My foreclosure dream house

16 years ago

Ah, finally public sale day arrived. I was ready. We had to drive 8 hours to get a bank check (the bank we used didn't have a branch in our state). I got up early, put on my best casual sunday clothes. Checked the lawyer's website one last time to make sure the sale hadn't been cancelled. Called his office and left message on his voice mail - just in case.

Tripping out the door early so I could gas up and make a run through Starbucks and still arrive at the sale an hour early (DH insisted I get there early) clutching check in hand with a sticky note from my lawyer on what to look for re: bid conditions .... The sun was shining ... the birds were chirping ... ok that's an exageration. But it was a nice day.

Just as I had cleared the little town and was on my way to the interstate - the phone rang and it was the lawyer doing the sale telling me the sale had been cancelled. No explanation. Just cancelled. Told me the house would never be sold ever ... OK - he was pretty rude. Once again, my housing choice had been foreclosed. I was crushed.

Still determined to find out what happened ... and not about to get an explanation or even a glimmer from the guy doing the sale ... I drove directly to my bank (which happens to be the same bank foreclosing on my dream house) and sat down in front of my banking lady - until she started making calls (I find that here, if you don't sit down in front of them - no one will do much - not my RE agent, not the girl who wants to make our mortgage so she gets a bonus - money does not seem to be a motivator) Well she found one person who told her - and I'm not surprised - that the sale was cancelled (not postponed) because the bank was trying to get a lien cleared - (ha! I kept asking everyone I could handling that foreclosure that there was a small senior lien on the property, no one would return our calls - finally last Friday I had my lawyer fax a letter to the attorney's office asking them about it - she never got a response BTW) Also the person at Bank told us that the bank was making an insurance claim on the mortgage.

I'm not sure what that means in terms of the sales price. But have been given a new person to contact in Loss/Mitigation. Now told that we can buy the property again, via shortsale since foreclosure sale was cancelled.

And, as usual, called on Tuesday, left voice mails, no response - you would think that at the least she would return the call to the young lady at their Bank branch. May be hoping for too much.

Was thinking more about - house sitting - you know wintah is coming - sounds better than squatting.

After all that ... can someone here explain to me what it means "making an insurance claim" ??

I already know that I would have to clear the senior lien. But wonder what effect the insurance claim would have on the second mortgage - the one that the bank holds.

FWIW - we have been in contact with one of the owners of the property - so there is a short sale possibilty.

To make matters worse - I never got my Starbucks Vente Latte.

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Comments (8)

triciae
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Title insurance claim.

And, you're correct. Money is not a motivator. Life moves slower in NE & the further off the coast you are the slower things move. My DH works in NY & spends weekends here in Mystic with me. Every Saturday he comments that it's useless to be in a hurry in Mystic as he waits for the boats to pass through the drawbridge so he can get his morning coffee. :)

Good luck with the property!

/tricia
marys1000
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
You know reading about all this bank......what..incompetency? is upsetting. Their slowness, lack of motivation to work with home owners, generally being way behind the ball on this whole scenario...I mean these are the people that have all my money. And after all this I'm not sure why I trust them with it frankly. If they were more efficient - could they be give us higher interest rates?
I never thought to much about banks and banking before but this is giving them a black eye in my view.
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disneyrsh
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Kudos to you for being so tenacious.

I like that in people. Don't give up!
pattifer
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Marys1000 has a reasonable concern. What we have found astounding is the universal lack of communication. How does anyone get anything done? I mean really, no one talking to anyone. Not even within the same bank.

A short sale is out as it requires way more than the defaulting owners are going to be willing to do. I suggested a deed in lieu of foreclosure - I'm familiar with those - but this is a property with a small first mortgage in favor of a town (for a business improvement loan) a large second (the large bank that thought it was the first, ha, fooled them) and another small third to a different consumer lending company that thought it was a second. (Ha, again) All told, the three loans total over $100K than the FMV of the mortgaged property. Yet, we had worked all the math out, done our due dilegence and had a price in hand we would have paid the Bank and taken the property subject to the senior lien and the outstanding tax and municipal liens.

Living through this FUBARB - I am losing any sympathy for the lenders who got themselves into this mess. The two national lenders the Bank and the Finance Company - when they did the refinances, either failed to update their title records or relied on a title company that did a very poor job. The senior lien should have been caught at the time the Bank did the refi.

But, this is "the" house and we'll hang in there. Probably all the way through to the second foreclosure sale. After all, we have our money from what we made selling our house - making money - it's not going anywhere. I was hoping against all hope that we would be out of this tiny apartment and into a house with all of our stuff out of storage before Christmas. :(

MP
marys1000
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I don't know much about all this but it seems like there should be a board of stockholders somewhere. A body that is interested in the management of personnel, business practices and their effieciency.

If (big if prolly) you could track down this body and write the a polite but scathing letter I think you'd be doing a lot of people a favor. Be sure to Cc everyone at the bank you've been talking to.
triciae
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
You could go in through the 'back door', so to speak.

Why not offer to buy the mortgage instead of the house? Then, you could foreclose it out.

Just a thought...

/tricia
GammyT
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
pattifer, it sounds to me like you, and your lawyer made it clear to the banks that you are desperate for this property.

The banks are still trying clear Title Insurance. If you have to ask here what that means, fire your lawyer! It means the former owner put the title on the house up to three banks and the banks have figure out which of them get the title.

At the same time you are pushing, and maybe someone else is also pushing. Shhhh... let the banks work things out and dont be so eager.

When they figure it out and if they don't hike the price because of demand. Make sure you or your new lawyer go to the county and state and insure there isnt a lien on the property so you are not buying the owners old debts.
pattifer
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Tricia - exactly what my lawyer suggested. But then aren't we back to having to actually talk to someone in order to buy the mortgage?

Grammyt - I know what Title Insurance is and we know the sale was put on hold to clear a senior lien they did not know about (that's the most information my branch manager could get from loss/mitigation). The bank only knows that a bank "customer" is interested in the property - and as it stands now - only the loan officer at the Bank's branch in my town knows that. The only way to find out if the bank will sell the mortgage, or do a short sale, etc. is to talk to someone - by necessity someone at the mortgage company has to know. That would require the person in charge of the file to actually return a phone call to their own bank branch manager. That has yet to happen.

I intend to tough this one out. I've heard the folks up here in the extreme northeast are mightly frugal. I don't know if a bidding war is their style. :)

My foreclosure dream house

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