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Topic: Wow...could it get any worse... |
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Posted By VRSAM on 07-13-2009 04:37 PM
Your situation is about as complex as it gets and is very hard for me to unravel. As much as I hate to throw in the towell on any issue, it is far more a legal issue than a real estate issue. However, I will offer a couple of thoughts:
1. If the reference to "primary residence" is regarding the HAP portion of the stimulus program, the latest info I have is that it may not be a requirement that you still live in the house. I got that tid bit from a Corp of Engineers representative that indicated that it wasn't necessarily a requirement...based on the old HAP that was cut / pasted into law from the BRAC HAP program...but, to my knowledge, the policy STILL hasn't been formulated. My guess is that the dely from DOD is that the law was so poorly written that it is causing a ton of problems.
2. Despite the governments efforts to fix the short sale problem, which is critical to flushing troubled assets throught the system, they are still very hard to get through. They will continue to be so, in my opinion, UNTIL lenders will wise up and "pre-approve" the list price before a contract is written.
3. This final thought is in the realm of philosophy. I am personally a "smaller the government, the better" kind of guy. Other than national defense, which is clearly a government role that they do very well thanks to our wonderful Military Families, EVERYTIME the government tries to fix something, they break it in a dozen other ways. Writing a policy and implementing a policy are two dramatically different efforts, the former being rather simple, the later extremely difficult. I firmly believe the events of the past 6 months validate this. Virtually every effort to FIX the troubled mortgage issue has either had no impact, or had negative repercussions that neutralize any positive impact.
Obviously, all of the very unfortunate issues that have happend to your home have made a very complicated process virutally impossible and we are very sorry you are going through this. At a minimum, I note a number of very sympathetic comments from others who realize just how difficult this is.
I wish I had good answers for your issues. I don't but will keep you and your family in our prayers!
Joe |
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RE: Wow...could it get any worse... |
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In Limbo
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| 07-13-2009 09:40 PM |
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On point 1) the euphoric feeling when the HAP benefit was first announced was almost as short lived as finally having an offer after 2 years.
2) Counldn't agree more...
3) Back to the first point...at first we were just so desperate for a way out other than foreclosure when HAP was announced we did a little happy dance...then being the "smaller government" kind of people we are the realization hit that we were contradicting ourselves but at the same time I firmly believe that there needs to be a solution to this issue with military families so it is hard to reconcile the two at this point.
I mainly came to vent because I do not understand why the bank would take such a hard line and was hoping that you or someone else may know something we don't.
I appreciate all you have done as well as those who have responded to our situation positively. I wish everyone the best possible turnout.
GOOD LUCK!!! |
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VRSAM 
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 09:37 PM |
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Your situation is about as complex as it gets and is very hard for me to unravel. As much as I hate to throw in the towell on any issue, it is far more a legal issue than a real estate issue. However, I will offer a couple of thoughts:
1. If the reference to "primary residence" is regarding the HAP portion of the stimulus program, the latest info I have is that it may not be a requirement that you still live in the house. I got that tid bit from a Corp of Engineers representative that indicated that it wasn't necessarily a requirement...based on the old HAP that was cut / pasted into law from the BRAC HAP program...but, to my knowledge, the policy STILL hasn't been formulated. My guess is that the dely from DOD is that the law was so poorly written that it is causing a ton of problems.
2. Despite the governments efforts to fix the short sale problem, which is critical to flushing troubled assets throught the system, they are still very hard to get through. They will continue to be so, in my opinion, UNTIL lenders will wise up and "pre-approve" the list price before a contract is written.
3. This final thought is in the realm of philosophy. I am personally a "smaller the government, the better" kind of guy. Other than national defense, which is clearly a government role that they do very well thanks to our wonderful Military Families, EVERYTIME the government tries to fix something, they break it in a dozen other ways. Writing a policy and implementing a policy are two dramatically different efforts, the former being rather simple, the later extremely difficult. I firmly believe the events of the past 6 months validate this. Virtually every effort to FIX the troubled mortgage issue has either had no impact, or had negative repercussions that neutralize any positive impact.
