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I am apparently not smart enough to come up with something as ridiculous as that anyway's..... no scam going on here as your post somewhat implies...
We really do understand that we have a contract that we are lible for, the problem is that the banks are just making it so much easier on the people who are choosing to walk away. There are thousands of people who have walked away because they bought a home they never should have bought to begin with.
Understanding of course, that there is no way to weed out those that did something risky vs. those that are just in a bad situation because of a job loss,illness,etc....
WE bought a home well within our means and we have tried,we have tried & tried to work with the bank, we have remained current on 2 mortgages for almost 2 years now. We tried to get a modification to help us out so that we weren't draining every last dime that we have to continue to pay for an empty home that won't sell because of the market and they wouldn't even talk to us.
The loan mod. "specialist" told us that in order to prove a hardship, we had to start missing payments. We weren't willing to do that so we continued paying and continued trying to sell it.
NOW ,we have potential buyers, SOMEONE wants to buy our house and the banks STILL are telling us to foreclose because they don't want to work with us. YET, they will work with us if we miss payments?
Honestly, what kind of sense does that make?
I was a business person as well prior to staying home with my children, worked for a very large hotel company, I understand the business side of this, but it does not make sense to tell someone who could sell their home (at a loss albeit) that they are just not going to listen,hear or work with us on anything. They want what they want and the other point of this is that the comps don't support what the banks are asking for!
The comps are all foreclosures and they are almost $100-$150 less than what the banks want us to come in at?
How does that make sense?
We have people who are qualified to purchase our home at the list price right now and they don't qualify for anymore, but yet the banks are turning their heads....
How can that be making good business sense?
Again,we understand completely that we signed a contract and if under normal circumstances, we wouldn't be asking for help, that is obvious as we have sacrificed vacations, children's activities,me going back to school and most of children's college funds by paying for 2 homes,2 sets of utility bills,2 HOA fees,etc... so that we could remain "RESPONSIBLE" citizens by paying our mortgage!
Enough is enough though, they have slammed the door in our faces too many times for being responsible and now that we could have an end in site to this nightmare, they want to slam it again.
Our buyers are going to walk away if the banks don't work with us and chances of finding another buyer anytime soon are near none. It has taken us 22 months to find ONE potential buyer....
So to those that think they would handle it differently and willingly just continue to pay for their 2 homes and everything else , and not expect a little "flexibility" on the banks behalf, good for you. You are a better person than I.
My kids deserve to participate in activities and we deserve to be treated as the responsible individuals that we are.
I really feel for your situation, as I can see us in the same boat. We bought well under what we could comfortably afford each month, have perfect credit, etc. Yet, due to the greed of the banks and builders in 2006 who decided anyone breathing should "own" a home, we find ourselves in a house worth $35,000 less than we paid for it. This is because those who never should have been allowed in here, walked away. We need to move for a job and are lucky enough to be able to rent it out for a year, but after that, who knows? It will be at a huge monthly loss to us, so I don't know if we will eventually try to short-sale it. Our bank, Citimortgage, who got TONS of TARP $ won't even talk to us because we are current. They don't care that they are the ones who created this fiasco in the first place. I asked them why don't you want to help good, solid customers instead of creating ways to help those who will NEVER be able to hold on? It's getting to be that you are a fool if you pay your bills these days. The bottom line is you will go where your job is. We have neighbors who have been squatting in their house for over a year! They don't pay their property taxes or car payment... we even get calls from their creditors! People should not judge those of us who are being caught up in this mess through no fault of our own.
The loan mod. "specialist" told us that in order to prove a hardship, we had to start missing payments. We weren't willing to do that so we continued paying and continued trying to sell it.
NOW ,we have potential buyers, SOMEONE wants to buy our house and the banks STILL are telling us to foreclose because they don't want to work with us. YET, they will work with us if we miss payments?
Honestly, what kind of sense does that make?
