| Need Help for Family in FL
This is mostly a very close family member's story; it is "mine" only in that my wife and I are the only folks in this person's family that have the capacity to help. However, we happen to live in California and our relative lives in Florida. Also, we both work (and need to work). I'm self-employed, and my wife just finished a long maternity leave. So, other than perhaps a short trip, the best we can do is whatever we can do remotely. We can't move to FL to fix this problem. Anyway, here goes...
Mortgage is serviced by GMAC -- Approximately $106k principle outstanding on a 30-year fixed mortgage at 9% (you read that right -- purchase money mortgage in 1989 that was never refinanced, even in the "good old days"). I am told that her monthly payments (P&I) are $1200. Given the principle amount, I suspect that the bank is also escrowing property taxes and insurance and including those payments in her monthly mortgage payment.
The home is worth somewhere between $240k (2008 tax appraisal after re-appraisal in light of market) and $350k (zillow estimate) so she's looking at a good deal of equity.
BUT...
1. The IRS has put nearly $1mil in liens on the property in 2004 for non-payment of income taxes. She disputes that she owes anything, but the IRS disagrees and she hasn't gone through the appropriate channels to challenge the IRS determination. She probably has not filed tax returns since then, either.
2. GMAC commenced foreclosure proceedings last October, as she stopped making payments on her mortgage. As of Oct. 1 she will be 15 months behind, plus the costs of the foreclosure action. GMAC recently filed a motion for summary judgment in the foreclosure action, so a judgment may be issued in as little as 20 days, and a sale set for as little as 50 days from now (30 days from the date of judgment).
A little about her:
She has had a pretty miserable existence for the last 20 years, partly of her own doing and partly entirely out of her own control. Her husband passed away about 17 years ago, leaving her a widow with an 18-year old daughter about to go off to college. Because her husband had suffered for several years before then, she did not have a job. He did, however, have a pretty good life insurance policy. Rather than get a job, she lived on the life insurance proceeds -- investing most of them. That was fine when the economy was going well, but when the bubble finally burst in the late '90s/early '00s, she took a bath. And she still did not have a job -- up to that point, she'd been living on her gains. For the next 7 years, she gradually ate away at her investments (which continued to lose money) to fund her lifestyle, until she finally ran out of money. She still did not have a job.
Through all of this, she experienced a number of other significant life events. Her mother is very ill and has been placed in a nursing home. She, herself, had significant health problems. And the IRS told her she owed them nearly $1mil.
That's probably all more information than you need to know. The point, I guess, is that we believe she has a very severe case of depression -- to the point that it has made her utterly incapable of doing just about anything. That includes dealing with her current situation (even as the sky is falling down on her). She cannot seem to get herself to go get a job (any job). She cannot seem to get herself to try to solve the IRS issue. And she cannot seem to get herself to even focus on the foreclosure: it's been nearly a year since the foreclosure action was commenced, and she's still never spoken with anyone at the bank.
My question is a bit different than others on this board in this respect. I'm not asking what SHE can do to help herself. I just don't see her doing anything. So my question is what can we do to try to keep her from becoming homeless. Throwing money at the situation doesn't seem like a particularly good idea, because we can't afford to buy out her mortgage and anything short of that would just be a bandaid -- she'd be in the same position in a few months. Plus, even if we had the money to fully buy her out of her mortgage, the IRS lien eats up all the equity, so we won't really own anything at all and would probably be better just renting a place for her than paying over $100k upfront for what amounts to "rent".
My wife and I are up to our necks. We want to help, but we don't know what to do and we can't risk our own well-being, as we have a brand-new, 6 month old daughter. ANY help that ANY of you could provide would be helpful.
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