1/1/10--We walk in Arizona

[tricia88]

The discussion about credit security freezes piqued my interest. Unfortunately, it does not stop current creditors from accessing your credit.

See the FAQ by the California State Office of Privacy Protection - http://www.privacy.ca.gov/res/docs/p...rityfreeze.pdf

Can anyone see my credit file if it is frozen?
When you have a security freeze on your credit file, certain entities still have access to it. Your report can still be released to your existing creditors or to collection agencies acting on their behalf. They can use it to review or collect on your account. Other creditors may also use your information to make offers of credit – unless you opt out of receiving such offers. See below for how to opt out of pre-approved credit offers. Government agencies may have access for collecting child support payments or taxes or for investigating Medi-Cal fraud. Government agencies may also have access in response to a court or administrative order, a subpoena, or a search warrant.

Also noted on the Experian website - Security Freeze

A security freeze generally does not apply to circumstances in which you have an existing account relationship and a copy of your report is requested by your existing creditor or its agents or affiliates for certain types of account review, collection, fraud control or similar activities.

[tricia88]

Woody - I recently made the same decision and I have to echo your sentiment "Who knew foreclosure could be so fun!" It really is empowering to be the one calling the shots and not living in fear of the bank.

Best wishes to you and your family as you walk down this path.

[AZOwner]

yes, your credit report can still be accessed, however, the member indicated that the freeze is similar to one they would put on if you were concerned about identity theft. In any event, I think it's worth a try?

I cannot find anything, doing a couple of simple searches, for the late reporting changes effective in February. I heard this on the radio driving to or from work last week. Sorry, all! As earlier, my credit it beyond this point. I think it may help some though!

[AZOwner]

Woody - so, you remember my offer letter to BofA? (Forgive 1st and 2nd, new 30 year fixed at current market value, fix my credit?)

We received a FedEx yesterday. It had a loan mod in it (really?) They are offering to decrease our monthly payment by 90 dollars a month, on the first (was 3150 offering 3060). This does nothing to address the fact that the house is worth 47 percent of the mortgage.

This pixxes me off so much I can hardly stand it. Why?

1. I gave very specific terms if they wanted my business
2. I have loads of friends on this site and personally that could use a real offer, in writing
3. They killed a tree to send me this garbage
4. They spent money to FedEx the garbage
5. This is a blatent waste of time. The banks need to fix the root of the problem at this point. Yes, some folks would be very pleased to receive an mod offer that would allow them to continue making payments and stay in their homes for another 5 or 6 years, but ultimately they will likely end up at the same place.

The difference? Use the next 5 or 6 years to rent and repair your credit, or wait 6 years to ruin your credit and be in the same place you are right now.

Why don't they just fix it?!!!!

My parents just called about a nice rental they are walking through that would be perfect for us. I am just not ready to start paying rent when we are being very successful with saving every penny. We likely still have 3 months of stashing several thousand dollars per month -- I am staying until the very last minute. . . .



Peace!

[art4ari]

Woody - so, you remember my offer letter to BofA? (Forgive 1st and 2nd, new 30 year fixed at current market value, fix my credit?)

We received a FedEx yesterday. It had a loan mod in it (really?) They are offering to decrease our monthly payment by 90 dollars a month, on the first (was 3150 offering 3060). This does nothing to address the fact that the house is worth 47 percent of the mortgage.

This pixxes me off so much I can hardly stand it. Why?

1. I gave very specific terms if they wanted my business
2. I have loads of friends on this site and personally that could use a real offer, in writing
3. They killed a tree to send me this garbage
4. They spent money to FedEx the garbage
5. This is a blatent waste of time. The banks need to fix the root of the problem at this point. Yes, some folks would be very pleased to receive an mod offer that would allow them to continue making payments and stay in their homes for another 5 or 6 years, but ultimately they will likely end up at the same place.

The difference? Use the next 5 or 6 years to rent and repair your credit, or wait 6 years to ruin your credit and be in the same place you are right now.

Why don't they just fix it?!!!!

My parents just called about a nice rental they are walking through that would be perfect for us. I am just not ready to start paying rent when we are being very successful with saving every penny. We likely still have 3 months of stashing several thousand dollars per month -- I am staying until the very last minute. . . .



