OCT 16th our walking begins...

[we're_still_reviewing]

We have decided to walk away from our house. We're planning on foreclosing and filing for Chapter 7.

I will try and chronicle our journey in the hopes that it may help someone else.

Oct 1st - Missed Payment
Oct 15th- Grace period ends.

NJ
Purchased home in 2007
$510,000

Owe $407k plus escrow shortage of 10K
Total owed $417K

Home is worth $350-$399K (being optimistic)

Denied Twice by Wells Fargo for Loan Mod.

I'll post when I start getting phone calls and letters.

[Believe]

Sorry to hear you couldn't get help, We're. We made the same decision this month, but our bank is HSBC, not Wells. We already received one phone call, and the guy called me at work. He said it was a courtesy call to remind me to pay, then asked when I would be paying. I said, "Probably never." He asked, "Well, you still have a job, right? Why can't you pay?" I hung up on him because I had already told him I couldn't talk to him at work. But what I was thinking was, "You're kidding, right? You have every piece of financial documentation that's every been produced about me in the past two years, and you're asking why?" Good luck to you, We're. I hope we find peace in the end.

[we're_still_reviewing]

Originally Posted by Believe

Sorry to hear you couldn't get help, We're. We made the same decision this month, but our bank is HSBC, not Wells. We already received one phone call, and the guy called me at work. He said it was a courtesy call to remind me to pay, then asked when I would be paying. I said, "Probably never." He asked, "Well, you still have a job, right? Why can't you pay?" I hung up on him because I had already told him I couldn't talk to him at work. But what I was thinking was, "You're kidding, right? You have every piece of financial documentation that's every been produced about me in the past two years, and you're asking why?" Good luck to you, We're. I hope we find peace in the end.

Thank You. Good Luck to you as well.

How late was your payment before you got the first call ?

I didn't realize they were allowed to call you at work. I thought they could only contact you at home. I'm trying to think up of some witty one liners so when they call I can fire it at them.

When they ask you why you can't pay......

Say .."How about you look at my financials and figure it out for yourself" Dimwit. LOL. Maybe I'll leave out the dimwit part.

My new motto is ...Wells Fargo, they are a special kind of stupid.

[Believe]

My payment was due on the first of the month, and I have a grace period until the 15th. The courtesy call came on the 12th. If they call you at work, tell them you are not able to take calls at work and they must stop. In my case, that's what I did and it has worked. Others have said it's necessary to put it in writing, and that could be true. They must have a telephone number to reach you, such as a home phone or cell phone, even if you don't answer their calls. You'll find out very quickly if they have a valid phone number for you. One of the other loansafe members told me that for the first 30 days, there are few calls. Then, the calls pick up pretty regularly from days 30-60. After day 60, you pretty much get bombarded.

[weneedpeace]

Hi Believe and WSR,

WF is ridiculous.

It's also been very quiet on this end. Our craptastic offer does not expire with WF until the end of the month. So, I'm sure they have collections calls turned off until that date. Then the onslaught begins and they can have all the fun they want. We do not have a home telephone number and there is this wonderful thing on cell phones called 'vibrate' where I don't have to hear the phone ring.

We just had a phone consultation with a landlord-tenant attorney yesterday to address how this affects them (and me subsequently).
(Our house is out of state). He told me the entire process and what our options are. Basically, our tenants will receive back their security deposit from us after the house sells at auction. He estimates with the new federal statutes for tenants being min. 90 days before they have to vacate after a foreclosure - that they'll actually be able to live in the home potentially 7 months rent free. There's a lot more to this that he went over and it was just wow! a lot to digest. He said that the court system is so incredibly backed up where they are, that it is taking some over 8 months before they have to move out (if they want to ride it out and do not want to actually have the lender/investor as their new landlord).

As for us, I opened a new checking account today. WF negatives have already affected our credit score. We've dropped 200 points in 4 months. (We were originally 750+ before all of this). I had to go through the entire story with the bank rep. He had a ton of questions (we're military and our home is out of state which adds extra layers). He offered us an account for people 'reestablishing credit'. He kept telling me over and over how 'we'll rebuilt'. I felt a bit bad about telling him as he was more upset about it than we were.. I honestly don't give a hoot about FICO.

So.. we have a checking account. There's a small $10/mo. charge for 12 months (then this goes away). Can't have more than 4 NSFs in 12 months. (We only had 1 last year while we were still trying to pay the mortgage + rent).

