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Special Report: The latest foreclosure horror: the zombie title

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    Special Report: The latest foreclosure horror: the zombie title

    By Michelle Conlin

    COLUMBUS, Ohio | Thu Jan 10, 2013 1:58pm EST

    (Reuters) - Joseph Keller doesn't expect he'll live to see the end of 2013. He blames the house at 190 Avondale Avenue.

    Five years ago, Keller, 10 months behind on his mortgage payments, received notice of a foreclosure judgment from JP Morgan Chase. In a few weeks, the bank said, his three-story house with gray vinyl siding in Columbus, Ohio, would be put up for auction at a sheriff's sale.

    The 58-year-old former social worker and his wife, Jennifer, packed up their home of 13 years and moved in with their daughter. Joseph thought he would never have anything to do with the house again. And for about a year, he didn't.

    Then it started to stalk him.

    First, in 2010, the county sued Keller because the house, already picked clean by scavengers, was in a shambles, its hanging gutters and collapsed garage in violation of local housing code. Then the tax collector started sending Keller notices about mounting back taxes, sewer fees and bills for weed and waste removal. And last year, Chase's debt collector began pressing Keller to pay his mortgage, which had swollen, with penalties and fees, from $62,100.27 to $84,194.69.

    The worst news came last January, when the Social Security Administration rejected Keller's application for disability benefits; the "asset" on Avondale Avenue rendered him ineligible. Keller's medical problems include advanced liver disease, hepatitis C and inactive tuberculosis. Without disability coverage, he can't get the liver transplant he needs to stay alive.

    "I can't make it end," says Keller. "This house, I can't get out."

    Keller continues to bear responsibility for the house because on December 23, 2008 - about two months after he received Chase's notice of sale - the bank filed to dismiss the foreclosure judgment and the order of sale. Chase said it sent Keller a copy of its court filing on December 9, 2008. Keller says he never received any notification. Either way, his name remained on the property title.

    WITH IMPUNITY

    The Kellers are caught up in a little-known horror of the U.S. housing bust: the zombie title. Six years in, thousands of homeowners are finding themselves legally liable for houses they didn't know they still owned after banks decided it wasn't worth their while to complete foreclosures on them. With impunity, banks have been walking away from foreclosures much the way some homeowners walked away from their mortgages when the housing market first crashed.

    "The banks are just deciding not to foreclose, even though the homeowners never caught up with their payments," says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, a real-estate information company in Irvine, California.

    Since 2006, 10 million homes have fallen into foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac, a number that in earlier, more stable times would have taken nearly two decades to reach. Of those foreclosures, more than 2 million have never come out. Some may be occupied by owners who have been living gratis. Others have been caught up in what is now known as the robo-signing scandal, when banks spun out reams of fraudulent documents to foreclose quickly on as many homeowners as they could.

    And then there are cases like the Kellers, in which homeowners moved out after receiving notice of a foreclosure sale, thinking they were leaving the house in bank hands. No national databases track zombie titles. But dozens of housing court judges, code enforcement officials, lawyers and other professionals involved in foreclosures across the country tell Reuters that these titles number in the many thousands, and that the problem is worsening.

    "There are thousands of foreclosures in limbo, just hanging out there, just sitting, with nothing being done," says Cleveland Housing Court Judge Raymond Pianka, whose pending court cases tied to derelict properties have doubled in the past two years, to 1,000. He says the surge is due largely to homes vacated by people who fled before an imminent foreclosure sale, only to learn later that they remain legally responsible for their house.

    When people move out after receiving a notice of a planned foreclosure sale and the bank then cancels, municipalities are left to deal with the mess. Some spend public funds on securing, cleaning and stabilizing houses that generate no tax revenue. Others let the houses rot. In at least three states in recent months, houses abandoned by owners and banks alike have exploded because the gas was never shut off.

    THREAT OF JAIL

    Unsuspecting homeowners have had their wages garnished, their credit destroyed and their tax refunds seized. They've opened their mail to find bills for back taxes, graffiti-scrubbing services, demolition crews, trash removal, gutter repair, exterior cleaning and lawn clipping. At their front doors they've encountered bailiffs brandishing summonses to appear in court.