Peace!

This is exactly what my lawyer told me! Unless we make extra payments during the years with very low interest rate... is the same baby, just upside down. The only folks who can really benefit from mods are the ones that ad too hihg of interest or ARMS and their are no so much underwater. Not my case...


I am walking away.....

[tricia88]

yes, your credit report can still be accessed, however, the member indicated that the freeze is similar to one they would put on if you were concerned about identity theft. In any event, I think it's worth a try?

I cannot find anything, doing a couple of simple searches, for the late reporting changes effective in February. I heard this on the radio driving to or from work last week. Sorry, all! As earlier, my credit it beyond this point. I think it may help some though!

Yes, the security freeze was originally intended as a way to prevent identity fraud. The credit bureaus charge $10 each to activate the freeze so that would cost $30 to do all three bureaus and if you have a spouse's credit you need to freeze, that's another $30. If you need to apply for a new loan, it costs $10 to "thaw" or temporarily unfreeze your credit report. If you are a victim of identity fraud, there is no charge to activate the security freeze.

The law going into effect in February mandates credit card industry reform. It is named Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 or Credit CARD Act of 2009.

This act will help those of us who are in default on our mortgages and also have credit card debt by elminating the "universal default" practice. Univrsal default is a predatory tactic that credit card companies use to increase your interest rate to the max, 30%+, even though you were never late on that particular card. The creditor's reasoning is that you are exhibiting risky behavior so therefore they must increase the interest rate to protect themself.

I was hoping that doing a credit security freeze would help protect us from universal default actions until the new law goes into effect in February but since the freeze does not prevent existing creditors from accessing your credit, they can still see that you're late on your mortgage and they can still increase your rate for basically any reason they want until February.

Here is a recent article about an attempt to move up the effective date of the CARD Act but unfortunately it was blocked by some opposition in the Senate.

[tricia88]

wow_in_CA - you probably could stop paying in January and be okay with your credit cards since your default probably won't be reported until after you are 30 days late.

I stopped paying my mortgage in November and I am hoping nothing happens to the rate on my one credit card balance. I signed up for a credit monitoring service and so far, my credit scores have not been affected so I'm just crossing my fingers for the next two months.

I also want to add for others reading this - DO NOT call your credit card company to request a credit line increase or anything that would prompt them to look at your credit report because if they see a delinquent balance, they will most likely enact the universal default rate.

[dawnie]

What does this wording mean?

"The act does not affect existing credit card contracts."

Will it not apply to my current credit cards?

[madison21]

Woody, congrats on removing the 800 pound gorilla from your back! I'm curious about something related, since I walked from my California home almost 2 years ago--I hope anyone with knowledge can impart some wisdom unto me (and someone please let me know if there's a better forum for this stuff):

I did 100% financing on my house and never refinanced. California is a non-recourse state. My HELOC went into charge-off status 12/2008, 12 months ago. My last payments on 1st and 2nd loan were January 2008. I left the house and the state, so did not need to deal with signs in the yard or anything.

Tonight I got a call from the dreaded Green Tree, telling me I owe them $110K (heloc was for $106K, but whatevs). So Countrywide charged off, then sold my HELOC debt. Do I need to worry about being sued for this debt, since it's from a non-recourse loan?

I really, *really* need to see some official regulations or something on this, if anyone can point me in the right direction. I appreciate all the first-hand experience there is on these boards, but message boards don't stand up in court if you're on the wrong side of the laws.

Did the debt revive once Green Tree bought it?

Also I'll probably need an address to send a cease-and-desist letter, since the guy I talked to (talked *at*, since he was talking over me) threatened to call me every day and night, even after I invited him to do so because he and his company would owe me $1000 for every phone call after today, according to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Thanks for any and all constructive advice!

[madison21]

AZOwner....thanks for the info. You have been very helpful to me. So it seems it's pretty cut and dry...100% of our money went to buying the house no 1099.


Looking forward to walking away and starting anew...

