Going to walk in FL

[FLwalker]

I have a single ARM with a balance of $128K. House is worth about $60-70K, judging by recent sales in my neighborhood.
Getting married soon and will need to move to be closer to her work, because its a 100 mile commute round trip otherwise.
I can afford to pay, but I'm sick of losing money and being stuck in this house.
Mortgage servicer is Roundpoint, investor is Compass Bank. Also listed in MERS.

So from what I've read in the forums, my best course of action is somewhat like this:
1. Stop paying.
2. Don't give the bank any financial information, because that can be used as ammo down the road for a deficiency judgement.
3. Wait for foreclosure notice, then possibly hire an attorney to defend? My goal is to get the bank to waive their deficiency rights, or waive a percentage of it.

Any tips and/or advice would be helpful Thanks!

[Evan Bedard]

So from what I've read in the forums, my best course of action is somewhat like this:
1. Stop paying.
2. Don't give the bank any financial information, because that can be used as ammo down the road for a deficiency judgement.
3. Wait for foreclosure notice, then possibly hire an attorney to defend? My goal is to get the bank to waive their deficiency rights, or waive a percentage of it.

Welcome to the forum FLWalker.

We have a lot of other members here who have also walked away from their FL property and I'm sure you will find a ton of useful information based of some of their experiences. Just type in "Florida walk away" or "Florida foreclosure" in the google search bar at the top of the page and you will find many other discussions on the foreclosure process in your state and laws that may apply.

Florida Foreclosure Law

Florida Foreclosure is Judicial.

Equity

All mortgages shall be foreclosed in equity. In a mortgage foreclosure action, the court shall sever for separate trial all counterclaims against the foreclosing mortgagee. The foreclosure claim shall, if tried, be tried to the court without a jury.

Legal notice concerning foreclosure proceedings

Whenever a legal advertisement, publication, or notice relating to a foreclosure proceeding is required to be placed in a newspaper, it is the responsibility of the petitioner or petitioner's attorney to place such advertisement, publication, or notice. Florida foreclosure law states that the advertisement, publication, or notice shall be placed directly by the attorney for the petitioner, by the petitioner if acting pro se, or by the clerk of the court.

Order to show cause; entry of final judgment of foreclosure; payment during foreclosure

[FLwalker]

Would it be a good idea to go buy a car before I stop paying? My credit is pretty good right now and I assume once I start this, I won't be able to get a car loan for a few years. My current car is about 5 years old.

[American_Nightmare_in_GA]

Would it be a good idea to go buy a car before I stop paying? My credit is pretty good right now and I assume once I start this, I won't be able to get a car loan for a few years. My current car is about 5 years old.

If you can afford it, this would be the time to do it to be able to still get the best possible interest rate based on good FICO score. Are you still currently making that 100 mile daily commute? Can you well afford the car payment? I have seen others here buy a new car in anticipation of strategic foreclosure, for the same reason.

[walkin]

I bought a new car exactly 2 days before I stopped paying the mortgage. I knew my credit would be hosed for the next several years, and wanted to have 1 solid, warrantied vehicle in the household, that would last several years before any out of pocket repairs start to come up. I normally don't fall into the extended warranty traps, because I'm somewhat proficient with a wrench, and take good care of my vehicles. If you do buy new, you might consider a vehicle that comes with a lengthy manufacturers warranty, or consider adding on an extended warranty, which can be had for $500-1500, depending on the model. I think those warranties are a scam, especially since the newer vehicles are being built better and last longer, but I'm sure some people have benefitted from them. A bankruptcy attorney might also suggest that buying a new vehicle prior to filing is perfectly ok. Its a good idea to plan 5-7 years out, if you know you are about to walk away, or file bk. Reliable transportation is one of those things to think about.

There is a house in my neighborhood, in FL, that took 4 years for the fc process to get done, and was finally sold at auction recently. They lived in that house for free, for 4 years.

[FLwalker]

Thanks for the input. I can definitely afford a new car right now, even if I kept paying the house. My car right now works fine, but it is almost 5 years old and thats usually about when stuff starts to break.

[FLwalker]

Got a new 2013 car for only $30 more per month than my old car. Now that I won't be needing a good credit score for anything for a few years, I have officially stopped paying my house. Here goes nothing!

[walkin]

Lol, nice. Good luck! I'm sure you are well aware that the FL foreclosure timeline is pretty long. I think you will be able to save quite a bit if money over the next couple or few years. :-) don't forget to put a renter in there after you move, the banks appreciate if you can have a house sitter to protect their investment, until they can get through all the red tape. So, while you are collecting rent, you are still doing them a favor...lol

[FLwalker]

Think its a good idea to move extra money into an account not in my name? Either that or keep it as cash? I don't plan on giving them financials, but it wouldn't hurt to hide it right?

[walkin]

Out of sight, out of mind...I like it :-)

[dustindmnd]

Best of luck with your walk, FLwalker. We are also walking in FL, and I know we were very nervous when we started in March. But really, getting informed from this site specifically has really made this a pretty low stress experience! I'll copy and paste our latest, which was posted in the Feb / March 2012 Walkers thread so you can get a snap shot of someone in your state several months into this. Also, I assume you can click my profile and it will show a few other posts we have. Not a ton of posts, but it really is just about everything we have experienced.

