Will they foreclose in this economy?

[opiemaster]

Just got back from my brothers place, he has been out of work since they end of July. His wife was working at restaurant, lost her job for a short period of time but was able to find another one. In this whole mess they fell behind 2 house payments. He has his house paid down to about $25,000, his payments are around $775.00, they were doing good until everything fell apart for them. Well I guess there mortgage was sold to Chase Financial, they took posession of the loan on the 5th and today he had a guy drive by his house taking pictures. He confronted they guy and he said he was with Chase and they needed to call them and get there payments caught up. He called me flippin out, which I understand, he was going to make a payment on Wednesday, he said he had already spoke to them, but what kinda advice should I give him? Hes doin odd jobs and such to get by, but according to him theres 78,000 people out of work in the Kansas City area alone. Has anyone else dealt with this situation?

 

[poppycat]

Yes they will foreclose and unfortunately the more equity he's got in the house, the more incentive they have to go forward with a foreclosure. The good news is that it takes more than two missed payments for them to foreclose. There is a pretty long process and it takes 4-6 months.

He needs to call Chase ASAP and work out arrangements. They DO NOT want to foreclose. It costs them a ton of money, but if he doesn't call them they can't work with him

 

[annmarie]

I don't know much about foreclosure, but I have heard over and over that the worst thing you can do if you're having trouble making payments is to just stop paying and not be in contact your lender. I guess communication is key. He needs to get on the phone with someone at Chase and explain his situation and see if they can work something out so that he can keep his house and they can keep receiving some kind of money. From what I understand, he should basically be a bit obsessive about being in contact with them, letting them know when he's sending a payment, why he hasn't sent a payment, if he got a job, etc. Maybe he can get a particular persons extention so he can remain in contact with a single person. I hope everything works out for him!

 

[2dream]

Everyone is right. Communication is the key.
Plus - they will offer him help by way of letting him catch up by paying his regular house payment plus a set amount each month to catch up. Unfortunately if he can't make those new higher payments they are not required to make any further deals with him. So tell him to make sure if he makes some type of payment arrangements on the arrears to be sure he is in a position to keep up. If not his best bet is to make the payment plus whatever extra he can. As long as he makes a full payment plus some that should keep him out of the magic 3 month arrears that will throw up red flags all over the place and place his house in a foreclosure position. He has to make his full payment plus the extra prior to the due date in order for it to work in his favor though. He really needs to pay an extra 126.00 a month so he will be current within 6 months. That figure is based on: Him only being 2 months behind, getting ready to make a payment now which should only make him 1 month behind. So the 1 payment is all he is in need of catching up. If he is more than 1 payment behind you can take the total arrears and divide it by 6 to come up with the extra amount he needs to pay. More than likely that is the deal they will offer anyway.

Did any of that make sense?

 

[prairiegirl]

I recently helped someone going through a foreclosure. Yes, communication is key. Also, it's important to keep in touch on a regular basis. Keep records of each call: who you spoke with, time of day, date, content of the discussion, and any directions given. Make copies of all paperwork. Have an unbiased person read over things. Your brother and his wife are too emotional now.......and rightly so. It's important to follow all instructions, keeping deadlines and such.

I know this might be a longshot, but if they have excellent credit scores, and they have a longstanding relationship with a trusted bank, they may qualify for a refinance even being unemployed.

My prayers are with them. It's a shame when this happens to good hardworking people.

 

[FarmerChick]

Opie

wow that is just a rough nasty situation that I would hate to be in, but it is such a reality for so many right now! And so many of us are only a job and a few paychecks away from that at any given moment.

Yes work with Chase.

BUT he needs money too.

I saw a show that said if you need fast cash---sell what you own. Yup, go thru the house and anything you can live without, get it listed in the classifieds etc.

Also good thing tax refunds are coming soon....I assume and hope he is getting a refund. that money might save his home.

I am serious, sell or pawn your jewelry or even your wedding ring if necessary. To me holding onto that home is the most important thing. It is the biggest asset we will ever commit too...and you do not want to lose it. And things like rings while having meaning, their life in that home means more. A ring can be rebought easily versus digging out of a foreclosure, losing their equity and buying a new home etc.

Tell him to apply at Burger King or McDonalds or something if necessary. Any job makes money. All the while looking for work. I ain't ever worried what the job is, I would do it to save my home. McDs and such there are usually some shift jobs available. Money coming in is money!!!! My saying is never be afraid to work ANYWHERE if you need money.

Sometimes we fail to see what is around us. Like there is work, just not what we are used to and even if a lower paycheck, it means we can survive.

Our "stuff" is all around us. Selling some would not hurt many of us to get some fast cash when truly needed.

If Chase doesn't help, then maybe you could take over his mortgage with a lawyer or something so he doesn't lose the house---IF YOU CAN afford to do so and make arrangements for pay back and all that. Just something if you could and wanted to do it.

hope all goes well and things level out for him and I am sure he is under tons of pressure right now. Whew....I am so sorry this stuff happens. Makes me scared....truly scared!

 

[Dace]

You have gotten great advice so far. I just want to add that there is a legal procedure that Chase will have to follow. In CA, if you get three months behind they have to issue a Notice of Default giving you X number of days to bring the loan current before they foreclose.

Our lender let us go quite a long while, in the end that killed us because there was just no way to bring it current. The key is to get the lender to work with them and perhaps put the arrears at the back end of the mortgage so that they can just worry about paying monthly from here on out.
Good luck!

 

[opiemaster]

Great advice here guys thanks so much. I will go over and help them get startd on going through what they dont need so they can sell it and relay this advice, will also remind him about the fast food places for work (good idea there) sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Thanks once again for the info.

 

[FarmerChick]

and opie

remember one thing....pay the mortgage first. forget the credit card payments or any other payment.

My friend at work, John....his wife and him worked great jobs. He got laid off. She was a high manager in a power plant. They had a second mountain vacation home, fancy cars, big vacations, etc....they could afford all of it but never saved alot. You know, regular people..HA HA

Well she got super sick. She had to quit work wtih some rare disease that is debiliating.....well he found the job at my place and she was home doing medical stuff.

Eventually she lost her job. She couldn't go in. He drove her finally up to Duke Medical cause no one knew what she had. Diagnosis was rare problem.......she is on disability NOW, but that took FOREVER.

He had to sell both cars, got a small cheap one, couldn't pay CC debt, they hounded him etc. Close to not making mortgage payments.

He called a lawyer. Lawyer said let all unneccessary bills go except pay for the mortgage. As long as you have a roof over your head it doesn't matter about the rest. The CC companies could sue you, they can't TAKE your home etc.......so he defaulted on all that BUT when he finally got the back disability money owed his wife, he paid up all his debts.

So remember one thing, do what you have to do to make money, any job.......and pay that mortgage...forget other bills. Heck you CAN live in a home without power if you must. You can do alot of things but you must have a roof over your head to do it!!!!

take care and hope all goes fine for him........just rambling out a story...............cause I know one thing, if the *&^% hits the fan for me, I forget all but paying that mortgage and taxes. I can make it from there!!!!!

 

[opiemaster]

I know thats right Farmerchick, I dont know if he has any credit cards. Just a round of bad luck.