Another One Walking in Sacramento Area

[Foreclose On Me]

First, I want to thank Moe and the LoanSafe team for establishing and maintaining such an informative site. I have been reviewing the information on this site for over a year and have only now decided to share my story. I hope that I will find some support and maybe a few answers as I take the final step.

I bought my home with my wife in July 2007 near Sacramento in California. When we initially signed the contract with the seller (January 2007), the mortgage broker we were working with kept trying to get me or my wife to lie about our income or job title. I refused, thinking that I was going to be given an appropriate mortgage if I told the truth. Well, a few months later the broker comes back to me with a "great deal!" A 7 year ARM, with an interest rate buy-down by the seller. A second mortgage/HELOC was also approved at a very low variable rate (currently around 4.5%). We financed at 100%. Both loans are with Wells Fargo. Both were interest only payments, but I knew I could make additional principal payments (and did so for the first two years).

This was my wife's and my first home. We knew that those 3 year ARMs were unsafe, but we figured that in 7 years, even if we were in a housing bubble (remember, by the time we closed on our house, there were already signs of cracks in the housing market) we would be able to recover enough equity, especially if we were making principal payments, to refinance into a 30-year fixed. Plus, I was certain my income would increase at a steady rate.

Fast forward a little over one year. My wife quits her job to return to school after supporting me through law school. The housing market and financial markets begin to crumble more significantly than I ever imagined could be possible. Then my employer decides to freeze salaries and reduce (or eliminate) bonuses. After taking a long, hard look at my finances, I determine that we really couldn't afford the home when we bought it and should never have agreed to the loan... but we were starry eyed and smitten and made a mistake.

A year ago, I stopped paying additional principal on the loans to put that money toward other debts. We spoke with the bank on numerous occasions to attempt to find some workout or modification, but we "did not qualify". In March 2010, after realizing that every third home in our neighborhood (a brand new subdivision) is either vacant or for sale, I decided to stop paying on the mortgages altogether and decided that we would attempt a short sale (because that would make my wife feel better) but would refuse to sign any promissory note for the difference.

I determined, with help from this forum, that if I short sell, there will be no additional tax liability due to the recent legislation. I will not sign any promissory note and will require that the banks release all additional liability to accept a short sale, and so will be free and clear upon closing.

If I do not short sell, I will allow the bank to foreclose. At the earliest, foreclosure will occur in Fall. Both first and second are purchase-money (and explicitly state so in the contracts) so there would be no personal liability. In addition, I would have no tax on the forgiven debt, both because of the recent legislation and because my cost basis (including landscaping) is greater than the amount I owe on the home (which would be considered the sale price in a foreclosure).

Right now, we are looking for a house to rent. I'm not sure I want to wait for the short sale to complete or for the foreclosure to become final because the uncertainty of finding a home makes me and my wife nervous. Especially because we have one large breed and one medium breed dog.

I'd really love to hear from anyone who has had luck finding a rental home that allows large dogs and about how long it took to find the place.

Thanks for reading my story.

[Maurice Bedard]

I'm glad you finally joined this year on LoanSafe. We appreciate you took the time to share your story and for being so detailed.

You seem to be very educated on the process and it looks like most of your bases are covered. With that said , your plan looks great. If I were you, I would do the same thing to a T.

Renting should be a piece of cake. I completely understand that it feels a bit insecure to be in a home that soon is going into foreclosure and you have also started mentally cutting off your emotional ties to the home. When that happens, it gets uncomfortable living in a shelter that you no longer care about or want to pay for.

My experience with renting is that it's all going to come down to who you choose to rent from. Most professional agencies, property managers and real estate agents are going be a little bit tougher on the credit application. Private parties are going to be much easier to deal with. However, with the foreclosure crisis wreaking havoc on just about every family in the country, everyone is a lot more forgiving when you have a good explanation and you have a job.

With your pets it is probably going to be best to rent from a private owner who allows pets. You're going to want a yard so a home is going to be the best for you and your animals.

I don't have the best of credit and went through a similar situation in 2002-2004. My financial issues and real estate woes were caused by a bitter divorce and custody battle. Then shorty after that I had medical bills that piled up. It wasn't a good time and to be perfectly honest with you, I never claimed bankruptcy and I still have most of those issues on my credit. And right now I'm renting a four bedroom home with a pool on five acres from a real estate broker here in Southern California.