------
From Feb / March 2012 Walkers:

Significant Update:

Just got served with the Lis Pendens. Not sure how much that applies to many of you, but in FL, foreclosures run through the courts, and this is the first significant action within the court. So I went to the website of our county court to do a little research to try to get an idea of where this puts us timeline wise (we plan to move around the time of sale date), and it blew my mind. It looks like for houses in our development who have gone all the way to foreclosure, from the time of the Lis Pendens (us, right now) to the official sale date, it is taking around a year (and sometimes longer!). Three comparable houses in the neighborhood have gotten their LP, and are at like 10 months and the notification of sale date still hasn't been sent. So it looks like our county is pretty backed up, and we aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Feeling at peace about everything, but amazed at how long this is taking! For the record, we tried to work with the bank to let them adjust our mortgage to a price anywhere near the value of the home, but they didn't want to use their bailout to help us get a bailout. Oh well!

And here's the facts:
One mortgage - primary residence in Florida (a recourse state)
Original Loan - $175,000 w BoA (originally CW), 30 year fixed at 6.0, with PMI
Current owed - $156,000
Value - $96,000
1st missed payment - March 1
NOI - Mid-April
Lis Pendens - Late Sept.
NOD - Not yet!
Sale Date - Not yet!

[FLwalker]

3 months missed payments....not a single call or letter in the mail! I figured I'd have at least gotten something by now.

[bankwhipped]

Best of luck with your walk, FLwalker. We are also walking in FL, and I know we were very nervous when we started in March. But really, getting informed from this site specifically has really made this a pretty low stress experience! I'll copy and paste our latest, which was posted in the Feb / March 2012 Walkers thread so you can get a snap shot of someone in your state several months into this. Also, I assume you can click my profile and it will show a few other posts we have. Not a ton of posts, but it really is just about everything we have experienced.

------
From Feb / March 2012 Walkers:

Significant Update:

Just got served with the Lis Pendens. Not sure how much that applies to many of you, but in FL, foreclosures run through the courts, and this is the first significant action within the court. So I went to the website of our county court to do a little research to try to get an idea of where this puts us timeline wise (we plan to move around the time of sale date), and it blew my mind. It looks like for houses in our development who have gone all the way to foreclosure, from the time of the Lis Pendens (us, right now) to the official sale date, it is taking around a year (and sometimes longer!). Three comparable houses in the neighborhood have gotten their LP, and are at like 10 months and the notification of sale date still hasn't been sent. So it looks like our county is pretty backed up, and we aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Feeling at peace about everything, but amazed at how long this is taking! For the record, we tried to work with the bank to let them adjust our mortgage to a price anywhere near the value of the home, but they didn't want to use their bailout to help us get a bailout. Oh well!

And here's the facts:
One mortgage - primary residence in Florida (a recourse state)
Original Loan - $175,000 w BoA (originally CW), 30 year fixed at 6.0, with PMI
Current owed - $156,000
Value - $96,000
1st missed payment - March 1
NOI - Mid-April
Lis Pendens - Late Sept.
NOD - Not yet!
Sale Date - Not yet!

I just noticed that they filed Lis Pendens without first filing a Notice of default. If that is in fact the case, you may want to ask an attorney, I could be wrong but I believe that the foreclosure can be thrown out if in fact they neglected to send you the NOD before filling suite.

I am 95 percent sure that is the law and if it is they would have to restart everything and you could gain another year mortgage free. I am in FL and I my last payment was mid 2009, still in house.

[FLwalker]

Still not a peep from the bank.

[johnboy]

any updates, looking forward to your experiances ??

[FLwalker]

Going on my 6th missed payment and not a peep

[FLwalker]

About to miss my 7th payment. Still not a thing from the servicing company.

[FLclosure]

Hopefully they are busy working on mine.

1,215 days since I walked away...

[FLwalker]

8 payments missed and not a peep from the servicing company.
Have to move out in June, so I'll be renting the property until something happens. I have a feeling its going to be a long time, at this rate.

[Evan Bedard]

8 payments missed and not a peep from the servicing company.
Have to move out in June, so I'll be renting the property until something happens. I have a feeling its going to be a long time, at this rate.

Thanks for the update FLWalker and it could easily be another 4-6 months before they get around to foreclosure proceedings. Good idea putting the home up for rent when you vacate to help protect the property from any unnecessary damages or vandalism..

[FLwalker]

Finally figured out why they haven't contacted me. Apparently my house got attached to a bankruptcy case of a relative of mine with the same name. Even though our ages are quite different, our SSNs are different, and I'm the only one that signed the mortgage. These banks really don't have their crap together! LOL
My mortgage showed up on their bankruptcy discharge, so their lawyer filed an objection to it. Now I suppose I'll be hearing from the bank in the near future. What kind of idiots work at these banks?