End of The Road

[Dcubana]

First of all I'd like to say that I am so Greatful for finding this site! I've exhausted so many other venues but haven't found an answer yet.Maybe some of you can offer me some direction as to where to go from here.It all seems like a like an entangled "web of horror"so for those of you faint of heart, tread with caution...
Here goes my Drama-- My husband bought this house since 1995 along with his parents and X-wife.His parents and his wife were all on the title and all held ownership as tenants in common, but only his name and his wife's name were on the actual loan payments.Since he had no credit at the time, his parents helped him secure the mortgage by cosigning the loan. He had a verbal agreement with his parents to make all the payments on the house until he had better credit, at which time he would refinance and she would transfer ownership him solely.During the years that followed he made all his payments on time with the exception of 2 times.In 1997,my husbands wife was diagnosed with Manic depression and eventually ended up leaving him and abandoning her children.My husband filed for divorce in 1999 and since she never showed up-she defaulted.The courts then transferred her portion of the property to my husband and a new deed was filed in the county.At the time he continued to make payments on the mortgage and Taxes,and continued to share ownership of the house with his parents.
Fast forward a few years-My husband and i marry in The Spring of 2002 and almost immediately following our life spins out of control.To begin with in July, my husband is layed off after a company merger and loses his job after 9 years.The following month we find out our 2 little girls had been sexually abused by an older boy.Both of us struggled to keep our sanity,but my husband was just too mentally drained to handle it and has a nervous breakdown.Between all of the court dates and Therapy sessions we had to attend,it was nearly impossible for either one of us to work.This was the first time we fell behind on the mortgage payments and received a letter of default from Chase.My husband contacted his mother and asked for help with the payments which she flat out refused.At the time, his parents weren't speaking to him because they were against him remarrying.(his parents are borderline psychopaths by the way).He then suggested selling-since at the time the market was doing good and there was a lot of construction going on in our neighborhood.We had a Realtor appraise the house and were told we could make anywhere from 100K -150K if we sold. Still his parents refused to cooperate.We spoke to a lawyer who advised us to take them to court to force them to sell but he wanted a $5,000 retainer fee to begin with and told us it could take a long time.


Eventually we were able to get back on track with payments,and save the house.He began working again but was only able to find temporary work.I got a part time job working nights at a Diner,but we were still struggling to make ends meet.My husband called Chase to try to refinance and take his wife's name off the loan payments since they still came in both their names.He was told by Chase that his parents would have to agree,sign off on the documents in order to proceed.My husband was not on speaking terms with his parents,(ever since we married they stopped contact) but since they were still partial owners he reached out to them and explained our financial situation.They delayed the process, the documents had to be rewritten three times until they agreed to go along with it.As a result, my husbands credit score dropped even more.Then they told us i had to sign also because we were married now and the law required it.I had no intention on becoming involved with ownership of this property or mortgage since his parents were involved and i know how impossible they are.But we were told that it was just protocol, and i wouldn't be involved with the mortgage.My husband was also misled to believe at the time that his parents would remain on the mortgage with him as well. I honestly don't think we have any idea what was signed after reading all the information I've found! After looking over the papers, i realized none of our signatures are on anything!!.My Husband asked his parents if they had their original copies and they told him they never got one.

So our payments went up from $1200 to $1600 a month and although it may not seem like alot to many,When you have one income to support a household of 7...every penny counts.So we now have an Annual Percent Rate of 10.811 on a $142,000 loan.Which means we'll have to pay $350,158.28 in finance charges which is more than what the house is currently worth.

We did ok for a while but after my husbands last Temporary work ended, we hit another roadblock and began to fall back on payments again.He did however contact chase and explain the situation but was told unless he was working again, they couldn't help in any way.To make matters worse, his parents "very conveniently" decide they no longer want ownership of the property and transfer ownership to my husband.We are then served a copy of civil action foreclosure complaint on January 4.The documents name My husband,his x wife, ME! and his parents as the defendants.......

In our desperation we agreed to just try to sell the house and get in contact with a Realtor my brother had recommended and considers a reputable and decent person.She told us she knew a lot of investors and she also had worked for Chase and knew "people" there so she would be able to help us sell quickly, a short sale.She tells us the house has a market value of about 350 but we will list it at 310 and see what offers we get.We gave her a hardship letter and pay stubs,bank statements and copies of all our "debts", and the papers we were served with.Two weeks later she tells us that there was an offer made for 250 on the house,but the bank had counter offered it with 310. At the time, i started researching on my own and read what a short sale is and how the bank takes less than what is owed.I ask her and she answers that yes, a short sale is basically an attempt to pay off the mortgage but we would not make any money at all.I just didn't understand how you could do a short sale if the house in worth 310,000 but we owe $146,000 which is less than the value? Unless they are counting the finance charges as what we owe? This is all just so confusing to me.

