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How to get rid of mortgage mess to shun negative proceedings

Posted on: 26th Jun, 2006 12:02 am
Hello All,

I am new here, and feel very fortunate to have found this place. I hope I can get some responses to help me out, as I know NOTHING about forclosure, bankruptcy or anyother thing like that.

Here is my story and problem.

I decided to leave my mother's apartment and buy a house last year. I started looking around September.

I found some nice houses that were in my price range, but none really stuck out to me. A month went by, and I was actually starting to lose interest in moving into a house. Then in late November I found a decent looking house that was in my price range, that was right up the road from my mother's apartment, and it also had special downpayment assistance available for those with qualifying incomes.

I checked it out, liked it, and got pre-approved for a loan. I wemt through the process of trying to get the downpayment assistance, and I found out that I made/make only about 55% of the median income and qualified for $18,000 in downpayment assistance. I was very excited. I went through with the home inspections, etc, and I ended up buying it.

The house was $73,000, and with the downpayment assistance I only needed a $55,000 loan, so my payments were/are low

The conditions of the downpayment assistance is something like:

If I stay in the home less than5 years, I have to pay it all back

If I stay in the home 5 years, I pay 50% of it back

Each year over 5 years knocks off an additional 10%, until it reaches 10 years then I don't have to repay any of it.

Sounds good. I was even thinking of making enough extra payments so when the 10 years is up and I'm forgiven of the assistance I'd have my mortgage paid off too, sell the house for a straight profit, and then put most or all of it ass downpayment for a brand new home built wherever I chose.....Didn't work out like that.

Here are the problems...

Let's sum it up first by saying, the Home Inspecter SCREWED ME BAD.

I moved in. I see that some how the seller had her carpet laid on top of the REAL carpet where it was't noticeable, but now it was taken up and I'm left with stained carpted that ABSOLUTELY must be replaced. Oh yeah, ALL through the house (living room and 3 bedrooms). That will cost me about $1000.

NEXT
I come home from work one day and my front windows are all knocked out. Turns out that the previous owner had problems with someone who thought that she still lived there. Welp, there goes $200 a window for some good replacement windows.

NEXT
I come home from my mother's apartment after a heavy rain, and I see that the property has poor drainage. BIG water puddles ALL OVER the yard. I'm starting to get aggrevated.

NEXT
THe seller's stove, which was left in accordance to our agreement, stopped working. Since it was a gas stove and gas prices are outrageous and gas is dangerous I bought a new electric replacement stove( $750).

NEXT
Since the original stove was gas, I needed an electric line ran from my breaker panel to my stove so that my oven would work. I knew/know a guy that would do the work for just the cost of the supplies. Great! So he comes over and decides that running the line under the house in the crawl space would be the best way. So, I go to unlock the crawlspace to let him in and....BAM! I didn't know my house came with a swimming pool in my crawlspace!? Water ALL OVER the crawlspace from the previous rain when my yard puddled up, about 2 inches deep. The vapor barrier was useless against that much moisture. It was floating in the water. We shine a flash light under there and we see a water line on a couple of the peirs that proves that this has been a recurring problem, AND it has been worse at one time or another. I'm thinking how in the *blank* didn't the home inspector see that this house has water issues. Also one of the peirs had crumbled a bit at the base, probably from so much standing water over a long period of time. But, the inspector never mentioned ANY of this.

NEXT
I call the home inspector and tell him about it. He comes over and pumps the water out and urges me to get a sump pump and a sump pit. He offers to help me do it. So I buy the sump pump, pit, gravel, pipe, and accesories ( $400). We end up only having enough pipe and gravel for the back wall. So, that's all we did. BUT it did/does help get rid of a lot of the water.

NEXT
During the next rain I notice that the pump is cutting on about every 10-15 minutes. So I'm very curious as to how THAT much water can find it's way under my house THAT fast. So I go out in the rain and look at what's going on. Welp, my gutters were leaking. No water coming out of the downspouts, the water just leaked right next to the foundation. But what I noticed next was that on the back of the house the gutters don't go all the way to the edge on the right side, so water was running straight off of the roof and falling right next to my foundation. Turns out that the gutters had little army men and toys lodged right in the way for the water to flow down the downspouts. But even when I unstopped them, they still leak too much. Now I need new gutters. $$$

NEXT
I notice that water sits right next to the foundation on the right side of my home. Not is it only from the gutters not running the length of my roof, or them leaking, but my neighbors house is higher than mine on that side and I'm getting a lot of his runoff. But the real pain is that I have no grade on the sides and the back, my lot is perfectly flat on those points, so the water has nowhere to go but just sit next to my foundation.
So now I need to have some grading done, or atleast a swale...$$$$$$$

NOW
A storm came through while I was at work and damaged my shed. And also, now my car is having problems.

