How long have you stayed in your home?

[debtmonster]

I spoke with my attorney. She said many people here are able to stay in their homes for about 12 months. So that means I have until about Feb. 2010.

I went over our income and stuff for the past 6 months. She said I will probably need to file in July since my Christmas bonus screwed up the means test.

[myhearts07]

That would be great to get that long to stay in the home. I would like to have at least $50K when we get out and if not, I would be glad with $10 or $20K..

[debtmonster]

If that happens to me, I will be SO THRILLED!!!

[sivuh5]

Another point to consider is that just because you've been foreclosed upon, that doesn't always mean you must move out. I have a friend who stopped paying in April 2007. Yes, you read that right, 2007.

He was foreclosed by Countrywide in September 2007 and the property was auctioned in May 2008.

He still lives there. He has not made a mortgage payment now for nearly two years and no one has ever asked him to move out. Countrywide contacted him after the auction and asked if he would be willing to do a "work out", he said yes, that he wanted to stay in the house.

But, to this day, a workout has never happened, he has not received anything formal from Countrywide, and they never call.

He's just pocketing the money and biding his time until some day, when the economy straightens out and he really does have to move. But in the meantime he's staying put and I think the bank is actually happy to have someone there maintaining the property.

Just an fyi.

[justbroke]

Thanks for posting that. The letter I was served with also says "Complaint and Notice of Lis Pendens in this lawsuit".

Should this be the kind of letter I need to submit to the court in writing?

The thing is, I am not looking to remedy and cure the deficiency in my mortgage, or am I by doing the Ch. 7?

Should I use a letter like this being that I'm doing a Ch. 7 or is the response you have only used for a person wanting to keep their house?

All I can say is that what I wrote was true at the time. That was my reason for asking for an extension of the time to file an answer. At that time, I had already waited 2 months for an answer on the modification. I was informed that they don't actually look at the modification, until 2 weeks before sale.

[debtmonster]

Thanks for posting that. The letter I was served with also says "Complaint and Notice of Lis Pendens in this lawsuit".

Should this be the kind of letter I need to submit to the court in writing?

The thing is, I am not looking to remedy and cure the deficiency in my mortgage, or am I by doing the Ch. 7?

Should I use a letter like this being that I'm doing a Ch. 7 or is the response you have only used for a person wanting to keep their house?

[justbroke]

Please know that this must be served upon the Petitioner and/or the Petitioner's Attorney of Record, and filed with the Clerk of the Court. You need a standard certificate of service as well.

I can't make any guarantees that this will work for you in your particular case, circuit, or Court. You will have to read up on your local laws on how long the response date is pushed out, if you motion for an extension of time to respond.

You always need a good cause for the time to respond. You'll see that mine was because the lender (Petitioner) asked me to wait for their response on a modification. However, they were still moving forward with the foreclosure. This did buy me some time in my particular case.

Notice that I don't confirm or deny any part of what was in the Complaint. In other words, I don't answer the Complaint while asking for an extension to answer.

---------------------------------

Clerk of the Court
123 Court Street
Anytown, USA 12345-0123

Petitioner:
SOME BIG BAD BANK

Defendant:
JUSTBROKE, et al

Re: Case # 99-99999

The above titled DEFENDANT in the above titled case asks the Court to extend the due date for filing of a response to Count 1 in the Petitioner’s complaint. The DEFENDANT asks for the court to consider that;

1. DEFENDANT seeks to remedy and cure the deficiency in the mortgage with the Petitioner or its Agent; and
2. DEFENDANT has submitted application to Petitioner for a modification of the aforementioned loan, and seeks to await a decision by the Petitioner.

DEFENDANT prays upon the court to extend the date to respond to the NOTICE OF LIS PENDENS served on JANUARY 1, 2099 to JUSTBROKE.

[debtmonster]

I slowed down mine by asking for an extension. It slowed it down by 60 days, at which time the lender asked for a summary judgment. I then filed for bankruptcy about 30 days after that.

Can you cut and paste the exact letter you used so all of us can see the wording?

[justbroke]

The attorney told me that if I respond, I can delay everthing a little longer. All it will do is buy more time until the bankruptcy is filed. That's all I want to do. I don't want to ignore it.

Yes, by answering, you can delay it a little. However, if you affirm everything in the lawsuit, the lender's attorney may still ask for a summary judgment.

