patrick.net

visit YouWalkAway.com
they have message boards also.

I have watched the auction schedules on foreclosureradar.com and the vast majority of the trustee sales are postponed.

reasons:
1. bankruptcy delay
2. short sale (lender agrees to delay sale while you pretend to sell home)
3. lender stalls for random accounting/workload/government reason

You might have a year left in that house.

Thanks guys! Means a lot.

Of course, any other comments still welcome!

CL, the next phase depends a lot on your state and lender/processor. Do you have that info. By the way, join the club. I am almost one year post trustee sale, so far I have no regrets. Was upside down tragically after putting 20% down on a 30 year fixes in the burbs of Phoenix. My 320k house sold for 85k and probably has a fair market value of 115k as a regular sale. The numbers were too staggering to think about. We tried a short sale that the bank rejected, the trustee sale occurred without delay exactly 6 months after the first missed payment. Painless process. Oddly despite turning down an offer of 125k as a short sale they listed the opening auction price at 55k, bid up due to a nice pool and lots of upgrades. The sale day was fun with the culture scouts driving by promising to save the day and help you out.

Sorry, Lotr1978..for your situation and for leaving out that info (regular visitors probably already know, so I skipped it!). ;)

I'm with Wells, in CA. If you believe Zillow, close to 300k under (800k/500k).

The house is nice, but I'm sure won't get that much at auction, maybe 500k or more (some have sold around here for that, while some have sat at 300k in my 'hood in Oakland.). Plenty of upgrades, but I plan on buying all new junk for my new pad when I locate one.

Keep your chin up, we'll all be fine!

You may have few more months left. Why just leave stuff behind? sell it on craiglist.

I'll call on Monday if I can.

Bubblesitter: I could do that I reckon. Some of it could use a refresh anyway, and I'll likely take the credenzas, dining room set, etc. Some abandonment appeals to me simply for the lack of effort! :)

If I've never applied for HAMP, does anyone think that doing so now would alter the date on the auction?

I didn't avoid it, nor am I asking about it for any ulterior motives. I think for my situation a principal reduction is best, but until the settlement and other changes, it didn't seem like any viable solution were possible.

A lowering of principal and interest to market rates would make keeping this place more palatable.

Awesome You guys! I love this site when it is actually helpfull

I've got dibs on the tankless water heater as my old reliable is starting to go. CL, please post when you move out. Don't worry, this is all legal; I'm a Wells shareholder and am just taking an advance on my dividend. I joke...
Actually, my water heater is going. Are you satisfied with the one you had installed? And if so, what was the brand.
I'm guessing you may be able to milk several more months out if this if you commence Operation Short Sale. Here's a recent Trustee Sale in The City that got postponed (Wells was on the first and second). And in the mean time, if you can live without hot water...

Can EB Guy trade water heaters with CL? He's leaving a water heater, so is there a difference here?

I'd call an attorney. If you screw up and someone comes after you it would really, truly suck. By the way, IMHO Zillow is overly optimistic in many instances.

I think the heater is a Rinnai, three room. Seems good to me, although recently the nanny next door said she may have smelled gas. Part of the reason I'd dismantle it, really (just in case).

Regarding the Debt Forgiveness Act, does being in CA affect that at all? I think I saw on Loansafe that since the house is the collateral, there is effectively no "income", but I'm not sure how that translates to Federal Taxes.

Most of the furniture I have is fairly nice, some items nicer than others. I have an expensive, albeit 10 year old couch for example.

If I reach out to the bank now, what are the odds I'd get some certainty about a delay in the sale? Does anyone think the settlement would increase the likelihood of a Principal Reduction? The investor on the big loan is BofA. Does the settlement apply to servicers or investors?

CL, IANAL, but I am pretty sure that purchase money (non-recourse) loans have no tax consequences as the bank cannot 1099 you (there is no debt forgiveness).
Yikes, I just noticed that the property I mentioned previously only had the foreclosure sale delayed by a day. Looks like it went back to the bank.

CL says

Now, what can I expect? Should I just plan on being out by the auction date early next month?

CL,

What will happen next is that your home will either be "sold" (most likely back to the bank) on the auction date, or else that date will be postponed for another month.

