Posted on: 01st Mar, 2009 06:28 pm
hi, thank you for reading my post! i'm not exactly sure what to do but i need some advice!
i bought a condo in 2007 for 239,900. at the time, i had 60,000 in equity. i used some of th equity to pay off bills and my mortgage now is about 270,000. in less than a year the price dropped by more than half on the value of my home. now, all the condos in my development are in foreclosure and short sales. they are selling for 120,000. so, i'm upside down on my loan by over 150,000.
in oct 2008 i decided to take a job in denmark. since i could not sell my house, my lender would not work with me because i was not behind, i decided to rent it. however, i could only rent it for 1000 dollars and my mortgage is 1900.
long story short, i got laid off after i moved to denmark from my job and i haven't had any income since october 2008. i've been borrowing money and using credit cards to pay other credit cards... so now i'm a financial mess.
i am current on all my payments except as i said i'm borrowing money to stay afloat. i'm coming back to the us in a few weeks to try and start looking for work. i can't even come back and live in my own home because i rented it out.
basically, is bankruptcy my only option? up till now i have been financially stable. i did not buy a home with a bad deal or something i couldn't afford... the market has just tanked and i am powerless to do anything. it also sucks because i have a second mortgage with a credit union. they were most unwilling to help me and gave me the whole "you bought the house now its your responsibility to pay the debt". they even said they would not let me short sale it because they would get nothing.
my property is in virginia and if anybody has any advise or suggestions, i'm all ears. i'm at like 35,000 in debt with credit cards, the house and i have student loans.
can you file bankruptcy without a job?
i bought a condo in 2007 for 239,900. at the time, i had 60,000 in equity. i used some of th equity to pay off bills and my mortgage now is about 270,000. in less than a year the price dropped by more than half on the value of my home. now, all the condos in my development are in foreclosure and short sales. they are selling for 120,000. so, i'm upside down on my loan by over 150,000.
in oct 2008 i decided to take a job in denmark. since i could not sell my house, my lender would not work with me because i was not behind, i decided to rent it. however, i could only rent it for 1000 dollars and my mortgage is 1900.
long story short, i got laid off after i moved to denmark from my job and i haven't had any income since october 2008. i've been borrowing money and using credit cards to pay other credit cards... so now i'm a financial mess.
i am current on all my payments except as i said i'm borrowing money to stay afloat. i'm coming back to the us in a few weeks to try and start looking for work. i can't even come back and live in my own home because i rented it out.
basically, is bankruptcy my only option? up till now i have been financially stable. i did not buy a home with a bad deal or something i couldn't afford... the market has just tanked and i am powerless to do anything. it also sucks because i have a second mortgage with a credit union. they were most unwilling to help me and gave me the whole "you bought the house now its your responsibility to pay the debt". they even said they would not let me short sale it because they would get nothing.
my property is in virginia and if anybody has any advise or suggestions, i'm all ears. i'm at like 35,000 in debt with credit cards, the house and i have student loans.
can you file bankruptcy without a job?
Hi Amy!
Welcome to forums!
As far as I can understand your situation, you can file bankruptcy but in my opinion, that should be the last option. You can contact your lender and inform him about your hardship. The lender may suggest some options to you and may be ready to go for a loan modification.
As far as your second mortgage with the credit union is concerned, if you go for a short sale you will still be liable to pay the mortgage dues to them. It is not that they will forgive their dues.
As far as credit card debts are concerned, you can look out for a debt consolidation or a debt settlement. In case of a debt settlement, your payments will be reduced by 40%-60% depending upon your situation. If you go for debt consolidation, your interest rates my be reduced. You can contact any debt consolidation company and check out their options. I know of a debt consolidation community - "debtconsolidationcare.com". You can visit their website and speak to their financial coach.
Feel free to ask if you have further queries.
Sussane
Welcome to forums!
As far as I can understand your situation, you can file bankruptcy but in my opinion, that should be the last option. You can contact your lender and inform him about your hardship. The lender may suggest some options to you and may be ready to go for a loan modification.