Woody, just a note about this, and I did read what your attorney had to say..but you might still owe income taxes to Arizona. I don't know the state tax code there, but I do know the federal government waived forgiven and cancelled debt from being taxable income through Dec. 12, 2012 (was first 2009, then extended).

California had a similar law that only waived the taxable income status of the cancelled debt through Dec. 31, 2008. Naturally, my foreclosure notice was pumped out Jan. 2, 2009 and the auction was Jan. 26, 2009. So I'm glad I don't live in California anymore, or I would owe a lot of income taxes. As it is, I will be expecting that 1099 and I will have to figure out how to pay my current state's tax rate on it.

But just double-check with a CPA who has done taxes for lots of people with foreclosures, and ask if AZ has enacted a law exempting mortgage relief from income taxes.

[Woody]

Madison...thanks for the heads-up regarding the taxes. The lawyer I spoke with was pretty adament that there would be none. After all, he walked away from his house as well. As for your letter from Green Tree, I would obviously talk to a lawyer and see what the rules are in CA. My guy told me that if I got something like that, he would write a letter, make a few calls, blah blah blah, and it would go away since it's a non-recourse state. My uneducated guess is that they're just trying to scare you and collect SOMETHING from you.

AZOwner, I really can't believe your story. When I read your first line, I actually thought (just for a nanosecond, but it did enter my mind) that they would actually agree to your terms. It really is unbelievable how they think..or don't think. If my company actually agreed to your terms, I would stay, they would have one less foreclosure to worry about, and all would be good. It boggles the mind... Keep saving that cash...you must be up to a pretty good amount by now. Must be nice! We get paid tomorrow (3rd), and the money I would normally send to them is going elsewhere (Christmas presents and overdraft protection from my bank). I have to admit that I'm a little nervous about it, but here goes...

[Woody]

Wow...I just noticed I'm a 'senior member' now. Movin' on up in the world!

[madison21]

Madison...thanks for the heads-up regarding the taxes. The lawyer I spoke with was pretty adament that there would be none. After all, he walked away from his house as well. As for your letter from Green Tree, I would obviously talk to a lawyer and see what the rules are in CA. My guy told me that if I got something like that, he would write a letter, make a few calls, blah blah blah, and it would go away since it's a non-recourse state. My uneducated guess is that they're just trying to scare you and collect SOMETHING from you.

I hope you are right! He certainly was threatening, but it wasn't a letter, it was a phone call. He denied that he needed to abide by my request that they only communicate with me in writing, so I guess I will see what happens, if I get any more phone calls. I'm buying a mini recorder so i can let him know he's being recorded if he calls me back...I'm now in a state that doesn't require both parties' consent for recording, only one party needs to consent, and that would be me!

Best of luck and I hope you don't get that 1099!

[tricia88]

Wow...I just noticed I'm a 'senior member' now. Movin' on up in the world!

Haha, I looked at mine right after I read this and I got promoted too! Congrats to us

[AZOwner]

Woody - you're right. I am just so tired to dealing with these people while they continue to get rich from their Enron Accounting (I hear McCain use that term today with regard to the Health Care Debate) -- if they offered me a loan for 50 grand to stay in the house at this point I would have to seriously think about it. this is just CRAPOLA.

My family did everything in the correct order. Graduated high school, graduated college in a field that was high in demand, and played the corporate game well. I would like to say we are good at what we do as well! Thus far, thankfully, we have been spared from layoffs -- I think that picture will change at the beginning of the year, and we should have 6 months of expenditures for a rental and expenses saved by that time.

We were just good little middle class puppets! To H E double hockey sticks with that noise.

My family is what i NEED, not some pile of sticks. If I can feed them 3 times a day, we've got it GOOD! Be good to your family, be good to you neighbor -- although it is a scarey thought, PEOPLE are what you can count on -- nothing else. If more people saw life that way -- the world would be a better place for us all.

Screw the banks.

check out Richard Zombecks new article -- post to thread below. It's enough to make you ill.