From the bank's perspective it makes perfect sense. Why? Because why help someone who can obviously afford to pay the monthly payment. They'd rather take the chance of you continuing to pay rather than working with you. And guess what , it's working. You have been paying every payment on time without fail. They know most people who can will pay their bills on time every month. They know you are scared about having a foreclosure on your record and your credit damaged. So they use it to their advantage.
But really, what it boils down to, is protecting your credit and having this stupid number (FICO) run your life? And continue stress on you?
I'm with aneftp, that poster gave you sound advice, run with it.
The bank has every right to opt for their most profitable method. It's their money, their decision. I sense a right of entitlement - maybe I am reading the OP wrong, but just because it's not your fault does not mean the bank has to give in.....I understand you are frustrated because neighbors and co-workers could be discussing their success stories.....I've closed several short sales with Bank of America, none were easy and most required the seller to sign an interest free note at closing. The last was a 25K note for 20 years at 0%. Are you willing to do that? Even the Housing Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (not TARP) states in their guidelines that the short sale is an option for the bank. They are not required to accept it.
I've closed several short sales with Bank of America, none were easy and most required the seller to sign an interest free note at closing. The last was a 25K note for 20 years at 0%. Are you willing to do that? Even the Housing Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (not TARP) states in their guidelines that the short sale is an option for the bank. They are not required to accept it.
Quite a deal. Where do i sign up?
And who is on the other side of this trade? Well, never mind
The government appears hell-bent on keeping house prices unaffordable. The long term ramifications of these policies have been well covered (outside of the mainstream media).
Also, some of us have every right to be critical.
Personally, I paid cash for every house ...
Paying cash is good, but it doesn't give you the right to be
critical. You have the right to be critical because this is
city-data and that's what we do. I'm being critical of your
post for saying you have the right because you paid cash.
People who get a mortgage and find themselves in a bad
situation because of forces outside their control don't deserve
to be slammed. They got screwed by someone else just the
same as if someone had come into their house and robbed them.
Even if you paid cash for a house, you still got hit and robbed.
So did I. Blaming the victim is a really lame thing to do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Occam's Bikini Wax
... but my very first one when I was 19 years old.
OK, so what you are saying here
is that it's OK when you do it.
Others, ... not so much.
Mommabear, the OP said :"On top of that, whatever they lose in a foreclosure, the Govt gives them via the Tarp Program";
The point was that the banker was encouraging foreclosure over short sales so they could get govt subsidization from our tax dollars. I would think the feds would like to know that they are doing that.
That's what the government programs were DESIGNED TO DO! Help banks. The government made the program, voted the program into law, and BOA is using as designed. Nothing in the law says that they have to do a short sale if possible. BOA is legally fine to do this... the government encourages it. If the government has a law that pays BOA for foreclosing, then more power to BOA. This is what happens when we allow laws to be voted into law without reading them, caring about them, writing to our legislators and letting them know what we think of the laws before they are passed.
We pay the consequences. Our taxes will all go toward paying BOA for all the foreclosures around the country, and we allowed it by not contacting our lawmakers, or voting them out of office.
Nothing to report here. The FEDS are the ones that made the laws that BOA is following. 100% legal, kosher, ethical, allowed... based on current laws.
I have mixed feelings in that I sympathise with Op(I have kids and their numerous activities)...but at the same time if I were in their shoes I am not sure what would be my expectation for I would blame no one but myself for buying at the height of Real Estate bubble. As far as people walking away or staying in their house for a year that will be foreclosed.....I dont really care what other people do, shouldnt we hold ourselves to a higher standard? Dont we teach that to our kids?
I know many people who rent because they do not have enough cash to pay for the house in Cash and they do not want to get a mortgage and then deal with all issues that arise due to financial hardship.
Also as a side note, if this situation was reversed and you had bought the house in 2000 and trying to sell it in 2006 or 2007 and making big bucks....you would have loved your bank.