As I picked myself back up, I never really had a problem renting a property or getting a roof over my head. If you're a good person, clean cut and have a job then getting a home is really easy. Even when you have bad credit or you're facing foreclosure.

The best thing to do is talk this over with your wife and do what is most comfortable for you both. If you want save money for a few months and ride it out, then you will be perfectly fine.

Please keep journaling your story here and feel free to join other discussions on the forum. This will help you deal with the emotions and stress that you're going to feel during this process.

I wish you the best of luck!

[knownick]

Your situation sounds very similar to ours. The kicker for us was the countless empty (brand new) houses on our street, the empty and broken promises from the builder, the city, and the realization that what we were fighting for didn't exist in this neighborhood and wasn't going to for years.

For what it's worth we found a rental in the Sac area for us, our two kids and big black lab post-foreclosure without an issue.

Good luck to you.

[goldie]

First, I want to thank Moe and the LoanSafe team for establishing and maintaining such an informative site. I have been reviewing the information on this site for over a year and have only now decided to share my story. I hope that I will find some support and maybe a few answers as I take the final step.

I bought my home with my wife in July 2007 near Sacramento in California. When we initially signed the contract with the seller (January 2007), the mortgage broker we were working with kept trying to get me or my wife to lie about our income or job title. I refused, thinking that I was going to be given an appropriate mortgage if I told the truth. Well, a few months later the broker comes back to me with a "great deal!" A 7 year ARM, with an interest rate buy-down by the seller. A second mortgage/HELOC was also approved at a very low variable rate (currently around 4.5%). We financed at 100%. Both loans are with Wells Fargo. Both were interest only payments, but I knew I could make additional principal payments (and did so for the first two years).

This was my wife's and my first home. We knew that those 3 year ARMs were unsafe, but we figured that in 7 years, even if we were in a housing bubble (remember, by the time we closed on our house, there were already signs of cracks in the housing market) we would be able to recover enough equity, especially if we were making principal payments, to refinance into a 30-year fixed. Plus, I was certain my income would increase at a steady rate.

Fast forward a little over one year. My wife quits her job to return to school after supporting me through law school. The housing market and financial markets begin to crumble more significantly than I ever imagined could be possible. Then my employer decides to freeze salaries and reduce (or eliminate) bonuses. After taking a long, hard look at my finances, I determine that we really couldn't afford the home when we bought it and should never have agreed to the loan... but we were starry eyed and smitten and made a mistake.

A year ago, I stopped paying additional principal on the loans to put that money toward other debts. We spoke with the bank on numerous occasions to attempt to find some workout or modification, but we "did not qualify". In March 2010, after realizing that every third home in our neighborhood (a brand new subdivision) is either vacant or for sale, I decided to stop paying on the mortgages altogether and decided that we would attempt a short sale (because that would make my wife feel better) but would refuse to sign any promissory note for the difference.

I determined, with help from this forum, that if I short sell, there will be no additional tax liability due to the recent legislation. I will not sign any promissory note and will require that the banks release all additional liability to accept a short sale, and so will be free and clear upon closing.

If I do not short sell, I will allow the bank to foreclose. At the earliest, foreclosure will occur in Fall. Both first and second are purchase-money (and explicitly state so in the contracts) so there would be no personal liability. In addition, I would have no tax on the forgiven debt, both because of the recent legislation and because my cost basis (including landscaping) is greater than the amount I owe on the home (which would be considered the sale price in a foreclosure).

Right now, we are looking for a house to rent. I'm not sure I want to wait for the short sale to complete or for the foreclosure to become final because the uncertainty of finding a home makes me and my wife nervous. Especially because we have one large breed and one medium breed dog.

I'd really love to hear from anyone who has had luck finding a rental home that allows large dogs and about how long it took to find the place.

Thanks for reading my story.

I have pets too and its scary to think about having to find a rental. I have seen some on Craigslist. Rural areas seem to be a little more pet friendly, if you were willing to consider that.

