Citimortgage is suing me....

[MikeG]

Im new to this forum found it on google. Im 68 years old and on SSI. I have two mortgages one with Indymac for 533k and one with citi for 160k. Im under water with my second mortgage all my funds have been wasted trying to pay my house, and i could no longer afford to pay. So i stoped paying it 8 months ago thinking that they would want to settle. I was served by the sheriff's dept. couple of days ago, citi hired Forster, Garbus & Garbus a collection agency. They are suing me so i decided to call and they said that citi was willing to take an offer from me. I have no money so i asked my son if he could help me. He offered to give me 20k and thats the offer i gave them. They called me today saying that citi had responded and said they wanted 25 cents on the dollar, $39,900. I told them i did not have that kind of money. Dont know if i should hire a lawyer or even if this is a legit offer...

[Evan Bedard]

Welcome and thanks for joining the forum.

What state is your property located in and was your 2nd mortgage a refinance?

[MikeG]

I live in NJ and yes it was a refinance. Original loan was for 640k but we pulled 60k in equity out when we refinanced with Indymac and citi to pay off credit cards. The Indymac loan is a 10 year interest only then 20 year principal after. The citi one was a fifteen year with a balloon payment at the end of that.

[Evan Bedard]

I would recommend contacting a local real estate attorney right away to discuss your options. Your 2nd mortgage is recourse and they do hold the right to pursue a judgement against you.. You can find reputable attorneys using the link below..

National Association of Consumer Advocates | Consumer Protection Advocates and Attorneys - Help for Consumers

[MikeG]

Spoke to a lawyer today and he said that the offer they gave me sounded good, and if i needed him to assist in any way on the settlement he would help. He also said that i could do it myself if i wanted to. Do you think that i could counter offer again. My daughter has also said she would help with the settlement cost I have around 30K to offer now. Do you think the bank would consider any more offers? Reason being I don't have the $39,900 that they are asking for...

[Evan Bedard]

Spoke to a lawyer today and he said that the offer they gave me sounded good, and if i needed him to assist in any way on the settlement he would help. He also said that i could do it myself if i wanted to. Do you think that i could counter offer again. My daughter has also said she would help with the settlement cost I have around 30K to offer now. Do you think the bank would consider any more offers? Reason being I don't have the $39,900 that they are asking for...

Do you know how much your property is currently worth? I do believe you can counter the offer especially if you owe far more than the property is currently worth. They will generally always start out trying to get as much money out of you as possible and this is where negotiations begin.

[MikeG]

I checked on zillow and it says the house is worth $550,000. I owe 533K on the first one and 160K on the second. I called the bank today and they said that it had gotten charged off. They directed me to talk to the collections people. I think i will call tomorrow and give another offer of 30K

[ingiukas]

I posted my story with Citi, when it got charged off, they dismissed the case and transferred to collection agency. Collection agency wanted 8K for 95K balance. So if I were you, I would not rush. I think its good news for you, that it was charged off.

[MikeG]

Thanks Ingiukas, I gave them an offer of 27K and they accepted. Went to the collection agency and gave them the bank check and received the paper work from them. Now its onto OneWest Bank AKA IndyMac mortgage to try and get my second loan modified... But from the looks of other members posts looks like they are not very willing to do Mod's...

[Cat Damiano]

MikeG,


That is great that they accepted your offer versus the figure that they seemed to be stuck on. Good Luck with the modification with OneWest, if you have any questions about that process please do not hesitate to ask.

[lasvegashomeowner]

House is in Nevada
Value is around $300,000
1st Mortgage - $270,000 - current
HELOC 2nd Mortgage - $150,000 - 7 months behind

Obviously, they didn't want to foreclosure since the second is completely underwater. Was following the Strategy for Settling your 2nd. We stopped our 2nd mortgage payments 7 months ago. We received notice from Citibank that the loan was being charged off which we know is mainly an accounting measure.

We recently received a summons delivered by a process server stating that Citibank is suing us for Breach of Contract and Unjust Enrichment in regard to the 2nd mortgage.

What I don't understand is Nevada has what is called the "One Action Rule". From what I get from reading that law is that a bank is supposed to foreclosure before suing. Question...Since Citibank is now suing us personally and if Citibank receives a judgement in their favor, wouldn't that release the lien from the house since under the "One Action Rule" they have to do one or the other (foreclosure or sue)?

BTW...thanks for the forum. It really helps to know that we are not alone in this mess.

[Cat Damiano]

lasvegashomeowner,


Unfortunately this is something that you will need to discuss with an attorney in your area if you are unclear about your states foreclosure laws. You can also do a search at the top of the forum to see if there are other members in Nevada going through the process that may be a bit further along.

You can find a reputable real estate foreclosure attorney here;

National Association of Consumer Advocates | Consumer Protection Advocates and Attorneys - Help for Consumers