After we had already contacted the Realtor and listed the house for sale,my husband finally secured a wonderful full time Managing permanent position with the NBA.He immediately contacted Chase and was told to submit all paperwork needed for a loan modification.So we are in the process of doing that right now.We also have been saving our money and have it set aside in order to make a lump sum payment if nessesary.We told our Realtor about it and she encouraged us to try to make any arrangements with them to save our home.

Then our Realtor called us on Tuesday and told us that there were 2 more offers on the house and "this time" she needed us to sign them before submitting them to the bank because they were requiring it.One is for 150,000 and one is for 220,000.Now if the bank had already declined an offer for 250? If it is a short sale, why are the offers all "more than what is owed on the mortgage?" It seems more like a regular sale to me. I'm thinking she either has no CLUE, or she "is" trying to screw us royally.Maybe its me being paranoid, but i have a gut feeling something isn't right.She called again last night and asked if my husband had signed the offers so she could pick them up and she also had a buyer lined up to look at the house on Sunday.

So right now, we are very confused as to what to do.We have this forclosure looming over us to begin with,but we are hopeful that if the loan modification goes through we could get ourselves back on track.On the other hand, we are worried about submitting any offers since the bank could possibly accept them if they cover the mortgage we owe.Which would in turn leave us with no assets whatsoever.I am so scared of losing everything.We are a blended family and have five children, all of which have NO IDEA of whats going on.It would be devastating for them to be uprooted from their home with a yard and forced to move into a cramped apartment!! PLease if anyone can help me, i'm just out of ideas at this point.

Hopeless In NJ,
Dcubana

[03penny]

Hopeless,

Welcome to the forum. I am sorry for your family's misfortunes but it sounds like the job and income picture is looking up for you. I am very concerned about the facts here. If your balance is $142,000 and the value is over $300,000, the transaction that you are describing appears to have many alarm bells. I do not know the real estate transaction laws in your state, but it seems that there would be no reason to sign an offer from the bank before your house could be shown to a buyer. I recommend that you talk to another realtor and a real estate attorney before you sign anything. You do have equity and you need to protect that. A small investment in having a real estate attorney review the documents about this transaction would be a bargain. Since the foreclosure has been filed you need to act promptly. I think your instincts about your realtor may be correct. You should at the very least consider contacting another realtor with success in handling short sales and describe the transaction to them. Your agent's representation that she had a relationship with Chase is cause for alarm also since the story keeps changing. You should call Chase immediately and confirm all of the information that she is representing to you. It seems that perhaps she has an investor or is an investor and that Chase may not be involved in the transaction that she is asking you to sign off on at all. Good luck. Call Chase first, if they know nothing of the transaction, do not sign until you call a real estate attorney and have a review of the documents that your realtor is asking you to sign. Keep us informed of the progress. The first cirteria for acceptance of your modification is your ability to make the payments consistently in the future. Keep after the modification. Be sure that they did not stop working on the modification when your agent requested the short sale. You did not state if your modification was for a lower rate or for adding the deficiency to the existing balance. Please let us know.

[Dcubana]

