Foreclosure Process

[concerned]

Hi All:

I have researched the foreclosure process on line and from posts, but I have questions regarding the general process. How long after I am late will the foreclosure process start? Will I get a notice in the mail from my mortgage company or will a marshall deliver it in person? (I read that somewhere on line). My husband and I are trying to get through this with as much dignity as possible. We don't want to be here when formal eviction starts. Our BK has already been discharged and closed & we listed (didn't reaffirm) our mortgage in the BK. We live in NY so I know we have more time than other states, but I am just curious as to all the steps involed and how we will be notified throughout the process.

THanks,
Concerned

[SinkingFast]

I got new info yesterday afternoon, Concerned.

We got a letter right after our 2nd payment was late saying we were in Breach. That we had until March 18th to come up with the money "or else".

I called before our 2nd payment was late. Got no assistance. I called after we got the Breach letter. Got no assistance.

We got another letter yesterday telling us we haven't paid our March payment. Duh! So I thought, what the heck. I'll give it another try.

HopeinHorizon had told me via PM that Countrywide was probably just a loan servicer. That there's an investor behind the note. Try asking CW who our investor is and contact the investor directly.

Must insert additional info here,.......... I turned all this stuff over to "our attny" nearly 3 weeks ago to handle a voluntary, non-deficient DIL. He's done NOTHING!! He got a copy of the sales contract on our house and our Title work, but he obviously hasn't talked to CW to this point. The rep I spoke with yesterday had notes of all contacts right in front of her in their system and she only has contact from me.

I called CW yesterday, late. I got the nicest person. She told me that Foreclosure won't start on March 18. CW will pull our file at that time and review it. Then CW will decide whether or not to turn it over to our investor. Then the investor has to decide whether or not they wanna Foreclose. That's when Foreclosure may actually start.

The CW Rep also told me if we send a letter explaining our circumstances to the Work Out Dept., and she gave me a direct fax number, the Work Out Dept can put our loan into Forebearance for at least 90 days. That would give our buyer a chance to sell his house.

So we are at 3 missed payments on our house at this point, and CW hasn't started Foreclosure on our house yet. I'd say you're gonna have at least 3 months, maybe longer. It will really depend on your State and your lender.

[concerned]

Sinkingfast:

That is unreal. I can't believe your attorney has done so little. It sounds like your attorney and mine would get along just great! Do you think your buyer will be able to sell within that timeframe? Good luck with that. It sounds like you finally got through to someone helpful. Do you think we should try calling our mortgage company now before they start foreclosure, or just sit back and wait for them to get the ball rolling?

Well, I can certainly live with 3 months if we have as long as you do. Best of luck to you.

[SinkingFast]

In NY, Lenders do Foreclosure Judicial. Almost every one is done that way. You'll have plenty of time to get out.

Our Realtor called Monday evening. Said she'd finally gotten the Title work and faxed everything to the attny that evening. It went out about 5:50 pm Central so our attny got it at nearly 7 pm here. I fig'd OK, it'll be in the office for him first thing in the morning.

Didn't hear anything. Didn't hear anything. So Thursday afternoon, late, I call the attny's office. Receptionist takes my name and info, puts me on hold to go ask about what's going on. Mind you, middle of last week, attny's office said we should hear something by the end of LAST week.

Receptionist comes back. Says attny only just got the contract and the Title work today (Thursday). That he was in Court all day Wednesday. The attny hadn't had a chance to do anything yet.

After my little chat with CW on Friday afternoon, I called the Realtor. I wanted to know if she had gotten the fax thru the first time, or if they'd had to resend the fax later in the week. Nope. Just sent the one time, on Monday. And, the Realtor said the attny's assistant said to be sure to send the fax to The X office. Not the Y office. First I'd heard of that. Our attny has 2 offices. He's got an office in another town about 60 miles away. I'll bet our attny hasn't done anything on our case because he's only in this office a day or 2, at most, each week.

Needless to say, I am seriously wondering if we should Consult with another attny. We've only paid this guy a retainer. And if this is the way he's gonna be the whole time we have to work with him, I have to wonder if he'll drag his fat butt on everything.

So, I decided I'm gonna play both ends. Since the attny hasn't done anything, I asked the Realtor if she would fax the contract and the Title work to the Loan Work Out Dept at CW for us. I'm gonna write a hardship letter, we'll sign it, and I'm gonna fax it first thing Monday morning. Maybe, even if the attny doesn't do anything, we might be able to get our loan moved to Forebearance.

UGH!!

[concerned]

Sinkingfast:

You may want to consult with another attorney. We ran into the same thing with our attorney, but he at least had other knowledgeable people in the office that could usually answer our questions. By the way, our attorney had multiple offices too. I think they tell you what you want to hear until you pay the retainer. I also think you almost have to do the majority of the leg work on your own--unfortunately.

Well, best of luck to you!

[SinkingFast]

Well I called the attny's office again today. I wanted to know about the other office deal. Does he work here or just come here a couple days a week?? I also wanted to know if he's done anything on my DIL yet.

The other office is a front, so to speak. It's a family member trying to build their practice. So he has his name on the other office to help establish business for the relative. He works in this office here.

Bad news,.......... He still hasn't done anything about our DIL. And our deadline is Saturday.

When I heard that, I went and faxed a Hardship Letter signed by Hubby to CW myself.

I'm playing both ends against the middle. So, hopefully, something will give one way or the other.

[concerned]

Good Luck! Boy, attorneys really make me mad when they take on more than they can handle and don't follow through!

[SinkingFast]

Well,.............. I gave up on that attny.

I guess we'll kiss that $350 retainer goodbye and move on.

Our deadline on our Breach is tomorrow. I called this afternoon around 1:30 pm to ask, AGAIN, if the attny had done anything.

He was in with other clients doing their pre or post BK Credit Counseling. He requires you do that in his office. I guess so he can be sure it's done.

Receptionist said she'd give him my message. I reminded her that tomorrow was our deadline. That seemed to give her some urgency.

At 4:40 pm, I still hadn't heard from the attny's office. So I called back.

No, the receptionist hadn't given him the message, as he had been busy with other clients, and now, he had left the office. I was stunned. I sat there for maybe 30 seconds saying nothing. Wanting to explode. Said, "Thank you." and hung up.

Immediately, I hit redial, and called the attny's office back. I told the receptionist that he had known about this for 3 and half weeks. The Lender gave us a 4 week notice and I had brought the letter to him immediately. That all he'd done was get a copy of our contract and ordered our Title work. Did she know if he'd written a letter, or made or phone call?? Nope.

Then I asked her if this was the level of service we could expect if we went ahead and retained him to handle our BK. She asked if I could hold for a second. I said sure. On hold. On hold. On hold. I almost hung up. I fig'd that was my answer. But I waited. She finally came back. Said she didn't know what to tell me. She was leaving in 15 minutes. Didn't know if he'd be back in the office later or not.

So I said, I guess this means he won't call back until Monday??!! She said he might call this evening.

Let's see. It's 10:15 pm. I don't think he's gonna call.

I immediately looked up another attny, called her office, and asked to make an appt for a consult. I got to speak with the attny herself. She answered all kinds of questions. Very nice. Very knowledgeable.

I think we're gonna have a new attny.

[concerned]

Sinkingfast--Good luck with the new attorney. I hope things go more smoothly with her than the last!