Are you absolutely certain you want to give up the house? You could do a TILA recission and the bank would have to make you "whole" as you were before the mortgage took place including wiping out any sign of foreclosure (if you give back there is nothing to FC upon!) and they couldn't even ruin your credit - they have to undo that too. You walk away whole & with your cash back. With your legal training you should find out more about this option. Here's a good blog with interesting articles, if you are interested:

More Details on The Corruption of the American Housing Market | Matt Weidner Blog

I'm in Sacramento area too and found myself an attorney I'm pretty comfortable with. He knows a lot about securitization fraud, TILA recission, RESPA/HOEPA, etc. I found him on the Neil Garfield's (another attorney) living lies site (which you should check out too). Good luck!

[Foreclose On Me]

Evan, thanks so much for the assurances. We'll continue to look and move as soon as we find an acceptable house (with a nice yard for the pups). It's good to hear that there is a way to dig out of this hole.

knownick, I've followed some of your posts and I appreciate how detailed you have been, and especially appreciate that you've stuck around even after everything was said and done to help folks like me who are a bit behind the curve.

goldie, thank you for the information. I think that we're willing to look anywhere for a home and will look at sites like craigslist, but have also noticed a lot of scams there so we are mostly looking at reputable management companies (which, as Evan noted, might limit our options). With regard to rescission, I'm not willing to go that route. Even if (a) the violations were of a sort that would allow me to extend the rescission period to 3 years and (b) a court were to find that we did not have to immediately tender the full principal amount (less the amounts that we have already paid to the banks), we would still have an unsecured loan that we owe to the bank that we would eventually have to make good on or come up with cash to settle. I have spoken with an attorney regarding the TILA and RESPA violations and was not too impressed by their response to the issue of tender.

[Foreclose On Me]

Evan, thanks so much for the assurances. We'll continue to look and move as soon as we find an acceptable house (with a nice yard for the pups). It's good to hear that there is a way to dig out of this hole.

I can't believe I called Moe "Evan." So sorry!

[Foreclose On Me]

Who knew I'd have an update already?

We had submitted an offer on our house to the bank (or banks - first is Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, second is Wells Fargo Home Equity... and they're making us do everything twice). The negotiator for the 1st put out his feelers to see if an additional $6000 could be contributed and said it would be fine if it was contributed by us, our agent, buyer, or buyer's agent. Our agent informed buyer's agent that the bank was throwing around the idea but had not yet sent an approval letter and buyer immediately dropped out of the contract. Our agent already has a meeting next week with a new potential buyer (who "thinks that the listing price is way too low") to write a new offer. Unfortunately, this means we'll be starting over again at the beginning with the banks.

Of course, I'm not convinced that the buyer has the legal right to cancel at this point.

[Foreclose On Me]

So I pretty much got confirmation today from the second lienholder that their "policies" won't allow them to do a short sale without a significant monetary contribution.

The banks are in a win-win situation here -- if they allow a short sale, even without the monetary contribution, they get to take a non-performing loan off of their books, they get paid out immediately and have cash they can reinvest, and they probably have insurance that will pay them out for the full value of the loan. If, on the other hand, they wait for foreclosure, they get the property and will be able to sell it and get cash they can reinvest, and they still probably have insurance.

The whole process just doesn't make sense -- why would we even bother to attempt a short sale? To buy in 5 years instead of 7? I'm not even convinced I EVER want to buy again.

On another note, we've been looking at rental houses and submitted a few apps and have been approved. Because the rest of our credit lines are immaculate and my income is 7-10 times the rent that we're looking at, we shouldn't have any problem. But I am concerned about moving and leaving the old home vacant. Anyone have experience with having a vacant home and insurance for it? Or not having insurance and the home being vandalized?

[AnonEMouse]

.... But I am concerned about moving and leaving the old home vacant. Anyone have experience with having a vacant home and insurance for it? Or not having insurance and the home being vandalized?

See part of my sad sad sad story (related to theft/vandalism) here ( see post #3 );

Will a short sale affect my FICO/credit scores negatively? Can we please put this myth to rest?

We were told by our insurance agent (whom we've had for close to 30 years) that IF we tried to file a claim on a vacant property that our insurance would be cancelled. He also said that IF the insurance companay found out the property was vacant they would immediatedly cancel the policy.

He suggested we list the place with a property management company and switch to a landlord type policy. (That way the fire insurance portion of the coverage wouldn't lapse ...)

[KFish]

Why move out already? Stay there until it forecloses and take advantage of the free rent...