tried posting this on the foreclosure section but I'm really not sure what category this falls into since it applies to a little of everything, I hope you don't mind me posting on several different sections-I just need as much help as possible,I'm desperate at this point!
I am so greatful for finding this site! I've exhausted so many other venues but haven't found an answer yet.Maybe some of you can offer me some direction as to where to go from here.It all seems like a like an entangled "web of horror"so for those of you faint of heart, tread with caution...
Here goes my Drama-- My husband bought this house since 1995 along with his parents and X-wife.His parents and his wife were all on the title and all held ownership as tenants in common, but only his name and his wife's name were on the actual loan payments.Since he had no credit at the time, his parents helped him secure the mortgage by cosigning the loan. He had a verbal agreement with his parents to make all the payments on the house until he had better credit, at which time he would refinance and she would transfer ownership him solely.During the years that followed he made all his payments on time with the exception of 2 times.In 1997,my husbands wife was diagnosed with Manic depression and eventually ended up leaving him and abandoning her children.My husband filed for divorce in 1999 and since she never showed up-she defaulted.The courts then transferred her portion of the property to my husband and a new deed was filed in the county.At the time he continued to make payments on the mortgage and Taxes,and continued to share ownership of the house with his parents.
Fast forward a few years-My husband and i marry in The Spring of 2002 and almost immediately following our life spins out of control.To begin with in July, my husband is layed off after a company merger and loses his job after 9 years.The following month we find out our 2 little girls had been sexually abused by an older boy.Both of us struggled to keep our sanity,but my husband was just too mentally drained to handle everything and had a nervous breakdown.Between all of the court dates and Therapy sessions we had to attend,it was nearly impossible for either one of us to work for a few months.This was the first time we fell behind on the mortgage payments and received a letter of default from Chase.My husband contacted his mother and asked for help with the payments which she flat out refused.At the time, his parents weren't speaking to him because they were against him remarrying..He suggested selling-since at the time the market was doing good and there was alot of construction going on in our neighborhood.We had a Realtor appraise the house and were told we could make anywhere from 100K -150K if we sold. Still his parents refused to cooperate and agree to sell.


Eventually we were able to get back on track with payments.He began working again but was only able to find temporary work.I got a part time job working nights at a Diner,but we were still struggling to make ends meet.My husband called Chase to try to refinance and take his wife's name off the loan payments since they still came in both their names.He was told by Chase that his parents would have to "agree"and ,sign off on the documents in order to proceed.My husband was not on speaking terms with his parents,(ever since we married they stopped contact) but since they were still partial owners he reached out to them and explained our financial situation.They delayed the process, the documents had to be rewritten three times until they agreed to go along with it.As a result of the delay, my husbands credit score dropped even more.Then they told us I also had to sign because we were married now and the law required it.I had no intention on becoming involved with ownership of this property or mortgage since his parents were involved and i know how impossible they are to deal with.But we were told by the agent that it was just protocol, and i wouldn't be involved with the mortgage.My husband was also misled to believe at the time that his parents would remain on the mortgage with him as well.Up until that point his parents were co borrowers on the loan,but their names didn't appear on the mortgage at all,Chase told us they were not on the mortgage.At the same time, his parents names were both on the tax bill although my husband was the one paying for it.As well as the homeowners insurance bill,and my husbands name did not appear on that until after the refinance.

I honestly don't think we have any idea what was signed after reading all the information I've found here! After looking over the papers, i realized none of our signatures are on anything!! We have a blank copy, without any of the signatures-but the names are typed.I distinctly remember the agent telling us she would have copies for all of us the following day-but we didn't receive anything until 2 weeks after closing,All this time i thought the copies i had were original copies,but as it turns out they are all blank. My Husband asked his parents if we could borrow their original copies and they told him they never got one either.

Our payments went up from $1200 to $1600 a month .So we now have an Annual Percent Rate of 10.811 on a $142,000 loan.Which means we'll have to pay $350,158.28 in finance charges which is more than what the house is currently worth.

We did ok for a while but after my husbands last Temporary work ended, we hit another roadblock and began to fall back on payments again.He did however contact chase and explain the situation but was told unless he was working again, they couldn't help us.To make matters worse, his parents "very conveniently" decide they no longer want ownership
of the property and transfer ownership to my husband.Almost immediately following We were then served a copy of civil action foreclosure complaint on January 4.The documents name My husband,his x wife, ME! and his parents as the defendants....I have a feeling that they may have acted quickly when they realized his parents had transferred ownership, and the terms on the loan stated that there should be no transfer of ownership without Lenders prior knowledge or approval..His parents are well off and have over a million in other assets (bossinesses,properties) so I'm guessing it wasn't in their best interest to share ownership on a house thats being foreclosed.Does all this make any sense to anyone? I'm not even sure what they signed at this point. After fighting his parents for years over this house we were just so sick of dealing with his parents-it was a relief to not share ownership with them anymore.

In our desperation we agreed to just try to sell the house and get in contact with a Realtor my brother had recommended and considers a reputable and decent person.She told us she knew a lot of investors and she also had worked for Chase and knew "people" there so she would be able to help us sell quickly, a short sale.She tells us the house has a market value of about 350 but we will list it at 310 and see what offers we get.We gave her a hardship letter and pay stubs,bank statements and copies of all our "debts", and the papers we were served with.Two weeks later she tells us that there was an offer made for 250 on the house,but the bank had counter offered it with 310. At the time, i started researching on my own and read what a short sale is and how the bank takes less than what is owed.I ask her and she answers that yes, a short sale is basically an attempt to pay off the mortgage but we would not make any money at all.I just didn't understand how you could do a short sale if the house in worth 310,000 but we owe $146,000 which is less than the value? Unless they are counting the finance charges as what we owe? This is all just so confusing to me.

