Delay foreclosure in California

[plantlvr]

I've had a lot of those too, but this looks like the real deal, it just tells me to contact my lender, not them. Right now I'm just concerned if a foreclosure will effect the credit I'm building back up.Home sick with the flu so will not do anything until I feel better.
Thanks for your reply!

[DumbMe]

Once you fall behind on your mortgage, you'll get a lot of ads in the mail, some looking very official about "helping you fix your mortgage", don't fall for them! They're scammers looking for an innocent to scalp especially taking you not only for some money but also stealing anything possible about the deed of your property. Be sure to do a lot of research to see what your options are. Believe me, my decades-long experienced attorney even says "no help with modifications or refis like the banks say they'll do, that's now being done." Beware of people who want to "help you", they'll help you out of your money and deed to your home!

[plantlvr]

This thread is fasinating! I got a letter yesterday from a company called ReconTrust, hmmmm don't know if the words 'trust' and 'con' would be the best choice for a company name
But it says that my account has been referred to them to begin the foreclosure process. It urges me to contact my lender to see if I can work something out with them.
Am wondering if I should even bother. I like my house but it's too big for just me, even though it's very close to my job. Oh well, not going to stress about it!

[DumbMe]

Thanks for your message, and sure wish you luck with modification. Wells Fargo is notorious for their run-arounds, and especially if you have a lot of money in your place like I have and if in a good neighborhood, don't expect any help. They'd rather have your place, as they make money off the insurance (whether it's from your insurance or just the bank's insurance fund), they make off like a bandit by foreclosing with all their junk fees and all.

Once you file for bankruptcy of any kind, all the annoying calls and correspondence stops, bankruptcy filing stops them from contacting you for anything. Yes, I know people who have lived in their homes without making payments for almost 2 years, especially if they're really wayyyy underwater. The bank would rather have you stay there, taking care of the place than risk vandalism, or the homeowner getting angry and destroying the place - they keep it off the books that way, so their books look good to the investors, the tax payers and the government. It's a well-kept secret that is slowly leaking out.

Like I say, good luck with "modification" but be aware that modifications of any kind are a scam, according to many I speak with, including a well-respected real estate attorney who writes real estate laws. Banks have to say the "right things" to avoid sued for doing what they're doing, so they string people along, and eventually you lose your place anyway somewhere down the line. An outcome banks want. I hope you're one of the lucky ones.

PS. I first learned about the collusion between Freddie Mac and Wells Fargo last May when I applied for my first HARP loan with a very savvy mortgage broker who was the most-successful in this nice area I live in. He was very surprised as he uncovered the proof of this as he is very in with the WF people and it looked like a slam-dunk that I could get a refi, my credit was so good, and I've paid my bills always on time, was a great risk for my 40 years plus of fine credit. We looked at each other and I knew it wasn't going to go.

At bad times like that, I always crack a joke and start laughing, there's simply nothing you can do when uncovering corruption. They got what they wanted: our tax dollars.

It's best to try not to let emotion play into your decisions. Ignorance breeds fear and anger and I've learned to keep these under control to make business decisions (the banks do it that way too). It's easy to get emotional and then make the wrong decision. These are tough times and there's no any real help, outside of a lot of talk, from the government. The government offers this new program and that new program and the banks quickly invent ways around the government programs to "help the people". This is why people are increasingly angry, they see the run-around by banks with money in politician's pockets, or just plain talk but no action that's very common today. You have to take care of yourself, simple as that.

And that's why this recession will linger on with job reports too. Fix the mortgage problems and we'd have more jobs, but banks won't give an inch no matter what the news reports - the news has always told a different story than what is really happening, they know how to crunch the numbers.

[vicmost]

They won't do anything for 3 months but call and send letters. They will then send a threating letter telling you they intend to accellerate the loan by xx date (pay up or else, etc..). At that point i'd call them and give them the runnaround..Try to get a loan modification etc.. etc...
Personally I haven't made my second mortgage payment since Dec 2008! And I didn't make 4 months of payments to my first but I have been in and out of loan modification programs..So to date I have made only 7 payments to my first (discounted), 0 payments to my second and have lived here for 18 months...Your mileage may vary...I haven't filed yet.

[DumbMe]

Yes, I understand

Both of my 1st and (low) 2nd morts are recourse loans because they are re-fi's (Calif. law), so I'm in the middle of filing for Chapter 7 here in Calif. to get rid of this top-of-bubble townhome predator mortgage.