    In some cities, people with zombie titles can be sentenced to probation - with the threat of jail if they don't bring their houses into compliance.

    "These people have become like indentured serfs, with all of the responsibilities for the properties but none of the rights," says retired Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Professor Kermit Lind.

    Banks used to almost always follow through with foreclosures, either repossessing a house outright — known in industry parlance as REO, for real estate owned — or putting it up for auction at a sheriff's sale. The bank sent a letter notifying the homeowner of an impending foreclosure sale, the homeowner moved out, the house was sold, and the bank applied the proceeds toward the unpaid portion of the original mortgage.

    That has changed since the housing crash. Financial institutions have realized that following through on sales of decaying houses in markets swamped with foreclosures may not yield anything close to what is owed on them.

    By walking away, banks can at least reap the insurance, tax and accounting benefits from documenting the loss — without having to take on any of the costs and responsibilities of ownership, according to a 2010 Federal Reserve paper. A walk-away also enables them to "sell the unpaid debt to debt collectors, sometimes noting to the court that the loan has been charged off," according to a Case Western Reserve University study released in 2011.

    No regulations require that banks let homeowners know when they change their minds about a foreclosure. So they rarely do, according to housing court judges, homeowners' lawyers and academics who study foreclosure problems. "The banks do not answer inquiries, they do not answer phone calls, they do not answer letters," says Judge Patrick Carney of the Buffalo, New York, Housing Court. His zombie-title caseload has swollen in the past few years to well into the hundreds. "The whole situation is surreal," he says.

    CLEAN UP OR ELSE

    Marlon Sheafe, a 55-year-old who drove trucks for Sara Lee Corp for 25 years, was sentenced to probation in May. The citation from the Cleveland Housing Court says that if he doesn't fix the problems with the investment property he bought in 2005, the grandfather of three, who suffers from advanced cancer, will go to jail in May 2014.

    Ocwen Financial Corp, the servicer of Sheafe's mortgage, foreclosed on the house in 2008, when Sheafe was hospitalized with congestive heart failure and later lost his job, forcing him into default. That was the last he heard about the house until a year and a half ago, when he received a summons to appear in Cleveland Housing Court for code infractions on the property: cracked steps, shredded siding, weeds as tall as the doors. There was also a $300 lawn-mowing bill.

    A few weeks later, Sheafe appeared at the drab, brown-paneled chambers of the Cleveland Housing Court, packed, as it is every Tuesday and Thursday lately, with other people in his situation. Sheafe expected his appearance that day would clear up what he thought was a big mistake. Instead he left with the order to get the house up to code.

    Sheafe started visiting the tall, crooked house every week. Looters had stripped the place bare. The "dope boys" had left their sneakers on the porch and their empty cans of sausages strewn around inside. Sheafe repaired the steps and spray-painted patches of the exterior where the vinyl siding had been ripped off. He returned every week to check on the house and mow the lawn.

    While Sheafe worked on the house, Judge Pianka worked on the mortgage servicer, subpoenaing Ocwen to appear in court. In February, Ocwen released its lien on the house, which Sheafe hoped would enable him to donate it to the local land bank - one of many set up by local governments in recent years to manage abandoned properties.

    But Sheafe still can't shake free of the house. The county sold his tax lien to a debt collector, which is now suing Sheafe for foreclosure. He also faces $4,185 for code violations, $185 for court costs and up to $10,000 if the city is forced to tear down the house.

    "There's no end to this," Sheafe says. "I can't win."

    Asked to comment, Ocwen issued a statement saying: "It is Ocwen's policy not to disclose details about specific customers. In this case, Ocwen has attempted to work with the borrower over a four-year period. Ocwen offered to settle the account with the borrower but never received a response to the offer."

    Sheafe says he couldn't afford the amount Ocwen proposed in its settlement offer.

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal agency established in the wake of the financial crisis to guard against predatory lending and other abuses, declined to comment for this article.