I still need the carpet, $1000. The estimates for the work under the house average about $3000. The grading estimates average about $1700. I need new gutters, front, back and downspouts, $400. I don't know what is wrong with my car yet, but that will be money too.

Here is a BIG problem with getting that list^ done. I have a credit card that is $100 from being maxed out ($1900).
AND since my downpayment assistance counts as a Second Mortgage, no lender will give me a loan. They all say that they don't want to be 3rd in line to get their money if something goes wrong. Having a near maxed out credit card didn't help that either.

So, I'm 24, live by myself, have NO WAY of getting these URGENT improvements done to my house, I'm in credit card debt, and all the while with each rain my house is slowly getting more water damage. Eventually I'll have to pay for water damage repairs which will be $1000's if I can't get these things done.

It would take me atleast a year to get the waterproofing done under my house, and that's with all my money focused on THAT and nothing else, except for bills and food. All the while I'm walking on plastic in my house over the horrible carpet.
So lets say a year is passed, I saved up the $3000 for the waterproofing. Ok, NOW I have to focus ALL my available money on the grading, which will take about 6 months, and I'll still be walking on plastic.
As bad as that seems, that is BEST CASE SCENERIO. That's if NOTHING else goes wrong, and if it did, it would take evern longer.

How to get rid of mortgage and house payments?

I don't have the money for all these repairs, and I don't want to sit back and watch my house deteriorate and end up costing me even more. Eventually I would have to fix way too much just to be able to sell the house. It is pointless spending all my money and all my years JUST fixing things. I JUST WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE. This has been a terrible expereince for me. I very much want to get back to my apartment lifestyle, which suited my income much better. No repairs, nothing.

PLEASE, SOMEBODY HELP ME!!

I don't know ANYTHING about what I need to do.
I'm thinking of filing for the chapter7 bankruptcy, if it will keep me from having to pay back anything that the mortgage company or the downpayment assistance people might try to make me pay.

But then, would I be able to get into an apartment?
Should I get an apartment RIGHT BEFORE I file for bankruptcy?

Should I get an apartment, let the house foreclose, and then if they try to get me to pay the remainder of the balance and/or the $18000 back, THEN file bankrupt?

I don't know what to do. All i know is that I wanna GET OUT OF HERE.


Please please please help me!!! :(
Hi,

I really feel for the inconvenience that you are going through. It seems that you are indeed trapped in a bad deal with nothing to gain, not even a proper place to live in. It happens sometimes with innocent people in this industry, there are people out there to take money out of nothing that they have to offer. But please don't lose hope. You need to get out of this situation and patience and confidence are all that you require to deal with this problem.

Anyway, what I feel is that there's no use filing a bankruptcy or going for a foreclosure as they are legal matters and will require you to pay more than what you are paying now. Also, taking such steps will only damage your credit score and I am sure you won't prefer that after all such unfortunate things happening with you.

The best thing according to me, is to go for a cash-out refinance which will help you to pay off the existing loan. At the same time, it will give you that extra cash with which you can repair your home.

Hope this suggestion will help you.

Thanks,

Caron.
Posted on: 26th Jun, 2006 12:26 am
Hi Shalam,

Your situation reminds me of what a friend of mine had faced two years ago. It took a long time for him to recover though he finally came out of it. I personally feel the seller has somehow deceived you and the inspector should have been more responsible with his work.

You are thinking of bankruptcy or foreclosure but better stay away from such things. Instead you can just consult your case with an attorney and ask him if you can take some legal action against the seller or home inspector. Or else, if they can pay you some amount and avoid the legal action, then perhaps it will be easier for you to get back to a better lifestyle.

Thanks,
Jerry.
Posted on: 26th Jun, 2006 12:38 am
thank you for your response Caron.

Believe it or not, I have some type of special loan where I CANNOT refinance so I don't know I how to get rid of mortgage like this. I remember asking the lady at Capital Mortgage.