After we had already contacted the Realtor and listed the house for sale,my husband finally secured a wonderful full time Managing permanent position with the NBA.He immediately contacted Chase and was told to submit all paperwork needed for a loan modification.So we are in the process of doing that right now.We also have been saving our money and have it set aside in order to make a lump sum payment if nessesary.We told our Realtor about it and she encouraged us to try to make any arrangements with them to save our home.

Then our Realtor called us on Tuesday and told us that there were 2 more offers on the house and "this time" she needed us to sign them before submitting them to the bank because they were requiring it.One is for 150,000 and one is for 220,000.Now if the bank had already declined an offer for 250? If it is a short sale, why are the offers all "more than what is owed on the mortgage?" It seems more like a regular sale to me. I'm thinking she either has no CLUE, or she "is" trying to screw us royally.Maybe its me being paranoid, but i have a gut feeling something isn't right.She called again last night and asked if my husband had signed the offers so she could pick them up and she also had a buyer lined up to look at the house this Sunday.

So right now, we are so confused as to what we should do.We have this foreclosure looming over us to begin with,but we are hopeful that if this loan modification goes through we could get ourselves back on track.On the other hand, we are worried about submitting any offers now since the bank could possibly accept them if they cover the mortgage we owe.Which would in turn leave us with no assets whatsoever.The loan terms are so unclear to me, i don't even have original papers!
and from what I've read we just had no clue what we signed.I'm scared of what his parents may have done since they had their own attorney oversee my husbands first mortgage papers, and he trusted they were acting in his best interest at the time.

I apologize for rambling on for so long and making this so long and jumping from topic to topic here but there is just so much I'm trying to sort out in my head right now-i can't even think straight,let alone express myself clearly.

I am terrified of losing everything.We are a blended family and have five children, all of which have NO IDEA of whats going on.I haven't slept for days, and i am so stressed out i can barely concentrate on anything for an extended period of time.This whole situation is beginning to take a toll on me mentally and physically.I haven't been spending time with my kids either, I'm eager to get them off to bed so that i can research my situation and find a solution to our current situation-which only makes me feel guilty for neglecting them.My head is spinning out of control trying to figure out an answer to all this.I don't want to fall into a deep depression, but i can feel the pressure is building up.I feel so hopeless right now.

If anyone is still reading this and hasn't fallen asleep by now,PLEASE HELP ME ! Who do i contact? Where can i find competent legal representation? Who can i trust?


I hope to hear your responses soon and God bless you all for everything you are doing to help all of the people in difficult situations.

-Dunia











[/B]

[Dcubana]

Hello and thank you for responding so quickly! As far as we were told by Chase, Contrary to what the Realtor had told us-there were no offers made on the house at all.They also told us that all offers had to be signed by us before they were submitted to them.That leads me to believe it can't be a short sale because then the offers would go directly to the bank,correct? So if it isn't a short sale, why does she have it listed on the Realtor's website as one? I'm concerned that she may be working with someone from Chase,and this may possibly make it difficult for us to get the Loan mod approved!
Isn't this illegal? As far as the loan modification-we are trying to get a lower rate but if that doesn't go through would we able to try to request the other option? Does that mean we would we have to resubmit everything to them?

Dunia

This is such a complex problem with the family relationships and as such given the real estate agents duplicity and all of the myriad factors of family interests, deeding, loan brokers, illness of one of the title holders, etc....and the fact that because you are a spouse does not require you to sign anything as regards the property if you do not want to no matter what state you are in....you really need good legal advice.

I urge you to seek experienced and reputable legal representation as it appears that even with a sale there are parties that will not agree to the sale that still must have a cloud on the title to have a position in the foreclosure.

Oh the closing package that you receive is always unsigned, the signed documents are sent to the lender after you have signed them and you get a copy of the unsigned closing documents.

Your situation is just far to complex for us to assist you and your really do need to continue to pursue the modification as Penny says as well as obtain very good legal representation.