Assuming it is sold to the bank, they will hire their local reo listing agent to visit your house within 5-10 days or so. Their initial task is simply to see if anyone is living there and to find out if you are an owner or renter. They will then relay the info back to their asset manager, who will authorize them to offer you cash-for-keys. This amount is negotiable to some extent.

To get the cash, you have to sign a letter agreeing to be moved out and leave the property in "broom-swept" condition - meaning you can't leave stuff behind. It's pretty much got to be just like a regular sale. And you can't take the appliances, even if you bought them. You'll generally have about 3 weeks, but could negotiate for 30 days.

On your cash-for-keys day, the agent will come back to inspect that the property is clean. Assuming it is, you will literally exchange your keys for a check and sign a piece of paper that you relinquish all rights to the property.

Then you are done.

For more detail, check out http://bayarearealestatetrends.com/how-foreclosures-work/

Let me know if you have any other specific questions and good luck!

EBGuy says

CL, IANAL, but I am pretty sure that purchase money (non-recourse) loans have no tax consequences as the bank cannot 1099 you (there is no debt forgiveness).

Yikes, I just noticed that the property I mentioned previously only had the foreclosure sale delayed by a day. Looks like it went back to the bank.

That's what I thunk too. The debt is the house, so they've taken that as payment in full I reckon.

gregpfielding says

To get the cash, you have to sign a letter agreeing to be moved out and leave the property in "broom-swept" condition - meaning you can't leave stuff behind. It's pretty much got to be just like a regular sale

Better be more than 3k. I'm no whore! :)

Is there anything magical about the sale date, other than the fact that it might be sold? Meaning, is it a point-of-no-return situation regarding any options I currently have that I will no longer have after the auction date?

Also, the note is ~650K. The 2nd, purchase money is ~125k. There are also some property taxes due on it.

I assume the 2nd is wiped out, and only the Jumbo matters for the auction.

If so, would the auction bid start at 650k, or 650K plus back taxes? In either case, would anyone buy it? Why?

Hey I might buy something you have a garage door opener?

CL says

Is there anything magical about the sale date, other than the fact that it might be sold? Meaning, is it a point-of-no-return situation regarding any options I currently have that I will no longer have after the auction date?

If your goal is to delay or possible short sale it, you really don't want to wait until the last minute. These banks are so big, one department doesn't know what the other is up to.

What is your intent? To short sale? Drag it out? Or end it and move on with your life?

CL says

Also, the note is ~650K. The 2nd, purchase money is ~125k. There are also some property taxes due on it.

If it's all purchase money in CA, you should be fine.

CL says

I assume the 2nd is wiped out, and only the Jumbo matters for the auction.

If so, would the auction bid start at 650k, or 650K plus back taxes? In either case, would anyone buy it? Why?

Correct. The second will be wiped out and the first will set the auction price. Sometimes they set it at the value of the note, plus late fees etc. Often, they actually do a little homework and drop it to possible sell it to third party.

They have already had drive-by valuations done on your house and know roughly what the market value is. And, they will consider what the bank (or their investors) actually paid for your loan. For example, was it a WAMU loan they got for 20 cents on the dollar?

The point is, you usually won't know the actual auction price, or even if the sale will be postponed, until the morning of the scheduled sale. It's a tough spot to be in, especially if you've got a family.

My best advice start looking for a rental, plan on some cash-for-keys, and think about gracefully moving on.

Thanks for that Greg. I'm content with whatever happens, and I don't particularly care about dragging it out, other than my probably naive hope that the settlement and this being an election year, etc may mean that Principal Reduction is a possibility. It would be really irritating if I missed it by a month or two.

The loans started with and are serviced by Wells, so I think it's full freight, although the investor on the big one is BAC.

I never applied for HAMP, but I did some prelim stuff with the bank in 2011 and some non-profit groups, but nothing applied to me really. Now, the settlment cash is for private bank loans, not the GSEs, which finally fits me.

Do you think there's no point in applying then?

toothfairy says

Hey I might buy something you have a garage door opener?

I do. But it's the manual kind. :)

CL says

Do you think there's no point in applying then?

If you really want to keep the house and modify the loan, it's worth a shot. Just don't expect any principal reduction.

If you are well-underwater, you may be best just to move on and start enjoying your new life as a renter.

And I bet in 2-3 years you'll be able to buy back the same house for even less if you wanted to.