As far as your second mortgage with the credit union is concerned, if you go for a short sale you will still be liable to pay the mortgage dues to them. It is not that they will forgive their dues.
As far as credit card debts are concerned, you can look out for a debt consolidation or a debt settlement. In case of a debt settlement, your payments will be reduced by 40%-60% depending upon your situation. If you go for debt consolidation, your interest rates my be reduced. You can contact any debt consolidation company and check out their options. I know of a debt consolidation community - "debtconsolidationcare.com". You can visit their website and speak to their financial coach.
Feel free to ask if you have further queries.
Sussane
Hmmm yea, I have tried already to work with my 1st mortgage bank its called Acacia? They aren't willing to help me at all. They said my mortgage is not a subprime loan and that is the only people that they are working with. If I can't get out of the second mortgage with a short sale or anything then there is no point in doing it... I will still have the debt. I already talked to a credit counseling service and my payments would actually be more than they are now.
On top of that I haven't had any income for over 4 months... so, restructuring my debt at this point isn't exactly going to help me! :)
I guess I feel like bankruptcy is my last option. If my second mortgage company (my credit union) isn't willing to work with me at all... I tried... even if my first agrees to do something then I'm still in the hole with my second mortgage who would just pass a judgement against me anyways. I sent a few emails to some lawyers.
I just can't believe a bank would want to own a property that is worth over 150,000 less than the note. Isn't it bad for them to have that situation?
I guess I should stop paying things though. I just dunno what that would do to my renters? Should I notify them that I am in financial trouble?
On top of that I haven't had any income for over 4 months... so, restructuring my debt at this point isn't exactly going to help me! :)
I guess I feel like bankruptcy is my last option. If my second mortgage company (my credit union) isn't willing to work with me at all... I tried... even if my first agrees to do something then I'm still in the hole with my second mortgage who would just pass a judgement against me anyways. I sent a few emails to some lawyers.
I just can't believe a bank would want to own a property that is worth over 150,000 less than the note. Isn't it bad for them to have that situation?
I guess I should stop paying things though. I just dunno what that would do to my renters? Should I notify them that I am in financial trouble?
"Should I notify them that I am in financial trouble?"
As far as renters are concerned they are paying you $ 1000 and you are paying your lenders $1900.So the deficit is $900.
If you inform them about your financial condition then one thing will happen that they may start searching another home.you are loosing $ 1000 right there.
what i will suggest you is you better claim unemployment benefit from your state and try to bridge the deficit.
but if you show your sincerity to the banks through hardship letters that you are paying them despite of all the difficulties.they may consider your plea.
one more think you will remain a good customer in the eyes of the banks.
so avail the benefit of the unemployment from the state and then try to feel up the gaps.by that time you can also search for any job which is suitable for you without much bargaining on pay package. :idea: :idea:
As far as renters are concerned they are paying you $ 1000 and you are paying your lenders $1900.So the deficit is $900.
If you inform them about your financial condition then one thing will happen that they may start searching another home.you are loosing $ 1000 right there.
what i will suggest you is you better claim unemployment benefit from your state and try to bridge the deficit.
but if you show your sincerity to the banks through hardship letters that you are paying them despite of all the difficulties.they may consider your plea.
one more think you will remain a good customer in the eyes of the banks.
so avail the benefit of the unemployment from the state and then try to feel up the gaps.by that time you can also search for any job which is suitable for you without much bargaining on pay package. :idea: :idea:
I am not entitled to unemployment benefits because I left my job voluntarily in the states. I got laid off from a foreign company... so, I already tried this, they said no.
I guess, you should consult a good lawyer and discuss your situation with him. He will help you to know whether you should go in for a bankruptcy or not.
Well now that I really look at it I don't want to go through the hassle of bankruptcy... I just don't know what to do if I don't.
Is there any hope for me under this new obama thing? My lawyer said it should be out in a few weeks and I might be able to do something with that without filing for bankruptcy... but do I qualify? I'm upside down in total with both loans by 150,000 isn't that too much? And I also rented the property out by necessity in December doesn't that disqualify me as well?