[Dcubana]

Thank you for your quick response Poppy.You are absolutely right in saying This is a really complex situation, and that's why I've been pulling my hair out trying to straighten this mess up for months now! But i see now,the legal route seems to be our best alternative at this time. I will start looking for an attorney first thing in the morning. Are there any websites that you know of that could assist me in finding a really good attorney in NJ? Given our current situation, i want to make sure i find someone who is both reputable and experienced and not make our situation worse than it already is. I have to admit, I'm really scared of getting scammed after hearing so many horror stories.If you or anyone else could make any recommendations,or point me in the right direction i would be forever grateful!

Thank you again and may god bless you for helping those in need.



(edited out)

-Dunia

[Moe Bedard]

Dunia,
Naca is a good resourse for information in obtaining help for your situation.........here is the website, and the have an office in N.J.

https://www.naca.com/program/foreclo...n.jsp?menu=mem

I hope everything works out for you.....

You should probably contact NACA and obtain a referral from them National Association of Consumer Advocates – Consumer Protection Advocates and Attorneys

[Dcubana]

Hello,
I already submitted all of our mortgage info to Naca on their website,although it says we will need to attend a workshop before meeting with a counselor.The workshops in our area are already full and the next available one is in May! I will still try and call them on Monday and see what they tell me.

I also went to the NJ hope website for referrals but the link to my county appears to be broken and it keeps redirecting me to a Verizon Website for some reason.So i emailed the Director and asked if she could send me information on their lawyer ref feral services.I will try calling them also on Monday. I surfed the web last night until 5am ! I was able to find 2 real estate lawyers near my area that appear to be qualified to handle our situation.So i and emailed them both and asked for a free consult ASAP.
I really want to make sure that they are qualified to handle my problem and are experienced in dealing with Mortgage Violations and Fraud.Hopefully i will hear back from them soon.

I plan to call Chase on Monday also and send them a Fax asking for the status of the loan Modification.I am really concerned with the Foreclosure Time line though, since we are almost 6 months past due now. When we were served with the Civil Complaint we gave the paperwork to our Realtor who promised to "take care of it" for us..Since at the time we had agreed to try to sell the house we thought this would just buy us some time and delay the foreclosure process until we were able to save off some money and pay off what we owed.That was back in January, so i have no idea how much time we have left now to deal with all this.Should i call the attorney on the complaint and ask them directly?

As far as our Realtor goes, she called us multiple times yesterday and again today.My husband finally spoke to her, she asked if he could have the offers signed for her by tomorrow and when the Buyer came buy to look at the house he could give them to the Agent.She had told us she had a buyer who wanted to come see the house tomorrow between 2 and 3pm.He told her he was not going to sign off on any offers until he spoke to an attorney.She told him, "good"....and quickly ended the conversation. Should we be agreeing to allow buyers to come see the house?
This is all one big mess....


Thank you,

Had to reduce the type face..that is shouting at us, and we really do not deserve to be shouted at...please, the large type and Caps are for shouting.

As for you situation you really need to retain an attorney, we are not able to answer your very complex and legal questions.

[Dcubana]

Poppy,
Thats odd, I wasn't aware that i had posted all in Caps?, although i did make the font a larger size thinking it would be easier to read. Anyhow, I'm sorry that i came across as if i was shouting, that was never my intention.

On the contrary, I am extremely grateful with all of the feedback i have gotten back from you and everyone else here. I value your opinions and the valuable information this site has provided me with.I always make it a point never to shout at anyone, (even on forums)....and i always try my best to treat others with kindness and respect. So if i offended you or anyone else, you have my sincere apologies.

I actually started out my previous post as an update on my current situation, and to let everyone know i was being Proactive and following the advice i was given,i guess at some point i got side tracked and started asking questions again. Sleep deprivation will do that to you.....

I have already taken the advice that was given to me by everyone here and in the process of obtaining an attorney at the moment, so i will refrain from asking anymore questions concerning my situation.

Although i would like to ask about something in general, (not pertaining to our specific situation) before i go away- if i may? .....
Would it be more cost effective for me to obtain a Loan document review and then take their findings to an attorney or to ask the attorney to have it done for us? I suspect a lawyer would probably cost more, but i' m not entirely sure.And my last question....Would Marshall Rosenbach be able to do this document review for us although we live in NJ or could he refer us to someone in NJ ?
We have already set some money aside from our savings for legal expenses, and we'd like to try to stay within that budget.

Thanks again for your time,

Dunia-