Note on the door...

[BKMike1]

The mortgage company is ulitmately responsible for the property.....

When the folks down the street abandon their house, who do you think eventually comes and mows the lawn, secures the doors to keep neighborhood kids out?
Answer- Its the mortgage company....

How do they know the condition of the house? The send out an inspector to take pictures, and sometimes leave a note for the homeowner... The mortgage company just wants to know whats going on....

Here is a cut-n-paste example from city a ordanance..
The ordinance requires ongoing maintenance throughout the foreclosure period. Maintenance includes, but is not limited to, assuring there are no accessible structures on the premises and assuring there are no conditions upon the property that present an immediate risk to the heath and safety of the public. This includes maintaining the public sidewalk free of snow and ice, cutting of overgrown vegetation (grass/trees), removal of nuisance trash, debris, vehicles, graffiti, etc.


I do these inspections in my area, it is a way to make extra income....but I am sympathetic to the homeowners to some extent....
(I lost my job, house foreclosed, had to relocate, making 20k less a year, but I'm running the roads on the weekends trying to make ends meet... just filed Chapter 13 two weeks ago)

During my foreclosure, I was in contact with my Mortgage Company every 2 weeks to keep them updated, they were good enough to loan me money to buy my house, I could take 60 seconds twice a month to update them about my job hunt and my continued inability to pay my mortgage...


You would be suprised at the condition some people leave their house in.... I've inspected one house where the doors were wide open, about 50 prescription pill bottles scattered on the kitchen counter(along with all kinds of other junk) (I called this one in immediately, it was during the summer and I could imagine neighborhood kids exploring the house and experimenting with the pills)

[Mensa1]

The mortgage company is ulitmately responsible for the property....
When the folks down the street abandon their house, who do you think eventually comes and mows the lawn, secures the doors to keep neighborhood kids out?
Answer- Its the mortgage company....

Unfortunately Mike, not every lender is doing their part here. Yes, I know the system and what they should be doing but all too often there are properties left in shambles and the mtg co is non-responsive. They pretty much run the owner out of the property by their unwillingness to work out a reasonable solution, then halfway through decide they don't want to finish the job. This leaves the property and the neioghborhood in the lerch.

Yes, not all of the lenders do this but enough that cities and municipalities are passing ordinances of how to deal with non-responsive lenders and the problems that they create.

[BKMike1]

Unfortunately Mike, not every lender is doing their part here. Yes, I know the system and what they should be doing but all too often there are properties left in shambles and the mtg co is non-responsive. They pretty much run the owner out of the property by their unwillingness to work out a reasonable solution, then halfway through decide they don't want to finish the job. This leaves the property and the neioghborhood in the lerch.

Yes, not all of the lenders do this but enough that cities and municipalities are passing ordinances of how to deal with non-responsive lenders and the problems that they create.

I don't know If I agree with the whole "Homeowner is the victim" mentality.

I lost a house last year... The mortgage company did nothing to victimize me... I agreed to pay X dollars for X years at X percent.. I lost my job and couldn't meet those terms... They took my house back, its a business... the mortgage companies are not charities.

As far as shrinking home values... how does a homes current value affect a person's ability to continue to pay for a house... If the person took a loan with a balloon payment that is coming due and they can't refinance... then thats the risk they took to secure the loan at the discounted interest rate...

I don't like risks, thats why I paid a slightly higher interest rate to get a 30year fixed rate mortgage....
It is not the mortgage company OR the government's job to bail out folks who took a risk (adjustable rate / or ballon loans).......

(also... Mensa1 ... Is your screen name refering to the Mensa Society?)

[Mensa1]

I don't believe that I am making homeowners out to be victims here. Moreover I am vilanizing lenders for their behavior, not for what they aren't doing to help out a homeowner in distress, but their lack of follow thru in managing properties; (during and after foreclosure). This action or inaction has had terrible impact on property values in many cities. What is commonplace is for lenders to start a foreclosure and stop before completion of the sale and/or transfer. Many foreclosed owners are still dealing with negative fallout from unkempt properties in the way of fines or citations.

However, there are many instances where lenders would have done themselves far less harm by coming to reasonable solutions, (if maybe only temproraryily) that might have also worked to the best interest of the homeowner at the same time, but this happens all too infrequently. As to shrinking home values, this is the effect following an incompetent lenders inaction in many neighborhoods.

You seem to have read way too much into my comments above about lenders. They aren't obligated to help any homeowner but they should be operating in the best interest of their shareholders/investors, and the results are surely up for ridicule, IMO.

[BKMike1]

Mensa- I see your point.

And I do understand your point about lenders not acting in the most "reasonable" manner....

For example in my case, my largest unsecured creditor sent me a settlement offer at 35%. I called they wanted the 35% as a lump sum or at the max over 6 months. I offered 10% down, 1 percent a month, and the balance of the settlement in 12 months.(use next years bonus and tax return)
So they would be getting 35% in 12 months, they rejected the offer...
Since my largest unsecured was unwilling to negotiate a settlement I could afford.. I decided it was time to go ahead and file chapter 13, they will now be getting 5% over 36months.

It is discouraging to see properties "rot" away vaccant, I have visited some of the same properties for 10 months now...

[Mensa1]

You nailed it with your examples; both your negotiations with unsecured creditor and seeing the props rot away. In both cases the lenders blew it. They could have had much more from you personally with your offer as well as those rotting houses would be better off for the house and the neighbors to have someone living it them, albeit at half the pymt. Exactly my point... not that the lenders owed anyone that consideration, but it sure makes way too much sense not to consider doing so.