    Joe Smith is the monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement, the agreement struck a year ago between major banks and state attorneys general to, in part, address foreclosure abuses. In a statement responding to a request for comment, he said: "To my knowledge, the servicers' behavior in the situation... is not covered by any standards in the Settlement." He added: "However, it does sound like there are problems with this type of treatment. I recommend the borrowers contact their state's attorney general and remember that the Settlement does not preclude borrowers from taking their own legal action."

    Patrick Madigan, Iowa's assistant attorney general, was instrumental in crafting the National Mortgage Settlement. He said that he thought the consent decree would attempt to address the issue of foreclosure limbo, but that in the end, the language in the order was ambiguous. "It's a very difficult situation," Madigan said.

    NO RESPONSIBILITY

    Banks say that because they are not the legal owners of these homes, they aren't required to maintain them, pay taxes on them, or take any legal responsibility for them. Homeowners legally own their properties until the day of sale. And it's not until that day, the banks point out, that a homeowner's name vanishes from the title.

    David Volker found that out the hard way. When the housing market crashed, so did Volker's contractor business, and he was unable to keep up with payments on his barn-like two-story house in Buffalo, New York. His mortgage servicer, HSBC, foreclosed on the home in 2009. A few months later, while he was staying with his girlfriend, he stopped by the house to find an HSBC padlock on the doorknob and bank stickers plastered across the door.

    Shattered glass covered his front steps. When he crawled through a broken window, he found the place trashed - by whom, he doesn't know. Even the toilets were gone. Hearing nothing more from the bank, he figured the house was no longer his.

    The place continued to decay. Gutters tore loose from the eaves. The yard turned into a dump for balding tires. Volker's neighbors started complaining to the Buffalo Housing Court, which eventually tracked down Volker at the rental where the 49-year-old was living and ordered him to appear in court. That's when Judge Carney told him that he was still the owner.

    "I was stunned," Volker says. "I never for a moment thought I still owned this house."

    Volker worked with a realtor to try to get HSBC to take several short-sale offers - deals under which the bank would allow Volker to sell the house for less than the amount owed on it - but he says HSBC turned them down. Since then, he's been asking the bank to agree to a deed in lieu, whereby he would give the house back to the bank. So far, he hasn't been able to make that happen. He has $1,000 in water and trash bills and faces up to $30,000 in demolition fees if the city decides his house is a safety hazard and must be torn down.

    HSBC declined to comment on Volker's case, citing privacy concerns. In a statement, the bank said it "has a strong commitment to home preservation and regards foreclosure as a last resort, only after alternatives have been exhausted and the borrower is seriously delinquent."

    Cases against zombie-title holders are rising due to everything from sewer bills to tilting chimneys, and they are clogging the courts. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, about 900 cases in the foreclosure process involve zombie titles. In South Bend, Indiana, the number is 1,275, up from 600 in 2006. In Memphis, Tennessee, cases have doubled in the past two years to 1,500.

    In Cleveland, 15 percent of foreclosures between 2005 and 2009 stalled out in foreclosure limbo, more than a third of them involving homeowners who had fled foreclosure notices, according to the Case Western Reserve study.

    STATE ACTION

    State tax authorities are getting into the game, too. When IndyMac foreclosed on Richard Chavarry's house in Victorville, California, in 2008, he had already relocated to Los Angeles to escape the 80-mile commute to his job. The renters he had initially relied on to help him keep up payments on the Victorville house were long gone, too. But he had no idea that IndyMac canceled the sale in October 2009. "They never notified me," Chavarry said.

    Nearly two years passed before Chavarry started getting citations in the mail for code violations from the city of Victorville. In February, the California Tax Board seized his $631 tax refund to pay the city back for the costs of scrubbing graffiti, removing tumbleweeds and boarding up the windows of Chavarry's house.

    In March, Chavarry filed a deed in lieu to try to get IndyMac, now owned by OneWest Bank, to take back the house. The bank rejected it. Chavarry still owes the county $5,731 in back taxes and fees for housing-code violations.

    IndyMac declined to comment.

    Once a bank walks away from a foreclosure, the real rot begins. Living rooms turn into meth labs. Falling shingles menace passers-by. Squatters' cooking fires turn into infernos. The latest iteration of the trend: gas explosions.