[OnMyWay2theFuture]

Absolutely stay and enjoy the free rent. I'm also here in Sacramento and have enjoyed 9 months of low-cost living. My mortgage is also with Wells Fargo and despite the phone calls and questions from Wells, I've pretty much have had a hassle free stay. The attorneys just now got around to sending me the NOD, I do not have a sale date yet.

I initially sent all my financial information into them in October and have not given any other updates since then - they ask every time they call and I refuse to say anything but "I'm looking for a principal reduction".

My credit has dropped about 30 points (that's it) - I have no other debt and pay off my credit card the minute it shows up at the house. I do maintain the insurance on the house for my own protection, but have also not paid the property taxes for 2 payments.

I do not want to short sale and give anyone the opportunity to see the inside of my home. If I do decide to vacate, it will only be after they pay me my "Cash for Keys" amount of $3,000!!

[Foreclose On Me]

Thanks for your advice (and horror story). After weeks of discussing back and forth, we've decided to wait it out in the home and not start looking for a rental again until 2-3 months after we receive the notice of default. That way, we can move gradually over until the trustee sale and won't be stressed. Until then, we'll sit tight and stop marketing the house and save money. Heck, if we keep the house looking "lived in" we can hold out for our own $3000 cash for keys!

[Foreclose On Me]

I checked my credit score on CreditKarma today. It's gone down 20 points and it now shows one late account.

We also received a letter from the first lienholder yesterday indicating that we were declined for a short sale because of our failure to maintain a buyer.

The calls have started back up again. Occasionally I pick up and tell them I won't be paying. My wife never answers and they never leave messages -- just hang up when the machine answers.

On another note, my insurance agent told me that if we moved into a rental, so long as we maintain our insurance on the house, we will be covered for damages to our personal property and for any liability should our dogs bite someone. He is prepared to provide that info to any potential landlord. Then, once the auction takes place, we just give him a call to get the policy converted to a rental insurance policy. He wasn't concerned at all about the house being vacant. I'm not sure just how much I believe him, so I plan to pull out my homeowner's insurance policy just to review the terms regarding leaving the home vacant.

[1down1togo]

Right now, we are looking for a house to rent. I'm not sure I want to wait for the short sale to complete or for the foreclosure to become final because the uncertainty of finding a home makes me and my wife nervous. Especially because we have one large breed and one medium breed dog.

I'd really love to hear from anyone who has had luck finding a rental home that allows large dogs and about how long it took to find the place.

Thanks for reading my story.

I'm also in Sacramento and have been trying to get a mod on my primary residence for over a year. I have a rental with a big yard (great for dogs!) that I have rented to two different families, both with foreclosures already. The second family has just given notice, so it is currently available! It will be on craigslist, search for Fulton and Marconi and it should come up.

[pookey]

I checked my credit score on CreditKarma today. It's gone down 20 points and it now shows one late account.

We also received a letter from the first lienholder yesterday indicating that we were declined for a short sale because of our failure to maintain a buyer.

The calls have started back up again. Occasionally I pick up and tell them I won't be paying. My wife never answers and they never leave messages -- just hang up when the machine answers.

On another note, my insurance agent told me that if we moved into a rental, so long as we maintain our insurance on the house, we will be covered for damages to our personal property and for any liability should our dogs bite someone. He is prepared to provide that info to any potential landlord. Then, once the auction takes place, we just give him a call to get the policy converted to a rental insurance policy. He wasn't concerned at all about the house being vacant. I'm not sure just how much I believe him, so I plan to pull out my homeowner's insurance policy just to review the terms regarding leaving the home vacant.

Definitely look at your policy or call your agent. Most insurance companies will cancel your policy if they find out the house is vacant for more than 30 days. State Farm will charge you a very small amount for a vacancy exception (not absolute - they will ask who is caring for the property, etc.) but it will only last until the next renewal period. I was lucky and my policy had just renewed...if you have a policy that renews in August you'd only be able to get the coverage until then.

Insurance companies don't like empty houses. And be aware that if you don't insure it the bank will take out a policy - but only for the house itself. Any liability that you have - someone falls, etc. isn't going to be covered.

[OnMyWay2theFuture]

Foreclose OM - please don't leave yet despite all the offer (thank you to 1down for giving you hope). I've taken back a little bit of control and got rid of my impound account - it enabled me to shop around for the BEST insurance rate - don't let it lapse - I found a really good rate at Western Mutual Insurance Group (about half of what I was paying with California AAA) check them out by googling. They will only insure you at a very good rate if the home is owner occupied.

