortgage was recorded, the borrowers name, the amount of the default and the terms of the sale.

The sale must be conducted at public auction on the date, time and place specified in the notice of sale. The property will be sold to the highest bidder.

Basically, you'll have about 90 days.

[onlineuse]

Here's the weird thing, we hadn't paid them in perhaps 5 months prior to filing with no notices, nothing. They just kept sending the bill and stating that they were researching whether or not payments had been made.

My guess is the house is worth much less than we owe as up here homes have depreciated up to 25-30% in this specific area as they appreciated 7-10% a year since 2001 and fell very quickly.

I'm wondering if I'm going to be one of those that ends up having to pay insurance for months and months waiting for a foreclosure.

[emoney]

Help Others

Before persons in need stumble on to your present attorney help them out by filing a report with the state bar in your state.
It sound like you may have a calm aginst him for malpractice.
Regards,
emoney

[HHM]

Before persons in need stumble on to your present attorney help them out by filing a report with the state bar in your state.
It sound like you may have a calm aginst him for malpractice.
Regards,
emoney

I don't know about that. No malpractice has really taken place.

[onlineuse]

Just as an update, we approach 11 months since our last payment and still no action on foreclosure in a non-judicial state.

Just goes to show it really depends on the banks, home value etc. Everyone told us it could be 3 months, it looks to be at least 1 year.

[onlineuse]

Coincidentally today we received a regular USPS letter from the mortgage company telling us it was not too late to do a workout/payment change etc. This is all rather interesting as we are almost a year from making a payment and moved out two months ago.

Perhaps we should have contacted them during the bankruptcy but with them filing a relief of stay request we figured it was going to get ugly. The letter states if we do not respond soon it will go to the foreclosure department for review. I find this stunning, we are at 10+ months.

So much for bankruptcy reform acts. If we had equity in the property we'd have been out on our ears 7 months ago. Because we have little/negative equity they sit and spin requiring me to carry insurance etc on a property I no longer have a financial obligation too.

Moral of the story is they are slow now on foreclosures. When in doubt contact them if you need/want to stay much beyond the statute mandates. In this case we could have saved substantial amounts of money but figured the order to lift the stay happening in October would have had them filing on us about three weeks ago.