    Electric companies usually shut off the juice when homeowners tell the utility they are moving. But natural-gas companies usually don't. In recent months, abandoned homes have exploded in Chicago, Cleveland and Bridgeport, Connecticut. In all cases, foreclosed homeowners had moved out. With no one home to smell the gas, it went undetected - until the houses blew.

    "We are seeing more and more close calls," says Mark McDonald, a former natural gas public safety worker who now runs the New England Gas Workers Association. "These houses are a formula for disaster."

    Cities are struggling to find ways to cope with growing numbers of blighted properties. Miami, Detroit and Las Vegas have created registries intended to force banks to take more responsibility for vacant houses.

    The Mortgage Bankers Association has opposed these measures. Placing "unreasonable" and "onerous" requests upon servicers will only hurt the already ailing mortgage-lending business, the association says on its website.

    The association did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

    Registry advocates say the banking industry's opposition has helped water down some of those actions, such as a recently enacted Georgia law that requires banks to register vacant properties only after a foreclosure has been completed.

    A vacant-property ordinance in Los Angeles requires banks to register a house as soon as they file a default notice. Failure to do so could result in a $1,000-a-day fee. However, "it's not being enforced," says Los Angeles Assistant City Attorney Tina Hess. "Part of the problem in L.A. is the building and safety departments have been cut so severely they don't have the inspection staff to monitor these properties."

    "TO HELL AND BACK"

    In Columbus, Ohio, Joseph Keller recently paid a visit to the empty house on Avondale Avenue. In the living room, the floor was littered with dirty diapers, pill bottles, condoms, sooty mattresses and soda cans. In the kitchen, squatters had hung pink curtains.

    "They tore it to hell and back," Keller said, kicking at a dirty mattress. "We never would have left the home if we weren't told to get out."

    The Kellers live in their daughter's dining room, where their queen-size bed leaves little room to maneuver. Joseph can't sit, stand or sleep for more than 15 minutes at a time. He can't take pain medication because of his diseased liver. Every few months, he makes a trip to the emergency room, where doctors drain his abdomen of excess fluid.

    Last May, Chase's debt collector, Professional Recovery Services, sent Keller a letter: "At this time," it said, "we are able to offer you a settlement of $25,258.41 on this account to be paid within 15 days." He lacks that kind of money, as well as the $11,759.08 he owes to the county in back taxes.

    Professional Recovery Services declined to comment.

    At a hearing in early December, a Social Security administrative judge told the Kellers that he would review their appeal of the original denial of benefits, a process that he said could take two months. Joseph Keller responded that he might not be around that long. Earlier this month, the judge sent the case back to the local office after it determined that the house was virtually worthless. Keller still has no benefits.

    A Social Security Administration spokesperson declined to comment on the case.

    "He's dying," says Keller's daughter, Barbara. "He needs his name off this house."


    8/4/2008 MAKE SURE AND VISIT Tobee's Blogs! http://www.bkforum.com/blog.php?32727-tobee43 and all are welcome to bk forum's Florida State Questions and Answers on BK http://www.bkforum.com/group.php?groupid=9

    #2
    since this was from last month, i didn't posted it in the news forum...but i think it's really relative at least to ME!!! it's going to be us soon. if i don't get my old house foreclosed!
    8/4/2008 MAKE SURE AND VISIT Tobee's Blogs! http://www.bkforum.com/blog.php?32727-tobee43 and all are welcome to bk forum's Florida State Questions and Answers on BK http://www.bkforum.com/group.php?groupid=9

    Comment


      #3
      Unbelieveable. I cannot understand what the heck it has to do with him getting his ssdi. We guess we are lucky BOA is finally moving on our forclosure.
      chpt 7 ,5-2009

      Comment


        #4
        you really are lucky.

        lol!! i'm waiting for the knock to come to my door soon. although we don't have city or town ordinances to keeping up the house we left. it's in the country and many people use their land for dumps, it's legal. however, what gets me is the courts and not finding the banks anyway responsible after sending out these notices of foreclosures in a way forcing people out if they can't get a modification or no longer have their jobs.