Call me crazy, but right now, I'm applying for a number of real good credit cards that pay me 5% back on purchases to keep my good credit rating (not recommended because it is a har dinquiry on your credit report). Speaking of your credit rating, keep monitoring at www.freecreditreport.com. They give me alerts every time there's an inquiry or a change for about $8 a month (a bargain). I contest every hit on my credit report.

Up to today, I've received 4 letters from real estate agents offering to sell my house or "help me" out of the foreclosure process. ugh.
Wells Fargo calls every day and I don't call back until I hear what our governor is going to do about my salary (I am a state employee).
Hang in there Foreclose!

[KFish]

Hey - Onmyway2thefuture
Just curious..how do you contest the negative marks on your credit and why? I am interested in anything I can do at this point to help us rebuild our credit.

And one fellow government employee to another...ditto the wait and see over our salaries....

[Foreclose On Me]

Thanks, 1down for the offer, but we did decide to stay for a couple months after we receive the notice of default, then to start looking. We have no expectation that the bank will approve a short sale without a lot of extra money from our pockets so having the house on the market is really futile. We'll be 90 days late on July 1, so I would expect to receive our NOD sometime in July, and that mean we'll be moving some time in September. Seems so far away right now. In the meantime, we're putting all of that saved mortgage payment into a savings account so we can pay movers (we've got way too much stuff to move) and put the deposit on the rental. Once that's done, we'll keep a portion for those big variable expenses, like car repairs, and put the rest toward our credit cards. Using credit karma, I calculated that even though my credit score will go down by going into foreclosure by 50-70 points, it will go up when I have all the credit cards paid off so it will be a wash.

I might sign up for a credit monitoring service after this process is over. I'm not sure I care about my credit until then, just want to know what it is out of morbid curiosity.

[OnMyWay2theFuture]

Hi KFish - When you sign up for the credit report site, you see when and who files a Potentially Negative Alert (PNA). You have the ability to dispute every single one - and I do. The answer is always the same - 120 days late payment. If you do the math, I haven't paid my mortgage since September 2009. I noticed today that my Real Estate Loan was taken off my list of outstanding loans. Wells Fargo hit my credit with a PNA on the 14th of June, then today, the loan was erased, so we will see.

[KFish]

OK...I got two alerts today from the credit monitoring site...both of the HELOC's from the properties that went to trustee sale 2 weeks ago were updated from 150 days late to 180 days late

They should not be able to do that..since the loans are non-recourse, purchase money..they should be charged off now..or at least not continued to be reported as late!

I will read the website and find out what I need to do...I dont want the damage to be any worse than it has to be...

[Foreclose On Me]

Calls are still coming from the second mortgage. They call at 8:30 a.m. like clockwork (I guess they put it in their computers that someone would answer the phone at that time). They've generally been nice, except one kept asking me if I understood what a "lien" was. I said, "I certainly do. That means that you have a lien on the property and have the right to foreclose should I stop paying. Do you know what a lien is?" She scoffed and asked me why I would stay in the house I wasn't paying for. I reminded her that the bank has a lien and they can pursue foreclosure if they don't like it.

[jayguy0710]

I've had a couple bank people call and ask me ridiculously stupid questions, I don't know if they are simply reading off their standard "flowchart" or really do think that the borrowers they contact are that unintelligent. In any event, I have no doubt that you don't already know this, but what about a cease and desist letter, to stop the calls? I sent both lenders C&D letters on Friday and although it's only Tuesday, they either received the letters and are abiding by them, or just haven't gotten around to calling us again. I'll call the 1st at my leisure to let them know our situation, but I don't want to be harassed by the 1st, or the 2nd.

[Foreclose On Me]

When I got the mail yesterday, I received notice that a certified letter was waiting at the post office for me. Could it be the Notice of Default? That would put them right on time...

[underwater_vallejo]

When I got the mail yesterday, I received notice that a certified letter was waiting at the post office for me. Could it be the Notice of Default? That would put them right on time...

My first missed payment was April 1st and I've received a certified letter already from Green Tree (my 2nd mortgage lender) about a month ago. It was basically some blah-blah letter telling me I'm in default and that I need to contact them ASAP.