[Woody]

Well, it has officially begun. I got paid on the 3rd, and instead of paying my mortgage, I paid my overdraft protection ($900) and Christmas/other bills. Plus, I have a $1000 I'm taking over to a new credit union to open a new checking AND savings (unreal!) account. We bought new shoes for the kids, had some dinner out, and still have money left...I love having extra cash! I'm switching over because I don't want my mortgage companies (Saxon and EMC) to take out payments without my consent since I've been paying online for two years. I know they can't do that, but they do a lot of things they shouldn't do. This way, they won't know where the money is.

Now, here is the next question: I guess it's similar to getting cold feet before getting married (although I never had that), but now I'm wondering if I should at least try to get some type of mod. Here are my reasons: if we do, we can stay in the house/neighborhood which we really love and we don't have to move soon which I really don't like doing, especially with two young kids. I know we will eventually leave because we as so upside down on the house, but if we could stay here for a few more years at a lower payment, I think that's not a bad idea. Now, you could argue that if we're going to foreclose to go ahead and get it over with. This is what I'm thinking: by not paying our mortgage, we can completely pay off our huge credit card bills ($25,000) by June--come summer, we have no c.c. debt. However, I don't think we would actually qualify for a mod because right now we're making too much money...we are very lucky in that respect...but, that might change in the fall with my wife's job. At this point, we just don't know. It is concievable that we will qualify for a mod in the fall, but by then it might be too late. So what happens if she doesn't have a job in the fall after we move to a rental, and then can't afford that? Boy, that would be a kick in the ass. The chances are very, very slim that she won't lose her job, but is it worth the risk? Can we not pay for 6 months, get a mod, and still end up with lower payments? Therein lies the problem. We have an ARM that will reset in 2012 anyway, but if we get a payment at, say 4%, for 3 years like others have, then we can leave then. Anyone else out there get cold feet once it started?

Sorry, I kinda feel like I'm rambling on here and not making sense. But that's why I like this forum...I can do that!

[tricia88]

Hi Woody, I stopped paying in November. At first, I thought I would try for a loan mod but like you, I think we make too much money and don't really have a hardship. Plus, after reading what people have been posting about their loan mod ordeals, I've decided that it's totally not worth it for me to spend the time, energy and stress to do it. Besides, I would need them to reduce my principal in order for me to stay here and that's highly unlikely that it would happen.

I am on the fence about the idea that maybe we should try for a short sale to spare our credit. But I don't really want to submit all my financial info because again, we don't really have a hardship right now. Plus, if CA does not extend the mortgage debt forgiveness, it may be better for us to foreclose rather than pay the income tax on the forgiven debt. I'm just going to wait until they send me a NOD and then decide my next course of action. For now, I am enjoying the free rent and saving as much as I can.

I guess what I wanted to say is yes, I do go through bouts of second guessing my decision but as time passes, I still think it was the right thing to do. For me, I feel somewhat in control as I was the one who consciously made this decision after a lot of research and planning rather than having it be forced on me by other events that may have caused me to react emotionally or unlogically.

Hang in there. Ultimately, you will make the best decision for your and your family.

[Woody]

Tricia...thanks for the response. I agree that it does feel great to be in control of the situation, rather than getting all stressed about it. When I think about what the others have had to go through just to get runaround with their mods, I also think it's just not worth the hassle. I have better things to focus my energy on, like my family, than waste it on the banks. That's why I know this is the best decision.

By the way, how's that savings coming along?

[litton nightmares]

These stories, like yours Woody, just leave us all shaking our heads. I mean if the house IS underwater, it isn't like they will profit a bit from not just figuring out that it would be better for THEM to keep it occupied and to make that make sense for those who are living there.

[AZOwner]

Woody - et al.

It's been weeks since I heard from BofA . .. yesterday they called to follow up on the time sensitive information they sent. I said I had received and it did not meet my requirements as stated in the September 15 letter.

He asked if I wanted to stay in my home. I said, sure I do. Then he said I should call home retention. I told him, no. Again, see the letter for my terms.

Yesterday, another FedEx package arrived with TRIAL payment stubs. The trial payments are 800 less per month on the first. Note indicates that they want me to pay until they can assess if we are eligibile for further assistance, but this is not a guarantee of future assistance.

See, one of the reasons this forum is GREAT. The last attempt to get more money before they foreclose!

