First time defaulter, need advice

Guest

We bought a condo in Hawaii in Dec 2004 (hoping the prices would still go up...dumb, I know)...we've had it on the market for over 1 year (NEVER thought that would happen, so we've not had a renter in it for that same period). Ther mortg/taxes/hoa fees are about $3500 a month which we've been paying for by borrowining from our HELOC, knowing that we'd eventually be able to pay most of that off with when the property sold, and we'd still be able to maintain our credit rating.

We have excellent credit 740+ and have always prided ourselves on that, but we've run out of funds - almost no income for either of us and the bank that held the HELOC just dropped my "cushion" by $100,000, so we're maxed out.

I find myself actually considering not paying the mortg in Dec - which I NEVER thought I would do. We've still got the condo for sale and have dropped the price, and Dec-Apr is the Hawaii busy season, so we're hopeful it will sell soon. In any case, how HORRIBLE is it going to be if I don't make a mortg payment for say, 3-6 mos, until the property sells? When does the bank get nasty? Do I contact them ahead of time? When will they start forclosure proceedings? The loan is current about $335,000 and the property is worth about $485,000, but even at that price, we're going to lose about $30-$50,000.

Bottomline:
1 - I don't want to do a short sale because there's about $150,000 in equity in the property and I need that to pay off my HELOC if I can.
2 - I'm terrified about wrecking my credit, but it doesn't make sense to keep paying for this mortg with MORE borrowed dollars

Any advice would be so helpful.

Thanks, Jerbark

adonis · Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 11:17 pm Post subject:

Welcome Jerbark,

If you are not paying the mortgage dues for 5-6 months, the lender will start the foreclosure proceedings. He will send you a pre-foreclosure notice. A foreclosure will badly affect your credit and will reduce your credit score by 250 points.

I think you should inform the lender about your situation though there are chances that the lender will not give you options until you default on your payments. Still you can speak to the lender about forbearance. In this process, the lender may reduce or suspend your payments for few months and give you a repayment plan.

Guest

Adonis, thanks for the info. and the add'l link. Do you know how the forbearance process will affect my credit? Jerbark

Niicss · Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 2:01 am Post subject:

Hi jerbark,

As far as I know, forbearance will protect your credit as the loan will not be reported to the credit agencies as delinquent. Though it will appear on your credit report, it will have no negative impact on your credit score.

Thanks.

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