I wonder if they also do that as a "cheap" way to check whether or not you're still living at that address.

[Foreclose On Me]

My wife just called to tell me it was some blah blah letter about how we may qualify for a loan modification.

Blah.

We actually don't qualify because they claim we have a "demonstrated ability to pay." My foot.

Oh well. Guess we're still waiting.

[tangledup]

We're in another hard hit county in Northern California and have a similar situation. I was so worried about finding a rental that would take dogs that we made arrangements to move out a month before the sale. After some research, we decided to wait until we have to leave (and before an unlawful detainer action). Look at usa-foreclosures.com for your city (not ZIP code) and see how your trustee's agent is treating other foreclosures in your area. Ours may be sold the first time it is listed, or can go as long as a year before reverting to the lender.

BTW, I got a lot of resistance from prospective landlords to having dogs, but no resistance to the foreclosure situation. I printed out a copy of our credit reports before we quit paying the mortgage, and another printout after a year (-80 pts on each of ours, but still in a good range). I took those with me to interviews, together with copies of our pay stubs, photos of our dogs and our current house, which is nicely maintained, and I got no resistance. I also extended an offer for the prospective landlord to come see how our house looks with two large dogs in residence (clean and undamaged) and to meet the dogs and even talk to our neighbors.

Best of luck to you!

[kmdane]

We have gone thru s--t with Chase since 2/09. In Sacramento - not in foreclosure - but going to walk. WE have been lied to so many times - first on HAMP - then not on HAMP - don't make enough mney - make too much - agreement with WAMU/CHASE signed by Eileen Lozos stated no foreclosure as long as paying as agreed. She even called us - put us on a three month forebearance starting 8/09 - only because my husband was a state worker and due to furloughs they wanted to wait to see salary in three months. Then would be put on a mod and then three months later - permanent. Well - still on forebearance - in Sept./OCt 09 - asked that we be put on our regular payments again because we felt something was very very wrong with them. Told we could not. It is so unbelievable what the banks are doing. Anyway - my parents left us their house - has a mortgage - but much less than ours. Have fought too long and hard - have to move on. Before my Dad passed - I called around on some rentals here in Greenhaven. I explained the situation - potential landlords/property managers completely understood. You will not have a problem.
Good Luck to you - you will be fine.

[Foreclose On Me]

Well, we were 90 days late on July 1 and have not heard a thing from the first mortgage. I want to get the Notice of Default filed already! I'm ready to move on.

[Foreclose On Me]

@Tangledup, we can definitely show potential landlords photos of our dogs and our immaculately cared for house. We can't exactly have them meet the dogs due to one dog being overprotective and a bit territorial.

[goldie]

We're in another hard hit county in Northern California and have a similar situation. I was so worried about finding a rental that would take dogs that we made arrangements to move out a month before the sale. After some research, we decided to wait until we have to leave (and before an unlawful detainer action). Look at usa-foreclosures.com for your city (not ZIP code) and see how your trustee's agent is treating other foreclosures in your area. Ours may be sold the first time it is listed, or can go as long as a year before reverting to the lender.

BTW, I got a lot of resistance from prospective landlords to having dogs, but no resistance to the foreclosure situation. I printed out a copy of our credit reports before we quit paying the mortgage, and another printout after a year (-80 pts on each of ours, but still in a good range). I took those with me to interviews, together with copies of our pay stubs, photos of our dogs and our current house, which is nicely maintained, and I got no resistance. I also extended an offer for the prospective landlord to come see how our house looks with two large dogs in residence (clean and undamaged) and to meet the dogs and even talk to our neighbors.

Best of luck to you!

Landlords in rural areas are a bit more pet-friendly (horses, goats, sheep, dogs, cats) than suburban/urban LLs. Animals are a part of rural life, although you will see the occasional no-pet city-folk/big property manager LL here that wants an arm and a leg in rent and absolutely NO PETS - wonder why those listings sit on the market for so long?