The deadline for me to respond is 2/10/10 -- which means that I will potentially be in this home until 5/10/10 -- if they are on top of their process by that time. That's 7 months mortgage free. . .

The future is bright!

[Woody]

Quick update ...

I am officially late with my first (Saxon) payment that was due on the 1st but late on the 15th. Six days later and only one recording that my wife heard on the answering maching. We are also now a day late on the 2nd (EMC) and nothing from them yet.

The good news is we bought a car. My wife suggested that since our credit will tank by doing this, we should get a new car to hold us over until the damage is repaired. So, we got a great rate on a car loan and bought a new (used) one. Sure will look great when we're moving out of this money pit. Still can't believe we're actually doing this, but we're in now. I do love all the money we have in the bank now...

[kjenkins7]

Quick update ...

I am officially late with my first (Saxon) payment that was due on the 1st but late on the 15th. Six days later and only one recording that my wife heard on the answering maching. We are also now a day late on the 2nd (EMC) and nothing from them yet.

The good news is we bought a car. My wife suggested that since our credit will tank by doing this, we should get a new car to hold us over until the damage is repaired. So, we got a great rate on a car loan and bought a new (used) one. Sure will look great when we're moving out of this money pit. Still can't believe we're actually doing this, but we're in now. I do love all the money we have in the bank now...

Not speaking from experience YET but as of next month our family will be doing the same thing. Makes no sense in getting the run around from these lenders/banks when you can put yourself in control for once. Like you said just make sure you get ""big ticket" items out of the way before missing payments. Like you did with the car. Think about it once you get everything you really need do you need credit anymore ??? or for awhile atleast ? FICO departments will change there rules once 40% + Americans are in the same situation ya know ? Good luck and keep us updated as i will too

[litton nightmares]

Woody - et al.

It's been weeks since I heard from BofA . .. yesterday they called to follow up on the time sensitive information they sent. I said I had received and it did not meet my requirements as stated in the September 15 letter.

He asked if I wanted to stay in my home. I said, sure I do. Then he said I should call home retention. I told him, no. Again, see the letter for my terms.

Yesterday, another FedEx package arrived with TRIAL payment stubs. The trial payments are 800 less per month on the first. Note indicates that they want me to pay until they can assess if we are eligibile for further assistance, but this is not a guarantee of future assistance.

See, one of the reasons this forum is GREAT. The last attempt to get more money before they foreclose!

The deadline for me to respond is 2/10/10 -- which means that I will potentially be in this home until 5/10/10 -- if they are on top of their process by that time. That's 7 months mortgage free. . .

The future is bright!

Hey Woody, well that is one "WTG" and have lots of cash to make your new start with too. No mortgage for SEVEN MONTHS? these people better start using their brains , instead of their GREED, to realize that people stand to be WAY BETTER OFF, looking for a rental with 10K in their pocket to do that with. Hell, you can probably find some other underwater property with a "lease to own" and owner financing, lol.

[Seand442]

We too have stopped paying this month. We have gotten a few calls from WF, only 1 message and they even called my office one day. Payment was late after the 15th and the first call was on the 16th. If there is ever a live operator, I might discuss a possible principal reduction but it ticks me off a bit that they only use automated calls. If this was so important, have a live person call me. In the meantime, my bank account will continue to grow.

[Woody]

Nothing much to update other than telling my dear old mother that her son is a delinquent who doesn't care about honoring his commitments. I was actually a little nervous because I wasn't sure how she would react, but she was great. She actually said, "That's great news because I was afraid of what was going to happen to you and your family. You guys are killing yourselves with all of extra work you're doing to pay for that thing." I explained everything to her, but she didn't need to hear it; she agreed right away that it was the right decision. I'll wait to tell the rest of the family, and the neighbors, until the moving truck pulls up. I still can't believe we're doing this, but we are. We'll be late with our second mortgage tomorrow. So far, only one phone call and a letter. We sure are enjoying our new car that we bought!

Sean442...and watch that account grow and grow....