He thought we were going to be beat up about having this hand hold the child who can't pay their bills account (which is how the form describes it). While it was mildly embarrasing, I assured him that many of us going through foreclosure do not fit the 'traditional' mold and certainly weren't irresponsible. I asked him how he'd like to try paying for 2 households and how that would fit into his bank member services representative budget...

[ISABELCHAVEZ1981]

I stopped paying as well for the month of October. Home is under about $110k in Florida.
Oct 1 pmt due, grace period also ends October 15. Got my first phone call today. October 17 at 8:17am. Wow. My bank is AHMSI. I have paid on time for about 4 years and they call two days after it is late. They dont give you a break. Oh well let's see how this goes. Member:We're still reviewing. lets compare how your journey goes and mine since we both started not paying at same time. I hope they dont bother me at work or show up by my house. I am nervous but determined to do this even though it will damage my credit of 800. Let the journey begin.

[we're_still_reviewing]

1st phone call from Wells Fargo today 10/19/2009.

They called my husband on his work cell. My husband asked for a call back number b/c he wasn't able to speak with them. My sweet husband thought it was a miracle and that WF was ready to offer us a Loan Mod. Sweet man. So optimistic. I'm not sure he knows what kind of a battle we are headed for.

My husband then gave me the 1-800# to WF and I called them back.

I nicely stated to WF to please Not call my husband at that number. It is his work cell and he can not accept personal phone calls on it. No problem she removed his number from the contact list.

She asked me if I was prepared to make a payment today and I said no. She asked me what has caused us to fall behind. I explained to her the rising house costs, (utilities, etc) and our personal debts. I also told her that everyother month we were paying WF First and our utilities either late or not at all and we decided this month to pay everything else first and after all that we found we didn't have enough for a WF payment.

She asked me if we had gone for a loan mod. Yes, we did and were denied twice I replied. Okay. "So when do you think you can make a payment". I said maybe next month. She said ok. I'll note that down.

Ok. have a good day.

Have a good day.

That's all. She was very nice. Her name was Tracey.

We don't plan on paying next month either. So we'll see when the next call comes.


**ISABEL**
If they bother you at work. You simply tell them that they can only reach you at your home number. First trying telling them that verbally and if you have to put it in writing ...do it. Good Luck. We'll see how this goes.

[Isabel]

Today I got called about 4 times. Oh well. Not ready to speak to them. dont know what to say yet.

[outta_here]

Hey we're still reviewing and Isabel - my husband and I met with an attorney tonight and he said to send the lender's cease and desist letters so that they will not harass you. I found an example almost exactly like the one we have (we don't use the word alleged since it's obvious we owe them money):

Sample Cease and Desist Letter For Debt Collectors - Stop Debt Collection Calls

Best of luck and I hope the calls stop or are at least managable soon!

[Isabel]

Im scared of being sued for the difference in my home. Does this happen often. My home is about 110k underwater. I believe in Florida, one can be sued for the difference of what they get. Does anyone know if this is common.

Thank you outta here, I will use the letter.

I am just getting more nervous day by day of this whole process and how its going to run. Hurt that my credit will go down but oh well its something I have decided to do.

I hear of people fromt eh bank coming by your home. I live in a gated community so they should not let them in but I still walk out thinking if one will be outside.

[we're_still_reviewing]

Originally Posted by Isabel

Im scared of being sued for the difference in my home. Does this happen often. My home is about 110k underwater. I believe in Florida, one can be sued for the difference of what they get. Does anyone know if this is common.

Thank you outta here, I will use the letter.

I am just getting more nervous day by day of this whole process and how its going to run. Hurt that my credit will go down but oh well its something I have decided to do.

I hear of people fromt eh bank coming by your home. I live in a gated community so they should not let them in but I still walk out thinking if one will be outside.

I think they can sue you for the difference for up to 8 years. Not sure if I read that correctly BUT if you file for Bancruptcy the foreclosure gets discharged in the BK case.

[weneedpeace]

The attorney that I spoke to for our state (not Florida) said that statute of limitations for our state was 5 years.

Our attorney said that they are not filing deficiency judgement in our state/region.. local attornies are so oversaturated with foreclosures and the time invested to file/track down 'us' is too much. No one wants to deal with it. (He said that he goes to lunch regularly with the other attornies). Of course, this may change sometime over the next 5 years. The attorney said because of husband's active duty military status - if we hear indication that they would entertain pursuing us - to file Chapter 7.