Is there any hope for me under this new obama thing? My lawyer said it should be out in a few weeks and I might be able to do something with that without filing for bankruptcy... but do I qualify? I'm upside down in total with both loans by 150,000 isn't that too much? And I also rented the property out by necessity in December doesn't that disqualify me as well?
And to Sussane, is that debt place you recommended good? They aren't shady or a scam are they?
Hi Amy,
As far as I know, the new stimulus package to be introduced by the Government will help those who are presently current on their loan. I think you should wait for the new plan to come out and then you can check out if you can qualify for it.
Well, in my opinion, the website given by Sussane is not a scam. I was going through the website and found it quite informative. I even checked out their testimonials at "debtconsolidationcare.com/testimonials/" and have found that may people are satisfied with their services.
Thanks
As far as I know, the new stimulus package to be introduced by the Government will help those who are presently current on their loan. I think you should wait for the new plan to come out and then you can check out if you can qualify for it.
Well, in my opinion, the website given by Sussane is not a scam. I was going through the website and found it quite informative. I even checked out their testimonials at "debtconsolidationcare.com/testimonials/" and have found that may people are satisfied with their services.
Thanks
Thanks for the feedback guys. I called my 1st mortgage company today, the lady I spoke with was really nice. She tried to answer all my questions and said that they are willing to work with people and she said that they have over 6,000 hardship packages coming in. She said it will take them awhile to get to mine after I send it in. I told her I wouldn't be able to pay it this month and my situation and she said they may do a forebarance for me for a while and then maybe a mod after. She said that I cannot do a short sale unless the second mortgage agrees to it, which I know they won't. Cause I already asked them. ;)
Do I need to submit a hardship letter to my second mortgage company as well? I sent them an email today they do have a "loan skip" option once a year which might be a month, but I'm not too sure what your options are with second mortgages? Do they typically offer to mod second mortgages if you don't have a first with them?
Do I need to submit a hardship letter to my second mortgage company as well? I sent them an email today they do have a "loan skip" option once a year which might be a month, but I'm not too sure what your options are with second mortgages? Do they typically offer to mod second mortgages if you don't have a first with them?
Hi Amy,
You can submit a hardship letter to the second lender and check out if they are ready to do a loan modification. Yes, there are chances that they will give you the "loan skip" option. However, if they do not negotiate with you, then there are chances that they will charge off the account to a collection agency.
You can submit a hardship letter to the second lender and check out if they are ready to do a loan modification. Yes, there are chances that they will give you the "loan skip" option. However, if they do not negotiate with you, then there are chances that they will charge off the account to a collection agency.
I've looked into Obama's plan and it doesn't seem to really help if you have a second mortage. I would suggest trying to work with both mortage companies as they stand to lose more if the home forecloses.
Can you refi a second mortgage if its upside down? I really need to get out of this credit union I'm with. I submitted a letter to them but they haven't responded. Would they just send me to a collections agency without even speaking to me or being late?
Not usually into the whole online forum posting thing... But I was actually in an almost exact situation, took a job in canada ..went upside down in my loan ... tried negotiating with indymac myself ... it was HELL!!! ... my dad's friend reffered me to foreclosurejam.com ... they actually made life much easier even while i was in canada. Just got a new job ... still in canada. but i definitely recommended.
Anybody have any insight into this company?
hi amy,
i haven't got much insight into this company, but considering the current market scenario, i think getting a refinance when the second mortgage is upside down will be difficult. the lender can charge off the loan to a third party collection agency. in such a case, i think you should continue making payments to the collection agency so the note is marked and reported as 'paid charge off'.
i haven't got much insight into this company, but considering the current market scenario, i think getting a refinance when the second mortgage is upside down will be difficult. the lender can charge off the loan to a third party collection agency. in such a case, i think you should continue making payments to the collection agency so the note is marked and reported as 'paid charge off'.