I was temporarily confused over the term "foreclosure lawsuit" as I hadn't heard of that term before but it makes sense if the bank is trying to get people out of their foreclosed homes, I totally "get it" about that and plan to move at end of bankruptcy to avoid that.

Thanks for re-affirming with your own history, about my road to being a human being again, that seems to be the only way for me out of this mess. Am sure I was discriminated against because of my age on the 6 attempts at refi and/or modification, which legally I am entitled too. The ONLY thing late on my Credit report has been my mortgage, as I'm almost paid off on my credit cards due to my real struggle but now am facing medical problems I postponed to pay bills and "support the bank"...why I was so depressed at age 75 to the point of maybe self-destruction, having worked hard since I was 9 years old doing "what you're supposed to do", paying bills, paying for children, doing my share as an honest citizen - but I see now all that doesn't matter today with these criminals, until we can get some people in office that aren't afraid of the big bad wolf(s)! Everyone it seems is on their own. Thanks for your reply.

[bulletproof77]

Can someone tell me why a bank would file a "Foreclosure Lawsuit" after the house is lost in Chap. 7 bankruptcy? Am in Calif. and about to file for Chap. 7 and then go into default on mortgage and hoping to stay here for a few months to gather monies for rental when moving out. But how can the bank file a "Foreclosure Lawsuit" after the 1st & 2nd mortgages were discharged in Chap. 7 bankruptcy? How can that be?

Am all set to file for Chap. 7, it's the only way I can get out of this place and rentals I found out, shouldn't be a problem when the only problem is "can't pay mortgage, reduced income plus....can't get refi/modification because of lack of bank cooperation, and am underwater so can't sell (not even short-sale etc.) so no problem going Chap. 7, I can't climb these stairs much longer anyway, am getting more disabled. Please advise on the issue of "why is there Foreclosure Lawsuit after mortgage being discharged through Chap 7?" question, would appreciate some light on that, thanks so much.

I sure wish everyone luck in their foreclosures, it's true: banks are so stupid, it's unbelievable! Or just tight-fisted with our TARP tax dollars....is probably more the case....they sure don't want anyone to file for "bankruptcy" I've noted. So seems to be the good answer for homeowners dealing with these criminal banks.

PS. Also, here in So. Calif., in certain areas for instance, many an $6-800,000 home is going for $170,000, and rental ads for homes are saying "We Welcome Foreclosure Victims" too, which is a good sign people are recognizing what is going on here. It's becoming less and less a "shameful" thing to have a foreclosure (esp. when you *are* a victim!) as it should be. The banks are the villains, and my realty attny says (he agrees with the Chap. 7 too) that the banks' offers of modifications and refis (HAMP & HARP) are a scam by the banks - so beware, don't get your hopes up with short-sale, modifications or refis - how many really do you know have gotten those? Surely the numbers they try to convince people with are just "starts", but how many finish? They don't print those numbers or if they do, they're inaccurate according to my realty attny (he writes laws too, and is a bankruptcy attny dealing with many many former homeowners).

No I don't agree "banks are stupid" - maybe some of the clerks we talk to, but the banks fully are aware what they're doing, and that's not cooperating with the public, but they're careful with their verbiage, as they know they're "breaking the law" about how they're dealing with the TARP tax monies and not helping the public for which the TARP was intended - they're just having a blast with our tax dollars and they know it...it's time we figured that out and held them accountable and stop living in *their* fairy-tale speeches of how they *want to help us*, sure right.

I've tried about 6 times in the last year to get either a HAMP & HARP, as I certainly qualify, but same ol' "turned down by investor" until I finally got fed up at Wells Fargo "that's pure BULL and you know it, you the servicer are turning me down and that's illegal use of our TARP monies!" - we need to confront them like that, it's the only way to stop this madness criminal action by the banks. They surely don't care if you're a qualified customer, paying mortgages on time for over 40 years at all, they're doing this all on-purpose $$$$$$.

I'm confused...Have you ALREADY filed Chapter 7 and included both mortgages ? If you have not done so yet, of course the lenders will attempt to sue you for a deficiency, even though California is a non-recourse state. Also California's law has recently been aligned with the Fed's as far as debt forgiveness. I Bk'd both my first and second prior to foreclosure. Vacated house prior to trust sale and never heard a word from Skank of America on either mortgage on my former So. Cal. home. Also "foreclosure lawsuit" can be a misleading term, because in California they use non judicial foreclosures. Probably another scare tactic...

