In the state of Florida is it legal for a debt collection agency to sue me for a second mortgage on a second home I had bought in Florida?

The home could not be sold as a short sale and was foreclosed on. Before it foreclosed the bank which held both mortgages sold off the second mortgage to a debt collection agency.

I was unable to pay them and now they have served papers on me and are suing me for the sum of the second mortgage.

I have heard in other states that they cannot do this but am unsure about in Florida.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Bonnie (more…)

Hi Paul,

Can I give the house back and not lender come after me for judgements issue. House is Florida and no longer live there.

Kim (more…)

The Department has already begun requesting or requiring mortgagees to obtain deficiency judgments in instances where the mortgagors are non-occupant owners; have previously defaulted on one or more FHA-insured mortgages resulting in the payment of claim(s); or are “walkaways,” having abandoned their mortgage payment obligations despite their apparent continued ability to pay.  This will continue to occur where the pursuit of deficiency judgments is consistent with State law.

HUD ML 89-14

I and two others purchased an undeveloped lot in the Florida Panhandle in 2005.  When the loan came up for a balloon payment in 2008, I found my co-owners were unable to pay and one had transferred his interest to the other.

To clear the air, I paid my 1/3rd ($127,500) to the lender and was given a full release from the note in the amount of $382,500 but no certificate of satisfaction or partial release from the mortgage. 

My remaining co-owner entered into a modification agreement with the lender with a new unpaid balance of $255,000 on the note and security instrument which reflects my payment. 

In view of lender’s refusal to cooperate, is it possible to infer a partial release by virtue of the lenders acceptance of my payment and their having released me from the entire note. My question is in anticipation of foreclosure and due to my payment I feel I should share in the foreclosure proceeds. 

Rodney (more…)

It’s not often that you see a reversal of summary judgment in foreclosure by way of appeals court.  And probably even less often to find one in my own backyard in the Tampa Bay area of Florida foreclosure.  So, without further ado, I post the following recent decision.

Terra Firma Holdings v. Fairwinds Credit Union (Case No. 2D08-3440, August 5, 2009)

Hello Paul -

Sometime ago, I was in a program to settle a debt. Later, I was contacted by Arrow Financial (a collection company). Yes, my account was sold. Arrow Financial requested that I pay more than what the other company had me pay monthly.

I couldn’t meet the payments they were requesting nor could I commit to any type of payment considering the current recession and cut back on my hours at work.

So yesterday, I received a call (at work) from some guy stating that he had a claim from Arrow Financial for $4K+. They are requesting to know if I will pay it or if they will need to file a “CIVIL SUIT” against me.

I was stunned and requested the phone number to call this guy back when I was off work. This sounds like some type of SCARE TACTIC. I may have written down a wrong phone #. When I called it, it was a some other type of service.

My question…can they do this? File a CIVIL SUIT against me?

At this point, I’m not sure what to do. Please help!

Char (more…)

Hello my name is Taylor. I am 31 yrs old and live in Nashville TN.

My question is 2 1/2 yrs ago my jeep Cherokee was reposessed because I was in jail for a few months. My original loan was through wells Fargo and has been sold to arrow acceptance. I am wanting to by a house now and my fico median is around 680. 

The loan has been turned over to a law firm who says nothing will be reported on my credit until it is paid in full. They threatned to sue me but I am a merchant mariner and it is impossible to place a garnishment or attatchment against my wages according to u.s.c. 46 part 11109. I told them this about a year ago and they have not responded back.

My real question is should I use a dept settlement company to pay them off or should I just say screw them. My credit has already taken the hit for the repo but I don’t know if a settlement would further hurt my score.

The owed balance is $10500 they said they would settle with me for $8500. I think this is hi being that they in no way can garnish my wages what amount should I be looking g to settle at? 

Thanks for any help or advice.

Taylor the towboater (more…)

Hi Paul:

I went through a bad divorce that ended with a foreclosure and a deficiency judgement of $90000+.

Would like to purchase another home in a couple of years and I am eligible for a va loan, but the judgement has to be paid or being paid on. The judgement is joint with ex and i can not afford to pay 1/2 of it nor all of it. 

Should I go ahead and file bankruptcy and try to repair my credit immediately. 

The wait for a va loan after foreclosure is 3 years and 2 years after bankruptcy discharge.

Rachel (more…)

I have a loan on a 2007 motor home for $134,000 that I can not afford to keep making the $1002 a month payments on.

The problem is that the RV industry and the economy have made the value on this motor home maybe $75,000 now.

If I do a volutary repossession or if it is repo’ed in Oregon which is a anti-deficiency judgement state will my other assests like my car or my Certificates of deposits be liened on.

What can I expect to happen?

James (more…)

Hello Paul,

Several months ago, my Arizona home, which is also my primary residence, was foreclosed upon.  As it happens, the property was sold back to the lender via a Sheriff Sale.  From what I can see Chase Bank basically used the foreclosure as a means to take the property from their left hand and put it in their right hand.   

I had two loans on my house, a first mortgage with Chase and a second mortgage (HELOC) also with Chase.  I did not ask for the second mortgage, but when I refinanced my first mortgage several years ago, Chase insisted on including a HELOC. 

As has been true with many other homeowners, bad things happened to me, both on a personal and professional level.  So I ended up owing about $450K on my first mortgage and about $150K on my HELOC.   When my home value crashed, I had no means to extricate myself from the situation, even via a short sale and so ended up losing the house in foreclosure. 

All of this was bad enough.  But yesterday it just got worse.  I received notice from Chase that they are now attempting to collect on the second/HELOC. 

I’ve been on several websites trying to figure out exactly what my exposure is in this situation.  There are lots of opinions that run the gamut from “no risk whatsoever”, to “you’re screwed”.   It would be nice to have some clarity about what Chase can do — as well as what Chase is likely to try to do in this situation. 

Any insight you may offer would be sincerely appreciated!

yours truly,

Bill (more…)