Hello everybody!!! thinking of walking away too.

[HighDesertFighter]

hi newbie here and first-off I wanna say that this is a great forum. It really opened up my eyes about the modification and foreclosure process...I'm from hesperia in CA - the high desert. ----we bought our house in 2007 and already we are thinking of walking away - due to hardship & bad decisions. Was a first-time homebuyer and got taken advantage off by my realtor/broker.

We won't be paying this month(aug) so we expect calls in the next couple weeks. We will try to work with NACA and/or Bofa for a modification but, we are leaning more towards leaving this house..why? I commute to work from hesperia to LA - that's about 160 miles trip everyday. I'm dishing out so much money on gas alone. My work cut down in OT and hours of work, wife got laid off in march and she's having sensitive pregnancy. Wife couldn't find a job here in the high desert or inland empire..limited job opportunities available. Bills are filing up, I'm still current on my bills but almost all of our savings have been exhausted already - I would rather cut our losses now(house) than let our lives be consumed by debt and stress.Only reason I want to get a modification is so we can have a chance to keep the house & rent it.

I have a question - when i file for taxes next year, will I still be able to deduct the mortgage interests i paid from jan-july?

[Moe Bedard]

Hello fellow IE neighbor and welcome to the community!

To the best of my knowledge, All Mortgage Interest paid on any loan or loans secured by income property is tax deductible. Regardless of a foreclosure. But, please do not take my word in stone and I am not a tax attorney.

Publication 936 (2008), Home Mortgage Interest Deduction

The tax code permits homeowners who itemize their federal income tax deductions to reduce their taxable income by the annual amount of mortgage interest paid on a first (and second) home, up to $1 million in total home mortgage debt. Further, taxpayers may deduct interest allocable to up to $100,000 of home equity loans.

For the purpose of the Alternative Minimum Tax [AMT], taxpayers may deduct non-home equity loan interest from AMT taxable income as well.

Itemizing homeowners may also deduct state and local real estate taxes paid on an owner-occupied home.

[HighDesertFighter]

Okay, it's official...not paying Aug. 2009. No debt collector calls yet but we are expecting it pretty soon. We are already in process of loan modification thru hopenow. We didn't even send out any information or reach out to Bank of America but the bank placed our account in loan modification.

We will try to get a modification and see if we can get a good deal to keep the house. If not, we will just try to delay everything so we can stay rent-free in our house for a long time to save some money. I'll keep this thread updated from time to time.

Aug. 1, 2009 - First miss payment.
Lender - Countrywide (Bank Of America)
NOD- ???

[snapple candy]

High Desert,
I doubt you will hear from them very quickly and you can probably get quite a few months free rent. B of A does not have a good track record for mods and they are pretty much slime in my book. Its worth a shot to try and see how it works out but if you dont really want to live it and need to move, is it worth the headache? Depends on how underwater you are.