Stay positive and focused...get legal help, good days are just around the corner, dont loose faith.
Last edited by neolinux123; 05-28-2010 at 09:15 AM..
I assume you have assets outside of your investments? That's why you need to contact an attorney and possibly a financial planner to start moving those assets into protected trusts.
That was my thought, too. It's time to stop worrying about whether or not your children can participate in activities, because that's just window dressing, and actively take steps to protect your future.
That was my thought, too. It's time to stop worrying about whether or not your children can participate in activities, because that's just window dressing, and actively take steps to protect your future.
OKay, honestly, that is obviously not our MAIN concern here. I am using it as an example of things that we have sacrificed so that we could still remain current on our mortgage, utility, property taxes & HOA fees for our home that we are trying to sell.
It isn't our main focus people......
We have already spoken with our lawyer who has consulted with a real estate lawyer. Unfortunately right now, we are in limbo because,as others have stated on here, BOA isn't doing anything that is against the law.
They DON'T have to approve a short sale... we know this.
We are angered by the number of people that have apparently chosen the "easy way out" and that is that they have walked away with absolutely no consequences at all, besides their credit. IF it was that easy to walk away, my guess is, that is not a huge concern to them.
We are angered that the banks are actually telling people,realtors,etc... that it is better if people do foreclose because they get money from the TARP fund.
I would say that any tax paying citizen should be somewhat bothered by that mere fact alone.
We have someone willing & able to buy our home, so one can only imagine the frustration that we are feeling ,that after 2 years of being on the market, we FINALLY have a potential buyer and we are probably going to lose them because BOA won't work with the short sale. I just can't believe that it is okay to "force" people into a foreclosure.
Also-to the post that assumed that we bought during the height of the bubble, we may have done so, but it wasn't because we were getting a "good deal", it was due to another relocation, and one that we felt was going to be a very long residence. We built our home with the thought that it was going to be for a very long time, as my husband's company had just finished a mulit-million dollar research project and built a sate of the art pharm facility.... there was no indication of any restructuring ready to happen.
The other thing another person pointed out is that people have to stop blaming people for buying a home. Just because someone happen to have bought during the height of the bubble, doesn't mean that they did something they shouldn't have done. People,such as us, have to buy houses. Are people saying that during that time, no one should have bought a home and should have just rented? it purely doesn't make sense.
So again, we are just saying that we have sacrificed alot during these past 2 years and our children's activities are just a small part of that... while we know of people who have walked away and still continue to live their life as though nothing has happened and that means that their children are still doing every thing they did before, they are still taking their vacations, mom's nails are still done every week, dad belongs to the golf club,etc....
there has been no change in their lifestyle whatsover, at least from the outside looking in.
We honestly did not think that this relo was going to cause us this much difficulty in the real estate market, we knew things were bad,but just how bad they have become, was out of our sight.
We chose to be responsible and pay our mortgage and we are upest and I feel we have every right to be , because we are now being told that we didn't do the right thing.
NYMD67,
I SO understand, as I shared with you that we are in almost the same boat. We are not alone-- you and I-- the people who can stay put, and good for them, just do not understand having to sell for a job. Like you, we didn't purchase a home to make money or to flip. People stand up and judge when they should realize that if our homes are losing value, so are theirs... I guess they don't care if they own them outright or don't have to move. Great for them!
You know, we were talking with our parents about this mess... our fathers raised large families with one income and no college degrees...and they both owned their homes outright by 50. It doesn't seem like our generation will be doing that. Maybe that says a lot about home affordability and the way the home prices outpaced incomes in this country. That's what is so depressing to us... we fear they are not done dropping, which leaves people like you and us pretty screwed. I mean, how much can you save when you are chasing a runaway train down the track? One month you need $40,000 to close; next month $45,000... I don't think people understand that there are those of us who are caught up in this through no fault of our own. Good luck and keep posting!
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