        what none of this addresses though is whether any of them filed bk and included the house in their bk.

        i remember way back hhm said something to the effect that surrendering doesn't really mean anything...well he/she didn't say that but it was close and apparently, that may also be the case. if someone does file bk and the bank took possession and they didn't foreclose, it's unreal that the banks just wash there hands and walk away.

        also, i would consider trying to put the property up for sale now, however, it's gone back into the land. when we left it, it was still on the market, but not one bite. we asked chase to do a short sale, they said NO...(this was years back tho) and then we requested a DIL didn't care that would hurt our credit, since we already knew we were going to be filing bk.

        now i know no one will buy our home and i also know it's part and partial to the "holding" the banks are doing since our old neighbor is down by over 50% of the house values, if they sold our old home for peanuts it would crush the market in the area. and, also introduce a loss to their books. what a scam
        8/4/2008 MAKE SURE AND VISIT Tobee's Blogs! http://www.bkforum.com/blog.php?32727-tobee43 and all are welcome to bk forum's Florida State Questions and Answers on BK http://www.bkforum.com/group.php?groupid=9

        Comment


          #5
          Wow....Tobee i instantly thought of you!...omg!

          Comment


            #6
            In March, Chavarry filed a deed in lieu to try to get IndyMac, now owned by OneWest Bank, to take back the house. The bank rejected it. Chavarry still owes the county $5,731 in back taxes and fees for housing-code violations.
            Wow, that's the first time I have read a person filed a Quit Claim and it back fired, as speculated. it's not actually a deed in lieu because it doesn't appear as though IndyMac asked for one. I know people talk about this strategy, but here is an example of what can happen.

            I can only imagine, Tobee, what it's like to have a bank just not want the home, but you have also already abandoned the property! It seems totally wrong that the person could have stayed and just maintained the residence. I don't blame the cities and towns because they have no recourse (legally) except to go after the owner. I know that after one of my investment homes was "surrendered" in my Chapter 13, and prior to the actual foreclosure, the city was bugging me about the lawn and trash! Threatened me with fines. I called, and gave the person my bankruptcy information and told them that it was surrendered and they should contact the bank, since the bank changed the locks and took positive "control" of the property. I have never heard from the city since then. I can only PRAY that there is not some warrant for my arrest for failure to pay fines for a property that was surrendered. (The property was in fact foreclosed upon 15 months into my Chapter 13. The bank appeared to have kept the property in good shape as my brother checked on the property from time to time.)
            Chapter 7 (No Asset/Non-Consumer) Filed (Pro Se) 7/08 (converted from Chapter 13 - 2/10)
            Status: (Auto) Discharged and Closed! 5/10
            Visit My BKForum Blog: justbroke's Blog

            Any advice provided is not legal advice, but simply the musings of a fellow bankrupt.

            Comment


              #7
              df04527, me too!! i immediately thought about our situation. i mean, it's not as bad as that poor guy, but, it could happen. you're right though, what would that have to do with his SDI claim...that shouldn't be based on assets? if some is working and owns their home and they gets disabled what??? they can't get ssi???

              although, again, it says nothing about filing bk and listing the house and having it discharged. although, and when i think about it we never listed our town on our petition be our taxes were up to date when we left. our atty said to pay them nothing and if the town decides to foreclose due to back taxes, let it go, you have already filed bk on the house. that made perfect sense to me.

              jb, not only did we abandoned it, but chase took possession, they kept it up for a few years, changed the locks, like they did with your property, winterized yearly from what we understand, up until now. i agree with you, the towns and cities have no other recourse, however, it use to be the towns or cities would just take the property and sell it for back taxes. well, how can you do that when chase is holding the paper and is first in line? it must have been shocking for you when you heard from the town about the trash etc. as i was saying, with our property it's out in the woods and up in the mountains, there are no ordinances in the entire county other than the county seat. we had a well or water, and garbage pick up was not mandatory, if one wanted trash pick up we had 3 companies to chose from, as many people brought their own trash to the dump. we have no sideways or public property need us.

