walking away in las vegas, nv. any suggestion?

[pwrought]

I decided to walk from may home. It is on the market for a short sale, but I have a bad feeling that it will not stick with BOA first and Citimortgage second. Any suggestion about protecting myself from future deficiency judgments. I had a strong hardship and still losing a lot walking from my house. My biggest problem is I am $160,000 underwater. I cannot afford an attorney and I wish I could get some legal advices.

[booggs28]

Originally Posted by pwrought

I decided to walk from may home. It is on the market for a short sale, but I have a bad feeling that it will not stick with BOA first and Citimortgage second. Any suggestion about protecting myself from future deficiency judgments. I had a strong hardship and still losing a lot walking from my house. My biggest problem is I am $160,000 underwater. I cannot afford an attorney and I wish I could get some legal advices.

Greetings: I would suggest that you stay in your home as long as you are seeking the short sale. Save as much money as you can in the mean time. Until it goes to foreclosure and it is sold your name is still on it and any damages and such can cause you more headaches. Second, if you have a chance to negotiate cash for keys if you do get foreclosed on you still need to be occupying the home. Some have gotten up to $2500. Keep that in mind as you may need that funding to help with moving expenses and such.

Please visit the thread on the Mortgage Forgivness Tax Act - there is valuable information regarding tax liabilities - as far as your second with citi - once the first lien has foreclosed you can negotiate with them to settle the debt for as little as 5 to 10%. I believe you need to wait to see what transpires with first lien.

I have another thread on legal aid - there may be information there that could assist you in any other legal issues that I am so not qualified to answer. Also, check to see as I do not know if NV is re-course or non recourse state.

best wishes
booger

[nativelasvegan]

I agree. Stay in your home and start saving money. There has to be a tremendous backlog on the foreclosures in Vegas. It could be many months before the process is complete. Might as well stay rent free until you receive your walking papers. Maybe you can contact the Nevada State Bar Association (382-2200) and tell them you need a lawyer but do not have the money to hire one. Maybe they can suggest an attorney who will work pro bono (free) or maybe they can suggest a low income legal team. Maybe you can try Nevada Legal Services at 386-0404. They are a low cost law group. God bless you. Good luck to you.

[pwrought]

So tired today. Can you believe that my house is on the market for only 1 day and I had more than 5 people coming to look. I do not want to sell so fast, but it seems that it will go fast because of the way it looks and the price that I am asking. I am heart broken. 82,000 for a home that I paid 250,000. I could buy 3 houses like mine for the amount of my loan with BOA.
Do you guys believe that it is better to do a short sale or foreclose this home?

[Enough Already]

pwrought,

NV is a recourse state, meaning the bank can come after you for the deficiency after the foreclosure. That being the case I'd say trying for a short sales is definitely the best route to take. If your house is priced right you should get an offer right away. But don't worry. Just because you have an offer doesn't mean you'll have to move out quickly, as short sales seem to take a long time for the most part (I've been waiting to hear back on our short sale offer for 4 moths). If your short sale happens to go through quickly consider yourself lucky, as you'll be free walk away from the house and start fresh.

I'd also suggest you take a look at the Short Sale section of this forum, and read, read, read. Arm yourself with as much info as possible. There are also other people on this forum, also in NV who are walking/short selling who's stories may be helpful to you.

Good luck, and please keep us posted!

EA

[Alynn]

I let go of my investment property in Las Vegas and I received a summon yesterday for the deficiency of $121K. I have 30 days to respond to the court. This doesn't make sense at all. The reason that I let go of the property because I don't have the money to begin with. What does MGIC (the plaintiff) want from me? I don't have the money that they're asking for. Any suggestions as far as seeking legal advice.

[pwrought]

Horrible time... My house is only 2 days on the market and I've got 4 offers on it. One of the offer is cash. I hate those investors vampires who take advantage of us homeowner with an underwater mortgage. Do you guys think I should keep this short sale going? I am feeling that I will not be here for a long time. Maybe 2 months. I have Countrywide with Citimortgage on the second. How long it will take?

[Kimbly]

Originally Posted by Alynn

I let go of my investment property in Las Vegas and I received a summon yesterday for the deficiency of $121K. I have 30 days to respond to the court. This doesn't make sense at all. The reason that I let go of the property because I don't have the money to begin with. What does MGIC (the plaintiff) want from me? I don't have the money that they're asking for. Any suggestions as far as seeking legal advice.

Arlynn - you need to get ahold of a lawyer that handles real estate law and litigation. If you don't respond timely, you can have a default judgement against you (meaning you will owe the entire amount they seek plus court fees often).

My lawyer (in AZ, but on 2nd mortgage which is recourse) advised if I was sued (rather than getting to settle prior to suit), that he would file for dismissal and handle settlement negotiations directly with them. He told me to plan on paying 20-25% of the balance if that scenario came to be (plus his fees of course). He said you are in a better position if you have cash to bring to the table but otherwise they will arrange payments. I'm not sure but I don't think you can go pro se in this type of case and must obtain legal representation.

If they can get a judgement, they can obtain up to 25% of your income. I believe the amount varies based on the amount you're making (and maybe the state) but that's the lovely possibility I'm facing here.

The retainer for my attorney is $3,000. The retainer may or may not cover the costs of filing the dismissal and negotiations. For me, thats far better than paying the full amount though.

Good luck to you! Keep us posted!

[Kimbly]

Originally Posted by pwrought

Horrible time... My house is only 2 days on the market and I've got 4 offers on it. One of the offer is cash. I hate those investors vampires who take advantage of us homeowner with an underwater mortgage. Do you guys think I should keep this short sale going? I am feeling that I will not be here for a long time. Maybe 2 months. I have Countrywide with Citimortgage on the second. How long it will take?

CW/BoA is the worst for short sales. With four offers, they will likely counter all four at a higher amount than the highest offered. But, it will take months and months for them to respond. Start stashing all the $ you can so you have funds to move.

Your real estate agent will need to coordinate with Citi to see if they will accept the short sale, too. And, with CW to see if they will pass any of the funds to Citi in the event that the sale amount doesn't cover the 1st. Often sellers need to come to the table with some money to get the 2nd to release the lien.

Note, be very very careful. Make sure all the paperwork states that not only will the lien be released but that the debt will be considered settled in full. I have a client right now that is facing a deficiency judgement of about $150k because her paperwork (which she didn't fully read) stated BoA could collect the deficiency AND it stated that she acknowledged she was responsible for it in full. She signed at the advise of her RE agent who was inexperienced in short sales and also didn't understand that BoA was going to pursue deficiency. Now the RE agent is out of business and their Errors and Omissions Insurance has lapsed. She's trying to get a suit against the RE agent to cover the deficiency but of course there will be no way to collect against the RE agent either.

Good luck!

[mollysfolly]

Originally Posted by Alynn

I let go of my investment property in Las Vegas and I received a summon yesterday for the deficiency of $121K. I have 30 days to respond to the court. This doesn't make sense at all. The reason that I let go of the property because I don't have the money to begin with. What does MGIC (the plaintiff) want from me? I don't have the money that they're asking for. Any suggestions as far as seeking legal advice.

Alynn if you qualify for Chapter7 bankruptcy it will eliminate the deficiency and in my opinion the cheapest legal option to squash the deficiency as MGIC seems to be aggressive since they are an insurer, see Racoons threads about MGIC. My second also had insurance on it so I filed to negate the deficiency and get a fresh start. BK cost me $1700 and was the best investment I've made in a while.