UCC-1, deed in lieu, or short sale??? (personal property, real estate, credit score)

[jco]

I thought we had such wonderful renters, but now they're not paying and not returning our phone calls/e-mail. I know that they've really been financially struggling with one in college and the other in sales. They always got back to us w/in 24 hours, so this is strange. My husband lost his job in January and has tried and tried and tried to find a new job without success. We can hardly carry our mortgage for our primary residence, let alone our home in AZ that has lost 150k in value since its peak. If our renters are going to quit paying and we can't find new ones (likely), how can we be smart about losing the house? Okay, oxymoron, I know. It's painful to ruin our PERFECT credit scores, lose the 45k cash we put down (didn't plan on moving out of state), and we'd prefer not to just skip out on payments and watch it all crumble.

Someone suggested filing a UCC-1 lein, doing a deed in lieu, or short sale. I'm searching for advice on these, but can't seem to find anything on the UCC-1.

[ReneeG71]

What is a UCC-1? We are in a similar situation and I have never heard of that one.

[jco]

From what I understand, it's a lien you put on your own house so that the mortgage company can't get a clean title w/o coming to you. I'm not really sure - it confuses me, but it's supposed to give you some leverage in short sale negotiations...

[windtimber]

A UCC-1 is a form under the Uniform Commercial Code filed with the appropriate public officer putting the world on notice that you have pledged personal property and/or goods or fixtures to real estate as collateral for a loan. It is not a real estate lien.

Generally what has been suggested to you - very inartfully - is the creation of a fraudulent lien. Do not go there. It will not work. There are repercussions under the statutes in some states that can cause costs and/or damages to be assessed against you for filing fraudulent liens.