[we're_still_reviewing]

Today is Oct 27th and we have not gotten any more phone calls from Wells Fargo. I'm assuming that based on what I told them, previously, that they will wait to call again after we miss our Nov 1st payment.

Otherwise, everything is pretty quiet. Spent the bulk of our missed mtge payment on clothes and things for my kids that we haven't bought in about a year. It was nice to get a new pair of boots and a sweater for my daughter who is 13. We even took them ice skating. We haven't had any money to do anything fun in a very looooong time.

It's time to start Living again.

Will keep updating as things happen.



__________________________________________________ ______

Paying it Forward

[cleach]

Good for you - hang in there!

[darlyj]

Originally Posted by we're_still_reviewing

...Spent the bulk of our missed mtge payment on clothes and things for my kids that we haven't bought in about a year. It was nice to get a new pair of boots and a sweater for my daughter who is 13. We even took them ice skating. We haven't had any money to do anything fun in a very looooong time.

It's time to start Living again.

Amen. "Santa" was able to get a little shopping done and things put up in the closet at our house. Nothing too fancy, but at least one or two nice things will be under the tree for the kids and daddy. Plus I did something that we haven't been able to do in MONTHS....pay a bill when it came in the mail, instead of trying to figure how long we could go before something got shut off! OMG! Oh, oh and that's not all.....DH and I will actually be able to afford to go on a DATE once again! *Cue skies parting and angels singing*

When DH went to the NACA thing in Phoenix, he had to repeatedly tell the rep that no, we did not go out to eat, to movies, have ANY pocket money, etc. She was floored when DH explained that we did not have an entertainment budget. It consists of cable (dish now because it is cheaper here) and the internet. He said he guessed we could cut those too and she said no. The bank wants to see that you will make some sacrafices. Um, we've made about all we can....that's why we're here. Hellooooooo. It was damned near impossible to pull $40 or $50 together for fuel and parking. We made about all the sacrafices we dared and it still wasn't nearly enough. We can't even afford the extra fuel to go for a drive.

Well, couldn't.......

I'm with you....living sure beats the Hell out of trying to claw your way out of a hole you will realistically never get out of.

[Believe]

Great post, Darly! I love it! Entertainment in the budget? They think we're all making the hardship thing up. Like you, I've given up everything - no restaurants, movies, hobbies, vacations, clothes, cosmetics, and on and on. It's pretty pathetic when all we have left is cable tv and the internet, and we have to fight them tooth and nail to keep it. Oh, and the cell phone - that's another one.

[we're_still_reviewing]

It is sad that they think we are making up our hardship. Kids shouldn't have to know at such a young age what it is to struggle. They should be having fun and having fun with parents who aren't stressed out to the max and are having a hard time sleeping at night. No More.

There is freedom in walking away and I plan on having fun whilst doing it !

[we're_still_reviewing]

No new phone calls. Wells Fargo hasn't sent us any new correspondence except for our monthly statement.

Will keep updating as things happen.

[Believe]

We're, thanks for the update. I've been watching for you to update this thread because we stopped paying at the same time. My lender is not Wells Fargo, however. HSBC is mine. So far, I can tell you that NOT paying DOES get their attention more than paying does. I was never late with a single mortgage payment in 4 years, and begged them for a reduced interest rate for two of those 4 years. They never once called me on the phone. Now that I'm late, they have called twice to "help" me. I still don't have any help, mind you, but at least they're calling.

[we're_still_reviewing]

Originally Posted by Believe

We're, thanks for the update. I've been watching for you to update this thread because we stopped paying at the same time. My lender is not Wells Fargo, however. HSBC is mine. So far, I can tell you that NOT paying DOES get their attention more than paying does. I was never late with a single mortgage payment in 4 years, and begged them for a reduced interest rate for two of those 4 years. They never once called me on the phone. Now that I'm late, they have called twice to "help" me. I still don't have any help, mind you, but at least they're calling.

We haven't sent our November payment either. I guess the calling will probably get crazy after the 15th of this month. I'm hoping this drags on for a very long time. Have you read about the case in NY where the mortgage debt was wiped clean because MERS was the one that sued the homeowner and obviously MERS doesn't hold the note ? I'm hoping that happens in our case. We need more judges with the balls to do stuff like that.

[KFish]

Hey Werestillreviewing...

Any update? How often are they calling?