[Woody]

This is utterly ridiculous....Saxon called me today because of my missed payment. Here is the gist of the conversation:

Me: Hello
Saxon: This is Saxon. We are recording this conversation. Is this Woody?
Me: Speaking.
Saxon: Your name is Woody, and your account number is XXXXX.
Me: Sure.
Saxon: Can you verify your address?
Me: Uh, you called me. Why do I have to verify my address?
Saxon: For security purposes.
Me: You called me...I'm not going to verify my address since you called me.
Saxon: (Getting annoyed) We need it for security purposes, sir. Please verify your address.
Me: Look, I'm not going to waste anymore time. I know I missed December's payment, and I'm going to pay it in January.
Saxon: I'll mark your account.
Me: Goodbye.

Really, they call me and want me to verify the information that's right in front of them? Is it me?

Happy New Year. 2010 is sure going to be interesting, that's for sure...

[davephx]

Actually this is standard to comply with privacy laws. They have to be sure it is you before they can discuss your account.

It is only not legitimate if they try and get your social security number (other than the last 4 digits) to confirm.

[Woody]

Happy new year....

Quick update: We are 47 days late on both mortgages. Besides the phone call mentioned above, it's been strangely quiet...a little too quiet....but who's complaining? We've already paid a couple of bills off with the money we've saved...feels pretty good.

Quick question: can the mortgage companies (Saxon and EMC) withhold my tax information since I didn't pay the mortgage in December? My wife asked the question, and I hadn't thought about it. I'm hoping to file our taxes by mid-February, but now I'm wondering if they can hold that up. Has this happened to anyone, or do they still send you the tax info regardless of payment?

[davephx]

No they can not withhold tax info. IRS requires they be sent, has nothing to do if current or not.

[Woody]

Dave...thanks for the information. That was one of reasons why my wife wanted to wait until January before we walk, but I pushed for December.

How are things going with you?

[Woody]

Update.... Today we got a letter for Intent to Accelerate both certified and regular mail. I was actually surprised to get it so soon; we're only about 2 months into our walk. I know it's just a scare tactic, and I know it says 'Intent', but it kinda ruined my day because I wasn't planning on getting this stuff yet. We are planning on giving up the house without a fight, but hoping to get about 7 months free rent. I don't need to worry about this, though, right? Any suggestions on what to do next? I would like to string them along for as long as possible without actually doing much paperwork...is that an option?

Thanks...

[dawnie]

I received the same letter via certified & regular mail about 20 days ago (from Wells Fargo, 5 months after our first missed payment). IMHO - I don't think they can accelerate a foreclosure as it is a legal process and heaven knows there is no dictating how long something "legal" takes.

[Woody]

Dawnie...5 months later? That's why I'm bothered by it as it's only been 2 for me! Do you want to save your house, or are you just staying as long as you can? But, I agree with you about the legal part...I know it's just a scare tactic...

[dawnie]

I would love to save my house but we don't qualify for any programs (we already knew that); ours is a long story (aren't they all) but we decided to walk d/t being terribly upside down & having an ARM.

I am torn between wanting to get as much money saved as possible and just wanting the whole thing over with! I don't think we have too much longer and I am really, really ok with it. Not looking forward to moving, nor telling my family......but there is nothing I can do about it so I am trying to be a "glass half full" kinda gal......HALF FULL OF BOURBON!

[LostVegas]

Woody.....I am in a different city than you with a different lender, but for what it's worth my last payfment was 01/01/09 which was over a year ago and the notice of trustee sale has STILL not been posted. My title was reconveyed to the attorneys for the lender back in August and also on that month the breech and election to sell was filed. Since then I've heard nothing. So I am over a year into this mess plus about 5 months out from the default filing.........not sure how much longer it will take but we are moving into our rental today and notifying our bank next week. I just think they are swamped and what used to take between 3-6 months to do now takes over a year. They have thousands of us to deal with. I stayed as long as I could but at some point, with kids and pets, you have to secure a place and just move on. We used our time to pay off our vehicles and tuition and hope we can start over

[Woody]