[OnMyWay2theFuture]

Foreclose on Me - I also have a Wells Fargo loan and originally I had a Line of Credit established as a "rider" to my first, but I paid that off right away.
I haven't paid my mortgage since September 2009. I received the Notice of Default written by the WF attorney back on April 2010. Following the Notice indicating that they have begun foreclosure proceedings (that was sent as a certified letter), I received another letter letting me know that they will not accept "partial payments" and any payment made to bring the loan current must be in the total amount of past due payments plus late fees. I checked my credit report today and they filed (yet another) 120 day late notice on July 12th - resulting in a drop in my credit score of 9 points. I will dispute the recording only to try to "stick it to them". They call every few days and I speak with them about every week to let them know that I do want to try to stay in the house, but am unwilling to accept anything but a principle forgiveness. So far, a sale date has not been assigned. If they follow the calendar for foreclosure here in cali, I fully expect to be out by the end of the summer, but not without my $3000 in cash for keys.

[KatrinaK]

Hi, I also live in Sacramento and have been going through this for 3 1/2 years with Countrywide (first) now BofA. I am 22 payments behind and still haven't received a NOD. Granted, my credit has dropped over 250 points (it was well over 700)! I'll worry about rebuilding once this mess is over. I'm sure it won't be an issue since I haven't paid ANYTHING else late, EVER!
At this point I figure it is their bad. I have reduced my debt and have funds set aside for new housing when I need it. I tried and tried and tried to come to an agreement but thus far, they've all but said "We want to foreclose on you". Until they approve a DIL or foreclose on me, my free time in this house is what I consider to be justice for my credit being trashed for their greed. The house is just a house. The hardest part now is living in a place you don't want to invest another cent into, that and like you I have a large dog to house and a specific area I want to live in. Good luck to you both, I hope it works out well.

[Foreclose On Me]

I haven't even heard anything from the first, although the second keeps calling (I keep meaning to send off a cease and desist letter but haven't gotten around to it). Our credit is trashed and credit cards keep cutting the limits (which is fine, because we haven't even been using the credit cards in months). There's just something about living in limbo that is unsettling. I don't want to leave the house until we have at the very least a notice of default. I plan to wait at least two months, maybe three months, after receiving the notice of default before moving because I know that the house will still be my responsibility. I just wish that the NOD would come already -- My wife keeps showing me houses she finds on craigslist and on property management websites and they are all really great. But we can't move yet.

C'est la vie, no?

So, I am still waiting.

[Foreclose On Me]

I finally got another offer on the house and the buyer wants me to pay for:

1. Hazard zone disclosure report;
2. Gov't requirements and retrofit (which is hilarious because the house was built in 2007);
3. Escrow and title;
4. County and City transfer fees;
5. HOA transfer fees.

I do know that the lender, if they even approve the sale, will ordinarily cover a portion of closing costs. What I would like to know is if anyone knows the approximate amount that lenders will cover and if any of the above items are typically excluded from amounts lenders will cover. I also want to make sure that I won't be required to come up with anything out of pocket to walk away from this albatross around my neck.

I also finally sent a cease and desist letter to the second and received confirmation from them that it was received. I just faxed it to the number on the short sale paperwork. That made life a bit simpler -- not getting calls every morning, afternoon, and evening, where the caller does nothing but reiterate the same information.

I'm now 4 months late and still no NOD. A few credit cards have cut the limits, but I was expecting that to happen. I'm paying down credit cards where I can. My wife is still really upset about walking away and she'll go through bouts of emotion where she cries about losing something she poured her blood sweat and tears into, but it's just a thing.

[spiker54]

Your lender should pay all except the hazard report which is about $99

[knownick]

Your lender should pay all except the hazard report which is about $99

Wouldn't surprise me if the lender coughs up for the hazard report as well - it's almost universally required in the Sacramento area (as most of the city is built on a hundred year floodplain).

[OnMyWay2theFuture]

An update on my situation - A Substitution for the Trustee letter arrived certified on Friday and a temporary sale date was assigned by the Attorney for Wells Fargo - August 26 is the big day! I can't wait to get this over with.
Yesterday they also pinged my credit report with a hard inquiry - I don't have any credit card debt but I kinda think it was to try to reduce my limits on each of my accounts. I wonder what they will do next ~:^ )

[Foreclose On Me]

Thanks everyone. I think I'll counter to remove payment of the Gov't requirements and retrofit. The house is being sold as-is, was built in 2007, and absolutely no retrofit is needed.

Future, I'm glad to hear it! I'm excited for you. But with the hard pings -- I don't think they're allowed to do that for reducing limits. They have to do a soft inquiry if any. If you care about it, you could probably dispute it.