My situation is awful. I'm so ready to get out of this situation that I'll just have to have messed up credit for 10 years.

How much are you saying that filing for bankruptcy will cost me?

It seems like ANYTHING I do will "cost me", lol, great.

Thanx for your response :)
Posted on: 26th Jun, 2006 12:39 am
Hi Jerry,

I was thinking of getting an attorney and taking some kind of legal action. But what if I don't win? I'll probably have to pay the attorney fees and still be in my situation.

I searched on yahoo yesterday about people taking legal action against the home inspectors, and about 99% of the cases nothing could be done rhrough some type of loop hole. The most any of the people got back was the inspection fee.

thanx for your reply :)
Posted on: 26th Jun, 2006 12:45 am
In some of the cases against the home inspectors, they missed termite infestations, rotted wood, etc. It ended up costing the buyers thousands of dollars. And the most that they could get back was the inspection fee.

I'm going to look over the inspection report thoroughly for the fine print.

It's about 3:50am here, i'm sleepy. I think you all for your responses. I'll be back tommorrow/ later on today.

good night :)
Posted on: 26th Jun, 2006 12:49 am
Posted on: 26th Jun, 2006 01:59 am
Hey Caron,

I was thinking along the lines of what you just suggested, but I wondering a couple of things.

The thing that I'm worried about with that is, I don't have the thousands of dollars for the repairs, so I don't see me being able to pay the remaining balance that may be left over.

I'm not familiar with the foreclosure process. But if they auction the property, I'm not sure how cheap foreclosed properties actually sell for compared to their appraised value.
But the house, 6 months ago, was appraised at $73000, and the bank only needed to give me $55000. So I'm thinking that they might get a lot of the $55000 back. It's the $18000 assistance that I know I'll having them saying that I need to pay back. And like I said, I don't see me being able to pay $18000 when I can't even pay for roughly$7000 in repairs. Plus I'm already about $1900 in the hole with my credit card.

So, do I go get an apartment first, let the property foreclose, THEN when I'm told I need to repay the thousands of dollars of the balance back, claim BANKRUPTCY?

I appreciate how genuinely concerned you guys are about my credit after something like this :)

I'm not really worried about it too much though when I think about staying in this situation. Bcuz if I get the apartment in the place where I came from, I know I can afford it. Plus I don't buy anything using credit anymore. I don't see what I'd need it for after getting the apartment. I bought my car right of the lot, $7400 cash, and I buy everything else in cash. Hmmm, now that I think about my car, I hope they don't take that, but if they do I only drive it on weekends anyway, I take the bus to and from work.
The reason I have the credit card debt is bcuz I was stupid a few years back and was a car stereo junkie, and bought all kinds of stereo equipment that I don't even care about anymore. I still have some of it, brand new, didn't even use it.

But I don't know if I'll ever try to get a house again anyway. This experience has totally discouraged me. And if I do try to, it'll be atleast after the amount of time that it takes for the bankruptcy to come of my credit. So, atleast 10 years. And by that time, I'd have some nice change saved up.

Would the bankruptcy also take away my credit card debt? If it does that and makes it where I don't have to pay back any money concerning my house, then that's like a new start.

To you guys it mays seem like I'm happy to do this bankruptcy, the way I keep talking about it.
But if you were in my shoes, a maintenance free apartment, and no debt compared to the situation that I'm in seems like hitting the lottery. I'm miserable like this.

We've had a lot of bad weather around here the last couple of months. I've been hoping for a tornado to hit my house while I'm not home, so that I can get out of this situation. That's how miserable I am like this.

I walked around the house looking around, and I found that in the spots were I had standing water near my foundation, the stucco has broken of out the bottom. And near my front porch, some places where I barely tapped it with my shovel while doing some maintenance to my mulch bed, big sections completely fell off. More $$$$

I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE.

Please tell me what you think of what I've said that I'm thinking about in this post Caron, or anyone.

I am very greatful for all your help. :)
Posted on: 26th Jun, 2006 10:18 am
Hi Shalam,

I am very confused at one point you know. What kind of debt is that which can't be refinanced?

I am really curious to know. So far I didn't have come across of any such loans.

Your condition is really miserable. I can understand your trouble for which you are not responsible, only you're the victim.

Did you check with any other brokers/ lenders? May be you would have to pay the prepayment penalty and the down payment (I think you got a loan with PMI) that you mentioned but you will get of it once you refinance.