              the last person who check our property was the one that told us a tree is now growing on the first floor, so the house is a total loss. why, because and this is the truth. chase refused to work with us. we just didn't plan a walk, we didn't want to leave, we hoped that chase would help us through our hard times. they were the ones giving us notice to leave, i still have it. chase didn't even go in "proper" legal order, our first notice was not an intent to foreclose, they went right for the jugular, and served us with a NOD! we had no choices, that's when we called our atty and he advised us to lock it and leave.

              jb, so glad you property got foreclosed on! i'm just going to have to sit and wait it out. i know the neighbors in the area of our old neighborhood, and i know with the ponds and pool it must be such a hazard that they had to have called the town or county health dept by now.
              Last edited by tobee43; 03-09-2013, 07:42 AM.
              8/4/2008 MAKE SURE AND VISIT Tobee's Blogs! http://www.bkforum.com/blog.php?32727-tobee43 and all are welcome to bk forum's Florida State Questions and Answers on BK http://www.bkforum.com/group.php?groupid=9

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by tobee43 View Post
                df04527, me too!! i immediately thought about our situation. i mean, it's not as bad as that poor guy, but, it could happen. you're right though, what would that have to do with his SDI claim...that shouldn't be based on assets? if some is working and owns their home and they gets disabled what??? they can't get ssi???
                Tobee? The letters associated with the different Social Security programs get so confusing and the above article was not written clearly when describing this poor man's problem!


                The guy in the story was trying to get accepted for SSI - Supplemental Security Income - which offers disability income but is also BOTH income and asset based. The monthly payment is need-based and varies up to a federal maximum amount. It also makes *most* of those who are on it eligible for Medicaid (which was why this gentleman in the above story at age 58 needed the Medicaid to pay for his liver transplant - he is too young/not currently eligible for Medicare). http://www.socialsecurity.gov/ssi/te...anding-ssi.htm PERSONAL GRIPE ABOUT ONE ASPECT OF THIS PROGRAM: This program does not require you to have ever paid into the the Social Security system. It simply requires that you be a U.S. citizen or national, or in one of certain categories of aliens.


                The other disability program administered by the Social Security Administration is SSD(I) - Social Security Disability (Insurance). There are no income or asset limits but you must have worked and paid Social Security taxes to become insured for benefits. The monthly disability benefit amount is based on the Social Security earnings record of the insured worker. There is a time limit to file for these benefits based on the last dates of your employment - don't delay in filing!! You are eligible for Medicare after being on SSD for 2 years. http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pgm/disability.htm


                To anyone reading this response: This is how I personally understand the Social Security Administration's various disability benefits to function - make sure to check with the Social Security Administration for details about your possible benefit(s) should you become disabled!!

                I hope that made sense for you, Tobee! Happy Weekend!
                ~~ Filed Over Median Income Chapter 7: 12/17/2010 ~~ 341 Held: 1/12/2011 ~~ Discharged: 03/16/2011 ~~
                Not an attorney - just an opinionated woman.

                Comment


                  #9
                  thanks valle, makes some sense to me. i think this is SDD or like you point out, there are different ss benefits...???? it's confusing, and to me there is some things missing from the article. example: why didn't this person file bankruptcy?

                  although, and i think i'm answering my own question, if the bank doesn't foreclose his name will still be on the deed. however, he could prove it is worth nothing since it doesn't sound like there was equity in the house...that's also why it makes little sense. even IF the ss admin found that he did have a home, but it was a liability and not an asset???? i'm certain there are people in this county on disability that own a home? right? i mean that's what this entire mess is about.

                  i do think they will correct this. i think this is a headline because it's a rather rare happening. also, like i was thinking why didn't the town foreclose???? for the taxes. also did he have an escrow account, where the agreement is the BANK pays for the taxes and homeowners ins. etc. and then those costs are included with the amount when the house is sold at auction by the bank???? i have a ton of questions i would like answered.
                  Last edited by tobee43; 03-10-2013, 07:14 AM.
                  8/4/2008 MAKE SURE AND VISIT Tobee's Blogs! http://www.bkforum.com/blog.php?32727-tobee43 and all are welcome to bk forum's Florida State Questions and Answers on BK http://www.bkforum.com/group.php?groupid=9

