Helocs and Foreclosure

[lostinhouse]

Hi All, I'm new to the site but I've been lurking for some time reading everyones stories. I have heart felt sympathy for everyone going through this financial mess.

My story isnt unlike many others here. I live in CA and have been trying to get a short sale done on my property for a year now with no luck. I believe countrywide is restarting foreclosure proceedings so it looks like I'm just going to have to let it go. My credit is already ruined so that doesnt bug me. Countrywide isnt going to seek defiency on the 1st so that doesnt bug me but what does worry me is my heloc with Bank of America. From everything I've read, they will come after me any way they can. The heloc is not purchase money.

I Havent spoken to a bk attorney but from looking at the means test I am positive that I wont qualify for chapter 7. I'm not sure about chapter 13.

My question is has anyone sucessfully negotiated a reduced payoff on thier heloc after foreclosure? If bk isnt an option then is that the only way to get them off your back?

My heloc with bofa is currently for 84k. The house has lost about 450k in equity which is huge. It was about a 700k house at the peak of the market.

For those wondering, I had a credit score of 802 and would never miss a payment on anything. After nearly a year of not paying my 1st, my score has dropped to 683 and it shows "foreclosure proceedings started" for my cw loan. It will probably get lower before this is all over.

[Enough Already]

Hi Lost,
Welcome to the forum. Prof Shays is the resident expert on CA foreclosure law, but here's a link to one of his posts that you might find helpful: Judicial foreclosure on recourse loans in California?.

You may also also want to look through his other posts for more info. From what I understand your lender would likely chose to go the non-judicial route which would make them unable to pursue any deficiency.

Good luck!

EA