LasVegas...thanks for the post. I also have kids (but no pets...I'll take kids over pets anyday!) and I know we'll have to move soon, but like you wrote, I'm hoping to stay as long as possible to pay off our debt. How long after you stopped paying did you get that letter of Intent to Accelerate? My understanding is that is will still take time, so even if we do get 6 months free rent and unload this house (over $160K underwater) it will be worth it. We've already looked at rentals, and there are a couple that are really nice, and we're tempted to just grab them now while they're available (and still save about $1100/month), but I know they'll still be available when we're ready to go. It's funny because we got the certified letter yesterday just when we had company over. My wife and I stole a glance at each other knowing what it was about, but she was worried about it and said, "Great, we'll be the couple to get foreclosed on the fastest without paying our debt." But I know that at some point we'll be looking forward to ending this mess and wanting it to end as soon as possible.
On the other hand, I just did my taxes and boy did my mortgage interest help out with a big refund this year! Ah well, still better to say in a rental every month than the interest...
Good luck with your move and I hope your family finds some peace in this mess.

[LostVegas]

Unfortunately I won't have a good write-off this year for the taxes, since I haven't paid since Feb 2009.......

We quit paying in Feb 2009, got "intent to accelerate" notices in April and May (2-3 months late) and we applied for mods end of May begining of June. It was just a shot in the dark and we didn't think we'd get a good offer becuase we wanted a principle write-down (over 150k upside down) and a payment much lower than they could offer. My loan is Chase and Freddie Mac, so believe it was a HAMP I was going for. My husbands job is crusially reliant on the overtime which makes up a big portion of the pay, and was factored INTO the original loan. We lost that overtime and Chase wants a letter from employer stating he won't get the overtime. My husband's employer (like most governement/state/county/muni employers) won't supply a letter when he is required to be on call 24/7) yet can't guarantee overtime either. They wanted our paystubs, which would show, say about 5 months of no overtime, then he'd randomly get an overtime shift and they'd want to rework the numbers to include that pay although it wasn't indicative of any future compensation he'd be getting.

Long story short we road that crazy train for a few months and then jumped off. We decided we couldn't emotionally handle the house anymore. The mod offer was ridiculous and then they sent a forebearance offer with a few smaller payments, a few regular payments followed by a huge balloon payment for a cash amount we couldn't dream of having.

The official default and election to sell were filed in August, 6 months after first missed payment. We realized that even if the mortgage were written down drastically, it wouldn't take a bite out of the income deficit we had to lost hours. We'd be right back to living paycheck to paycheck. So a family member had a house that the renters would be out by the first of this year, and we couldn't pass. It's half the size of our current one, but rented at fair market value and much cheaper. It was either do it now or lose out. We didn't have to go through credit checks, and we can do what we want with the property and don't have any time constraints, so it was a win-win.

[dawnie]

Lost, I feel the same way. If we did not have children & pets we could just pack up and move in an instant but it is a little bit more difficult that that. I was out driving around today looking in areas for rentals and there are tons! But I also worry if the home owner will be making there mortgage payments. We also are hoping to find a 2-3 year lease.

I can't believe it took over a year for them to do anything...I believe our last payment was in July 2009 but I still keep getting the "call to make arrangement" letters; yea right! I tried to make arrangements but they wouldn't go for it "reduce our principal, modify to a fixed at prime, forgive the past due & repair our credit" It was worth a try!

[Woody]

Lost...good for you for finding a place at the right time. We're thinking about applying for a mod ONLY to stay here longer...we know we're losing the house and don't want to go through the headache of trying to save it. Just want to stay and save some cash. This is the last year we'll get the mortgage interest since who knows where we'll be next year, so that money will go right into our savings account (which we FINALLY have after too many years of nothing. It does feel good to have something saved). So you got that letter and still stayed for a year? That's what we're hoping for. Actually, that's not true; we would love to stay, but we know that the only way would be a principal reduction, and that ain't happening.
Dawnie, we're in Chandler as well and hoping to stay here when we rent. I've found quite a few nice houses on Craigslist. You're on month 7 and still no payments made?

[LostVegas]

dawnie.......luckily our family member that we are renting from owns the house outright and is desperate for a long term rental since they can't sell.

I too would wait till the sherrif came knocking if I had no kids or pets, but it would definitely be impossible to find a place and move last minute.

We are keeping our home owners insurance, or switching to vacant home insurance, just to be safe.