The answer will cause some delay. how much, is dependent on how backed up that particular court is. In my Fort Myers Florida example, the CNN article stated that they had over 30,000 cases backlogged. However, they were getting through up to 1,000 cases per day. They called it the "Rocket Docket".

I also want to add that you can ask for an extension of time to respond, rather than a response. Generally, this gives you 30-60 days more time to answer the complaint. You would ask for discovery and validate the debt during this time... to cause delays. This is all dependent on your particular Court and how they handle foreclosure actions and whether they allow extended time to answer a complaint.

I slowed down mine by asking for an extension. It slowed it down by 60 days, at which time the lender asked for a summary judgment. I then filed for bankruptcy about 30 days after that.

[debtmonster]

You do not need to respond at all. Trust me... I just saw a documentary about Fort Myers Florida on CNN talking about foreclosures.

Unless you can prove something wrong in the Note or Deed or some other factor which prohibits the lender from taking foreclosure action... the foreclosure will happen with or without your appearance or response. I just watched a lady practically crying, husband died, no money, and the Judge basically said that all that is immaterial and then ordered the foreclosure.

If you are not keeping the property, no need to respond at all.

Also, the Lawsuit / Complaint is the official thing. It is a cout action. The Notice is just that... a notice.

The attorney told me that if I respond, I can delay everthing a little longer. All it will do is buy more time until the bankruptcy is filed. That's all I want to do. I don't want to ignore it.

[justbroke]

Thanks Just Broke. Which one takes priority? Do I have to respond to the complaint?

Hearts

You do not need to respond at all. Trust me... I just saw a documentary about Fort Myers Florida on CNN talking about foreclosures.

Unless you can prove something wrong in the Note or Deed or some other factor which prohibits the lender from taking foreclosure action... the foreclosure will happen with or without your appearance or response. I just watched a lady practically crying, husband died, no money, and the Judge basically said that all that is immaterial and then ordered the foreclosure.

If you are not keeping the property, no need to respond at all.

Also, the Lawsuit / Complaint is the official thing. It is a cout action. The Notice is just that... a notice.

[debtmonster]

On the 19th of this month I got a knock on my door and was served with paperwork that says this:

SUMMONS
PERSONAL SERVICE ON A NATURAL PERSON

THE STATE OF FLORIDA

YOU ARE COMMANDED to serve this Summons and a copy of the Complaint and Notice of Lis Pendens in this lawsuit upon the below-named Defendant:

<My name and address>

IMPORTANT
A lawsuit has been filed against you. You have 20 calendar days after this summons is served on you to file a written response to the attached Complaint in this Court. A phone call will not protect you; your written response, including the above case number and name parties, must be filed if you want the Court to hear your case. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case, and your wages, money, and property may thereafter be taken without further warning from the Court. There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may call an attorney referral service or a legal aid office (listed in the phone book.)

If you chose to file a written response yourself, at the same time you file your written response to the Court you must also mail or take a carbon copy or photocopy of your written response to the "Plaintiff/Plaintiff's Attorney" named below:
<Attorney's name/address respresenting the mortgage company was here>

Then they had a stamp from the process server with the date and time I was served.

--------
I am still waiting for some kind of sample letter that I should write to respond to this and my attorney's office has not emailed me one yet.

[debtmonster]

We are in MO. Filed Oct. 31. current on all. Nov. 1 missed first payment. Lender filed for relief and that court date is tomorrow. We supposedly have to be out by the end of Feb. I wish I had CA's timeline to work with. We sure could use and extra 30 days!

Why leave so quickly? With people staying in their homes up to 12 to 24 months, why are you in such a rush to leave? Just wait until the sheriff knocks on the door and tells you to vacate the premises. By that time you should have major dollars saved up for moving and renting expenses. Plus you keep the house occupied and somewhat maintained. It also prevents squatters from taking over the home and stealing things from it.

I don't see why people are leaving their homes so fast just because they are in default. You're simply throwing good money away on renting a place when you should all be staying in your homes rent-free as long as possible. Try to keep the lawns up and people from stealing appliances and fixtures once you vacate.

[Rover]

Rover, how many months do you think can buy if you file bankcruptcy?

I went to the courthouse and looked at the files of those who had filed Ch 13 just before the foreclosure auction. It looked to me like the Ch 13 filing bought an additional 4 months for those who could not sustain the Ch 13.

[myhearts07]

Thanks Just Broke. Which one takes priority? Do I have to respond to the complaint?

Hearts