Florida Short Sale question with only 12 hours to decide?!

[usernametaken]

Hello, I ran across this website and forum and decided it was worth a shot. I have a question, which may have been answered in the over 8,600 posts in the short sale forum, but I didn't find it and I have little time

First of all, I'm new here, so thank you in advance for helping out and even viewing this post! There is a lot more to this story that may shed some light on the situation, but it's long (I typed it up, but took it out) and I don't think anyone wants to hear it, so here goes the abridged version...

We moved overseas for work and left our mortgage (1st & 2nd) after it was on the market for 2 years. Before moving, we checked with one of those companies that both represents the Realtor side and the investment company that bids on it. I still don't know exactly how it works, but they said they would work with us from over here and nothing else had worked up until then (including paying the extremely upside down mortgages out of my retirement while it sat on the market with no showings).

Today, the agent has emailed saying that we have an approval and we must close by Friday for it to be accepted. She says that we must have the paperwork to her by Wednesday afternoon for her to file it and get it to closing on Friday morning, which is the 1st lenders (Chase) requirement. I live in Abu Dhabi right now, it's currently after 1am on Monday night here and I have only now spoken with her. I assume I'll have the paperwork by the time I get up in the morning, but that only gives me tomorrow. Anyway, the 2nd mortgage holder (Third Federal) is only getting $3k. The 1st is forgiving the difference. The 2nd is not.

We do not have time to seek legal assistance, b/c we are on the other side of the planet and have virtually no time. Does it make sense to follow through with this or just tell them to foreclose and have everyone take a hit? I do not have to sign a promissory note for the 2nd, but they will show a deficiency on a released property and likely seek a default judgement. What recourse is there? I know it's hard for anyone to give legal advice or say, do it or don't do it. I'm not asking for that, just hoping someone can shed some light on it or share their experience, something. We didn't want to file bankruptcy if we didn't have to, we owed no other debt and our credit scores were both high 800's before this happened. When I lost my job in 2009, I was the bread winner. My wife is a teacher and unfortunately jobs I was finding were paying half what I made before. The typical American story nowadays, right?

Any suggestions? Thoughts? Anything at all that may help?

Again, thank you for reading and anything you can contribute is appreciated! I can provide more info, but I'll be going to bed now, so I won't be able to respond for a few hours.

[usernametaken]

One of the things I notice that is different on most of the threads on here is that many of those that have completed a short sale with a 2nd mortgage has received a satisfaction of mortgage, even though the 2nd still seems to attempt collection. This one w/ Third Federal is not being satisfied though, that's what concerns me.

I guess what I'm asking, is there any benefit at all to completing this? I have the agent and closing attorney both suggesting that I go through with this simply b/c the 1st will be forgiven and that's the majority. However, the 2nd is around $70k and will not, which will lead to us being sued in court. They are acting as if this is better than 2, however a foreclosure will not lead to any garnishment of wages in a judgement. I don't know if that is something possible here. Our credit is probably pretty devastated at this point, it may make more sense to file bankruptcy now, though again, we have no other debt, I thought we'd recover fairly quickly from a foreclosure. I hate that they are giving me such a short window to make a decision and that I don't even have an opportunity to check with a lawyer (other than their lawyer and I know the company working as the intermediary is also benefiting since they are part of the investment group as well).

Thanks again!
John

[Cat Damiano]

Hi John,


Welcome to the forum and thank you for joining...............


You are correct in posting that we would be unable to advise you on what you should do here as that is a personal decision and only you can decide what is best for you and your family. That being said, whichever route you decide to take whether it be short sale or let it foreclose, that second lien will become what is called a sold out junior loan. They seem to be much easier to handle and/or negotiate if you would need to in the future, in that state. There is a thread discussion dedicated to these types of loans located here;

Sold Out Junior Loans

Your credit will bounce back quicker than you may think from either without having to file a bk.

[usernametaken]

Awesome, thank you for your response, Cat! I will read through that thread.