I'm an idiot and need advice about my foreclosure / refi / short sale

[JJooee]

Let me first start off by saying that my situation is 100% my fault, and I cannot blame WF for my mess, but I need some advice on what my options are.

I've bought my house w/ a co-borrower (not married) about 8yrs ago. We split and she moved out summer of 2008 and I have been paying everything on my own since then. I lost my job summer of 2010 and have only worked a short bit since then and am currently unemployed.

I made the HUGE mistake of avoiding calls from WF and not opening any mail since I knew why they were contacting me. I always thought that things would turn around and I would catch up on what I owe in no time or possibly refinance once I had steady employment. Well, that never happened. I was skipping payments (a lot actually), and I owe my mortgage for the past yr less three payments being held in "unapplied funds" (because they don't take payments when foreclosure starts)

Last week I started to receive advertisements from attorneys regarding foreclosure, so I started to think that they just started the foreclosure.

After trying to contact WF locally about my situation without success, I finally got enough balls to call them and spoke to someone in the loan modification department. I was informed that the foreclosure actually started July 2011, but a sale date has not been assigned. They gave me my approximate totals due, and the attorney that is handling it for them locally.

We briefly went over my hardship(s), and started to begin a "verbal financial interview" which I then stopped so I could gather my info and call at a later time.

My main question is, is this the 1st step in a "possible" loan modification? Does the info I give here, determine if they will even send me all the paperwork to start the process?

I DO want to stay in the house, and can make my regular payment when I have employment. I've been getting by almost 100% for the past year with the help of my family. My savings are down drastically to under $2,000, and my expenses are only utilities, gas and grocery. I have cc's as well with balances that I have not been paying, and the rep I spoke with said that is some of the info that they will need.

I really would like a mod, but I don't want to mess up my verbal interview. Also, what circumstances / information I give are better if they end up sending me paperwork?

I'm really at a loss right now and would like some advice

Many thanks in advance ....

J

[interesting...]

I gotta say, you are no more an idiot than anyone else who bought a home between say 2004 and 2008... and it's not your fault the market took an unprecedented jump off a cliff.

Other than that... well I'm not sure why you want to stay in the home... but you have nothing to lose by telling them the truth...

if you are on unemployment, check with your state's unemployment office to see if they have any specific mod programs for unemployed people... some do I think...

that's all I got for ya... good luck. worst comes to worst, they'll foreclose and you'll be in much better shape financially because of it.

[JJooee]

Thank you for the support ..of sorts I want to stay because the the chances of buying another home after this ordeal anytime in the near future is next to nil since it has taken my previous A++ credit to lord know what now.

I've exhausted my unemployment benefits, but I will look into if they have any programs that can help. I live in Pinellas County, FL if that matters.

If a foreclosure does go through, what time frame am I looking at once a sale happens?

[Cat Damiano]

Hi JJooee,



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

You may be eligible for the Hardest Hit Fund for unemployed borrowers. You can check eligibility here;

https://www.flhardesthithelp.org/

[JJooee]

Hi JJooee,



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

You may be eligible for the Hardest Hit Fund for unemployed borrowers. You can check eligibility here;

https://www.flhardesthithelp.org/

Thank you for the link. i actually found that site before i came here and filled everything out I still need to meet / talk with an adviser to see if they can help out. I haven't received a call, letter, email from them at all since filling out the online worksheet.

Side note: Since contacting WF last week, I believe they "tried" to serve me today. Though my foreclosure was started 6/30/11, I never received any paperwork telling me that I was in foreclosure. I didn't find out until I called WF myself last week. They came two times today, the second one being around 8:30 pm. I didn't answer the door either time, but it looked like he was carrying paperwork / clipboard, and had an id kind of lanyard around his neck.

I know if you're served, you don't have to accept. They can just drop it at your feet, place it on your chest, etc. What if the person trying to serve you never speaks or sees you? I'm not familiar with the laws in Florida regarding being served.

[JJooee]

I don't think they tried serving me in July 2011, that's just when the CSR I spoke with said it was started. I checked my county court system website a few weeks back, but I didn't see anything for my property / name listed (I may have been looking on the wrong database, I'll recheck). This is in Pinellas County, FL if someone can verify I was checking in the right place.

I am unemployed, but not on unemployment. I can prove I have $ coming in, and I have a couple of very good job potentials at the moment. Will that matter if / when I do the financial interview with WF?

Thank you for the Florida Housing Finance Corporation site I will check to see if any of it applies to me.