[DumbMe]

Amen to that! They're criminals. There's got to be an easy way to do that, I know one thing for certain: they're scared to death that anyone declares bankruptcy on them. Plus I'm finding that here in So Calif. the landlords are starting to "court" people in bankruptcy because of mortgage problems, finding us better sources than people with checkered credit histories.

[Jaxter]

There have been suits filed in other states under the false claims act (receiving public funds without fulfilling a contractual agreement. As HAMP was a condition of TARP funds the banks received public funds without meeting the contractual agreement as they are denying those qualified for HAMP.

The individual states regulate banks that operate within them. We should flood the big three miscreants (BofA, WFW and Chase) with false claims suits and bog their attorneys down in countless jurisdictions. If state's attorneys general find merrit they take over the suit sparing attorney's fees and the plintiffs share in the punitive damages while their attorneys receive their fees to the point the AGs take over.

[DumbMe]

Thanks Newbie2 and good luck to you too, will post what I hear as my case moves forward.

[DumbMe]

Newbie 2, that makes sense, THANKS SO MUCH....I completely understand. They want it back to sit vacant, they don't want someone to benefit by "free rent" then. Even in my nice area, places are not being sold much, so in those blighted areas, it has to be terrible. I sure feel for everyone, I even tho't of suicide fleetingly (I have pets and was so ashamed that I couldn't pay my mortgage), and then I woke up. Those criminals, how dare they put the American public through this and try to make us all feel guilty for doing what business does? It is BUSINESS, even someone's personal home is coldly looked at by banks etc. as business, so we need to do that too, rather than ever feel badly, if I can do it, others can do it too! BOO to these criminals - they should rot in hell. I'll keep you all notified what happens, thanks again for your answers.

[DumbMe]

BTW, about the "shadow inventory", doesn't it makes sense not to show that on banks' balance sheets? Something to do with government stuff, TARP monies, all that to cover their you-know-whats.

Besides, if they reported that shadow inventory, not only the investors would be very unhappy (national and internationally), but also would throw us all into a really worse depression/recession than we're in now. Why Wall St. is so up and down at the slightest provocation - they *know* about this shadow inventory. It's bad enough with middle-class defaults this year, let alone all the inventory that's not red ink on the paper yet.

We do have some power over the banks knowing that, just remember that. People are not dumb but can be held down with promises, and fears of this and that....just like I was afraid to file for Chap. 7 (banks have repeatedly pooh-poohed this approach, if you do just the opposite of what they say "won't work" you'd be right imo), people can be manipulated by the words "shame" and "you should pay your bills" and "it's your fault if you get in trouble" etc.etc. They caused this, not a few wayward people who "over-bought". I'd say most people are like me who "UNDER-BOUGHT" not "overbought" - I could have afforded much much more to spend on a home but didn't because I was prudent.

Banks and politicians, financiers etal. are all using psychology of shame and other target key words against the American public to keep any revolt down and any real help from getting to the public. I've never seen so much money flying around to peoples' pockets in my 75-year life and it's out in the open too. That's our tax dollars you know.

[newbie2]

The notes are discharged (the personal responsibility to pay) not the liens (the mortgage document).<<<<

OK thank-you. But as I understand it, it has to be a "lien without enforcement" IOW, no-one can sue using that as an excuse after it's all discharged in Chap. 7 right? I'll probably have to check with my attny for this, I appreciate your answer, thanks.

They can't sue you for repayment, but they can sue you to return their property (the home that was secured by the mortgage). Unless there is something different about secured liens in California that I'm not aware of. Keep us updated ok?

[DumbMe]

The notes are discharged (the personal responsibility to pay) not the liens (the mortgage document).<<<<

OK thank-you. But as I understand it, it has to be a "lien without enforcement" IOW, no-one can sue using that as an excuse after it's all discharged in Chap. 7 right? I'll probably have to check with my attny for this, I appreciate your answer, thanks.

[newbie2]

Can someone tell me why a bank would file a "Foreclosure Lawsuit" after the house is lost in Chap. 7 bankruptcy? Am in Calif. and about to file for Chap. 7 and then go into default on mortgage and hoping to stay here for a few months to gather monies for rental when moving out. But how can the bank file a "Foreclosure Lawsuit" after the 1st & 2nd mortgages were discharged in Chap. 7 bankruptcy? How can that be?

Snipped for clarity.

The notes are discharged (the personal responsibility to pay) not the liens (the mortgage document).

Apples and oranges.

The only way for the lender to take possession of the property is through foreclosure. They still have to follow state foreclosure laws even if the borrower has filed for bankruptcy and has been discharged.