Obviously, all of the very unfortunate issues that have happend to your home have made a very complicated process virutally impossible and we are very sorry you are going through this. At a minimum, I note a number of very sympathetic comments from others who realize just how difficult this is.
I wish I had good answers for your issues. I don't but will keep you and your family in our prayers!
Joe |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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In Limbo
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:36 PM |
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~Another Update in this ongoing saga...maybe someone has a suggestion~
So repairs were completed 4/19...early in the repair process we had requested that the mortgage company go ahead and foreclose...but they said it would be a few months yet and convinced us to keep trying to sell.
At any rate...house went back on the market 4/20...hope and all of that right...GUESS WHAT...we got an offer, our very first since placing the home on the market in 2007...the happy dance was very short lived though!!!
Our first told us that we would do the short sale package through them since they were in the "drivers seat" and they would also manage all negotiations with the second reassuring us that they knew the system and they were confident that the 2nd would be flexible under the circumstances. We sent the entire package in along with all financial docs and the offer which is about $30K less than the balance of both mortgages...$45 when you count in realtor fees...we have also been scrimping and saving as much as we can so that we could also add to the pot.
Of course with all of the foreclosures on the market that are so much easier to buy, the buyers have 2 other homes that they are interested in as well that fall into that catagory so we need to act as quickly as possible...the first was awesome...calling within 2 days of receipt of the docs to set up a BPO (independent appraisal) but a short minute into the conversation Mr. Short Sale specialist tells me that because the offer is enough to cover their balance that the short sale package has to be done through the 2nd...here comes the knot in my tummy again coupled with thoughts of taking a long drive off of a short bridge.
Called 2nd and demanded to speak to a supervisor after attempting to reach our "case worker", the same individual who has gone 5 months without returning a single solitary phone call, to get the SS package from them and find out where to send the offer, realtor authorization, etc...spoke to Mr. Supervisor and explained the situation to him and tried to explain the importance of acting fast since the first could start the foreclosure process at any time since it had been about 3 1/2 months since we had requested them to foreclose. Mr. Supervisor decided to make my phone call his forum to make us feel like derelicts of society and I had to listen for well over 30 minutes as he proceeded to tell me that this was a futile exercise because these things can take months to approve and that we should just give up. I asked him to send me a letter to that effect and of course he refused. I kept telling him that we had an offer and all financial docs and all I needed was the SS application and would he please send...he refused again saying that if I wanted it I was going to listen to what he had to say so I let him go off on his next diatribe in which he informed me that there was no way they were going to accept the entire loss and that they would have to negotiate with the first, etc...I told him that we did not have that kind of time and stated what we have stated all along and that is that we are willing to pay any deficit in full...that they would get a large chunk at closing and we would sign a promissory note for the remaining balance...I also told him we had been good customers for years having several loans from them and that we had never been late, etc. I also told him that prior to this mess with the house we had outstanding credit and have never been late on any bills and that we could circumvent that part of the process with the promissory note. After about an hour and 1/2 of more put downs, snide comments, etc he finally sent the SS package.
Here is what I do not get...if this house goes into foreclosure nobody is getting a darn thing and as far as our credit goes...it can't get much worse than what it is now since we have been missing the house payments and we had reconciled ourselves to foreclosure sometime ago BUT why in the world would a bank make it so difficult when there is the potential to receive all of the money we owe them. Why would this bank representative attempt to discourage me from trying to sell, even short. I have read that lately SS have become much easier to process and that from start to finish people are able to close within 30-45 days (our buyers want to close late June but they do not want to wait a long time only to find out the offer is refused)...this just makes no sense to me. When did this bank decide that $0 was better than the whole balance...they can't foreclose...only charge off and if the 1st forecloses the 2nd wouldn't likely receive much if anything...are they blind or what...
Joe, hopefully you can answer some of this for me or at least provide a resource for me to talk to someone about it...as always THANKS for providing this forum...