I don't think you should have problems in refinancing with the same lender if you let them know that the purpose to refinance is making improvements to the home and attending repairs. This can be an option for you.

If you are unable to figure out anything from these efforts then it's best to discuss with your lender the entire situation and your make them understand that you can't continue like that and thinking of foreclosure.

You know that's the last thing a lender would like to be interested in. Probable you can find a refinancing option from them and can go for the home repairs.

Another option can be as Caron said, that you take a fresh a loan for an apartment and start living there with trying to sell your house off or let it go for a foreclosure.

But allowing a foreclosure can just ruin your credit and future prospects in getting a loan, so keep that as a last option. Although a bankruptcy is not a positive solution but you can consult a good lawyer for that.

But I don't think it will be wise for you to take a fresh loan and buy an apartment before filing chapter 7 as it may take your apartment into trouble.

So, the options to know "how to get rid of mortgage"(one approach follows the other) if arranged in order will be:

  • Talk to your lender for refinancing to make home repairs.
  • Check with other lenders/brokers in your area.
  • Make your intentions clear to your lender and ask for their opinion.
  • Talk to a bankruptcy attorney and see if that suits you.
  • Buy an apartment and let the house foreclose or before that try to sell it off yourself.

I know things are not going to be smooth but you have to somehow get out of this. Kindly remember one thing from next time. No loan can be too good than what is practically available in the market.

Wish you best of Luck.

Blue
Posted on: 26th Jun, 2006 10:29 am
Hi blue,

I appreciate your advice.

I'm not trying to buy an apartment. I'd just be renting, so I wouldn't need any loan for that.

And as far as selling my house. That sounds great, but their are some rules that I must follow.

I HAVE to sell it to someone who is below 80% median income. Nobody else is allowed to buy it.

And i doubt someone that uses a competant home inspector would buy this house when there are others in the area for the same price that look like they're in better shape.

Plus I have a lot of temporary quick fix repairs around the house to help save it until I figured out a way to get money to pay for professional work.
It doesn't look very nice. Plus the carpet in the house is very raggedy. I seriously doubt anyone would buy this house when the others are in much better shape.

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention the house house a BAD ant problem. They're everywhere.

the only way someone would buy this house is if it where greatly reduced in price. And then I'd still have a remaining balance I'd owe either way, which I can't afford.

I'm kinda skrewed.
Posted on: 26th Jun, 2006 10:44 am
Hi Shalam,

I can understand the misery and I would have gone mad with so many at a time. It's nice to find you keep your cool in spite of so many problems.

But did you check with other lender/brokers in your area? What do they suggest?

As you say to go for a bankruptcy but before that I think you must check all your possible options.

I think talking to your lender can also bring out some result as they are also aware that selling the house through a foreclosure will make them lose a lot.

Bankruptcy and foreclosure are obvious options if you fail to come out of with any other positive way.

Blue
Posted on: 26th Jun, 2006 10:52 am
Shalam,

There are a couple of numbers I am curious about. What is your mortgage payment? What is your monthly income? I have a strong feeling you had no business buying a home. Simply becuase "someone" loans you the money does not mean you should borrow the money. But be that as it may.

Here is what you should do. First off, admit you are screwed- which you seem to have already done. Second, you need to think about the best result you can generate for yourself.

Here is what I would do. I call it my "Stick it to the Man" program. First, stop making your mortage payments. The foreclosure process can take UP TO A YEAR to complete.....and if you read up on it you can even delay it some more. With the money you are no longer using to pay your mortgage, take that money, buy a $300 safe and put it in your mothers house. Every month put that mortage money in the safe. Continue to pay utilities- but that is it! Next, sell your car and buy a bike. Take your car/insurance/gas money that you would have spent and put that money in the safe. Now multiply your mortage payment x 12- How much is that? After 1 year that is what will be in your safe, plus the money from your car savings. There are many more things you can do.

You do not have to leave your house until the Sheriff comes and orders you to leave. That is a long way off.

Your the last person that needs to worry about your credit rating- Pay cash. You have no business buying anything you can not afford to pay in cash.

Renting is freedom. Dont be a slave to the man. Think in a new way. Protect your assets (99% of your assets will be in cash after the year passes) Don't put it in a bank.