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Hi!
                    I have a question about this...I do live in Cleveland Ohio

                    Now if you stop paying your mortgage and they start foreclosure.can you just live in the house til it is all over?

                    wil they actually padlock you out if you are still living there?

                    and if they never foreclose.......can you just keep the place and rent it out since your name is still on the deed......doesn't that make you still the homeowner?

                    thank you in advance for any answers to my questions

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by MakinMeCrazy View Post
                      Hi!
                      I have a question about this...I do live in Cleveland Ohio

                      Now if you stop paying your mortgage and they start foreclosure.can you just live in the house til it is all over?

                      wil they actually padlock you out if you are still living there?

                      and if they never foreclose.......can you just keep the place and rent it out since your name is still on the deed......doesn't that make you still the homeowner?

                      thank you in advance for any answers to my questions
                      ohio is a judicial state, you most likely they will not be padlocking anything as long as you do not vacate the premises.

                      until the deed is transferred the house is still in your name and is yours. yes, your name on the deed makes you the technical owner of the house and in your case, it's yours until the foreclosure takes place and the house is either purchased back by the bank or another owner then the deed changes title and is recorded with the county.

                      yes, you can stay as long as you get the sheriff's notice and that can be as long a few/couple years in a judicial state. i would check you county sheriff's site to see how quickly they are moving.

                      after going through what we have, finding out that no one has ever been assigned our mortgage to any bank, we are still in fact the actual owner of that property, 5 years after we vacated. also, be careful if you decide to rent. be upfront with the renters it's the best thing to do. try and can someone that will keep the place up and not become non paying problems.

                      best of luck to you!
                      8/4/2008 MAKE SURE AND VISIT Tobee's Blogs! http://www.bkforum.com/blog.php?32727-tobee43 and all are welcome to bk forum's Florida State Questions and Answers on BK http://www.bkforum.com/group.php?groupid=9

                      Comment


                        #12
                        tobee, sorry to be a pain in the butt but do you know if Mich is a judicial state or not.

                        My impression is in Mich. once the foreclosure starts the bank has to make 3 or 4 weeks of public notice like a legal newspaper or something, I believe there is some sort of three month period before it goes to sheriff sale but I could be wrong, then I believe if its sold at the sheriff sale either back to the bank or to someone else there is a six month redemption period that you can stay in your home, then after that redemption period if you haven't moved I think they can evict. Do I have things right?? Thanks for any help.
                        Filed Chapter 7 10-2008
                        341 Meeting 12-2008
                        DISCHARGED 2-2009

                        Comment


                          #13
                          no pain

                          actually i was just asking someone the other day if michigan was judicial or non-judicial state referring to foreclosures. what i found was the answer to my question is "both." (TRUE )

                          in michigan, mortgages may be foreclosed "by advertisement" provided that the mortgage gives the mortgagee (usually your bank or whoever holds the promissory note) the right to do so and there is a default in payment on the note. the procedure is regulated further by michigan statute (Mich. Comp. Laws 600.3204). it will depend on how the bank chooses to proceed. if they go the judicial route you will have a much longer time before the actual sale.

                          http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%2...0advertisement
                          8/4/2008 MAKE SURE AND VISIT Tobee's Blogs! http://www.bkforum.com/blog.php?32727-tobee43 and all are welcome to bk forum's Florida State Questions and Answers on BK http://www.bkforum.com/group.php?groupid=9

                          Comment


                            #14
                            tobee, thanks for that. Yes most here are done through the public notice process as far as I know. We've already been through that once and were notified by thier attys. but that stopped when we started to negoiate a mod with a house couselor and the bank. Even if they did give us a mod that we are happy with we still have the second hanging around.
                            Filed Chapter 7 10-2008
                            341 Meeting 12-2008
                            DISCHARGED 2-2009

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                              #15
                              are you planning on trying to stay?
                              8/4/2008 MAKE SURE AND VISIT Tobee's Blogs! http://www.bkforum.com/blog.php?32727-tobee43 and all are welcome to bk forum's Florida State Questions and Answers on BK http://www.bkforum.com/group.php?groupid=9

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