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anon
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:34 PM |
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Make sure you also mail in your HAP application. On the DOD HAP website it specifies in bold letters to "mail" your application as they need the original with original signatures. smiley
Best of luck to you! |
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In Limbo
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:34 PM |
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Hey Anon,
Thanks!!!
Yes, we have done the HAP paperwork and faxed it in, even before the stimulus package was passed, just in case. They are currently only taking applications as they are still waiting on the "language" aspect as well as additional procedures. |
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In Limbo
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 08:21 PM |
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Joe~ Just thought I would do a quick update from since we last talked...
So as you know we had decided to just let the house go into foreclosure...after trying to resolve the issue and realizing that while we can control many things we cannot control the fact the TPTB just don't get it and the whole mess was just tooooo stressful and to be perfectly honest as bad as foreclosure sounds it could not be any worse than what we have been going through since 7/2007 when we received orders, right...so on the advice of a financial advisor, the VA and an attorney we stopped making payments and decided to just let the chips fall where they may. We did leave the house on the market however with significant price drops just in case...
Well someone familiar with our situation told us to contact a state agency who can help us in negotiation with the mortgage company in a short sale...hope springs eternal right...
Then along comes a stimulus provision...
We were so pumped...between the state agency and the stimulus our long nightmare may be over...Well, that may have actually helped us except I read somewhere that it is only applicable if the home is the primary residence..well that blew a hole in the whole thing for us though since my husband's time at the new duty station is temporary and we are still paying utilities, etc at the home at the old duty station I'm not sure how that doesn't make the home qualify but whatever...we should have known they would make it as difficult as possible BUT we still would have fought.
AND THEN...
In January a pipe came loose from a fitting in an upstairs bathroom...joy...the result, about $17K worth of damage...well we have insurance so we are thinking no big deal...just get it fixed and it was funny, we had more calls and requests for showings in the first few weeks after this happened than we have since the house has been on the market (9/07)...wow, still trying to wrap my mind around it all. So anyway, we had the water mitigation team in right away...the insurance company sends us a check to cover that expense...mortgage company tells us to send it to them for endorsement...made it sound so easy...should have known better...it took almost a month of battling to get the mortgage company to endorse the check for work that had been completed for weeks. In the interim, insurance company gets a contractor to go out and do a repair estimate and mortgage company provides guidelines on how insurance proceeds will be distributed to contractor...contractor wants to discuss the procedures with mortgage company and so I provide mortgage company permission for mortgage company to verify to contractor what I have told him with regards to procedures...nothing else...guess what...mortgage company tells contractor we are behind on our mortgage and as a result he may not get paid for work he does unless we "cure" our delinquency before work is completed...obviously he bows out of doing the work. Call insurance company back and we set up for another contractor...1 week later insurance adjuster calls back and says 2nd contractor has also declined to do the work for the same reason...now I suspect that the adjuster who just happens to be married to a contractor has told the 2nd contractor our situation since we were never in touch with him but I cannot prove it...either way insurance company says they are sending a check and we have to find our own contractor...not the easiest thing in the world to do...mortgage company requires "Waiver of Lien" and Contractors Contract before they will do anything but that is difficult to obtain since we are not willing to sign a contract when mortgager has stated they will not release insurance funds for repair unless we cure delinquency...our hands are tied and the nightmare we thought was going to be over soon...well that is questionable at that point.
So anyway, we did find someone who was willing to do a contract...a retired service member and we have agreed that he will not perform any work unless/until funds are received from mortgage company...we will see how it goes but we are not very optimistic and we had to take the house off the market because just last weekend we had requests for 2 more showings...isn't that just a kick in the butt...everytime we resolve ourselves to foreclosure something happens to give us little hope and then "red tape" takes it all away. It's funny, mortgage company says we can't be trusted with insurance proceeds because we are late on our mortgage payments...let's see, our mortgage company was one that "needed" a tremendous amount of TAXPAYER money from irresponsible business practices then wanted to buy a jet and now 36% of their stock will apparently be owned by the government...2 words come to mind, "pot" & "kettle." |
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