Phase 2 will be getting all that cash to work for you. But that is a discussion for a different time.
Posted on: 27th Jun, 2006 09:03 am
hi lm,

my monthly income after taxes is about $1500, my mortgage payment is only about $450.

my apartment rent will actually be about $20 more than my mortgage payment, lol. but that is without taking into consideration all the money that would need to go towards repairs for the house.

i don't know about selling my car. i'm not saying that's a bad idea, bcuz i have no idea, i just don't know. i tried driving without insurance for a long while to free up $125 a month from safe auto, but i eventually got caught and had to go to court. now i'm required to keep insurance for 2 years, or face heavy legal penalties. the court continues to monitor me by checking with my insurance company each month.

i even said to them that i'm not going to pay insurance bcuz i'm not going to drive my car anymore. i said i'm going to start riding the bus. and they said it doesn't matter, lol.

i added up my monthly net income against my total expenses, which are bare minimum. no enjoying a movie every now and then, no new clothes, no snacks to eat, etc.

monthly net income is about $1500, and my expenses are about $1150.

doesnt' sound too bad, but it would still take me forever to finish saving for all the repairs. plus, this is no way to live. yeah it sounds like $350 would add up after awhile if i stuck to it and had patience. but consider that i am not buying any clothes, and haven't since i bought the house. i can't by any snacks, or treat myself to a nice dinner. i can't use my ac in the summer, or heat that much in the winter. that's what it would take stick to that budget for a few years to get those necessary things repaired. that's no way to live. it feels like i got the house just to repair it.

i read over some of the laws in my state, kentucky, concerning chapter 7 bankruptcy. and they've change since last october.

it cost atleast $1000 in lawyer fees, and i think $299 for the court cost. plus if anything is incorrect so that you need to do it again, you have to wait another 6 or 7 years to do it again, just like if you succesfully went through with it. there trying to discourage people.
i have to save up to file bankruptcy, lol, great.

i hope my bankruptcy can't be dismissed bcuz i'm voluntarily foreclosing. that would be horrible. no chance for the next 6 years.

gotta get ready for work, there are some other things that i wanted to go over but i'm running late.

talk to you guyz later, thank you :)
Posted on: 27th Jun, 2006 10:47 am
Hi Shalam,

As I went through your posts I understood that you have almost decided to let your property foreclosed.

May be I would have done the same thing if I was in your place. My home should be a comfortable place to relax and not some kind of burden on me.

One thing I don't agree with LM , if I understood clearly, that you must not worry about your credit rating. Well if you are careless about it and think of improving on it when you want then that's a wrong idea.

The time when you will require that you will be in a miserable position again.

For the time being you can allow the property to get foreclosed by stopping the mortgage payment and try to start all new. But try to improve on the damage that will be done on your credit gradually afterwards.

You will require that in future and that may not be too far away.

Wish you Luck.
Posted on: 27th Jun, 2006 11:09 am
James,

Lets face it, what's done it done. I am working on a longer post, but to keep pushing this idea of the importance of a credit score (especially for someone like Shalam) is nonsense. Shalam has already mention she (he?) prefers to pay in cash. I dont know anyone that cares about your credit score when you hand them cash.

I could even argue that the complete destruction of Shalam's ability to BORROW (because that is what credit is- debt) would be the best thing to happen to 95% of this country's inhabitants!

In effect, when a person says "oh you better protect your credit score" they might as well say "Oh you better protect your ability to get deeper in debt" (note: I am not mentioning the "terms" of the debt- of which a credit score will play a role)

If a person has no desire to take on debt then F the credit score and F the poor lender that lost a costumer.

I know I know..."BUT what if Shalam wants to buy a house in the future- her credit score will be important"....well what if Shalam wants to become an astronaut as well? Let's cross those bridges when we get to them.
Posted on: 27th Jun, 2006 12:19 pm
Hi LM,

I didn't want to hurt your points. But I just wanted to make him aware that in case he requires that in future then he should not be in a position where he needs it now and his score allows him to take one year after.

If somebody can afford his current cash then there can't be anything better than that. Don't think I am expressing any of my views from the side of a lender.

Even I agreed with what you said that foreclosure seems to be the most probable solution to him now but one should suggest keeping in mind future too.

I have no intentions at all to make him afraid or confused. Instead my suggestion regarding his score was for the period after he settles down with his current problems.
Posted on: 27th Jun, 2006 12:28 pm
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