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…)

Hi Paul,

I’m just beginning the process of short sale, and have a buyer and contract, with verbal agreement of interest of both primary and secondary lenders to proceed. But now I’m looking into the whole “full release of liability” issue. I’m in Florida, which I understand is NOT a non-recourse state. So, I’m online searching for advise, and hopefully, some worded examples how to proceed.

I’ve learned a lot from what I’ve seen here (negotiation the “full release” and perhaps the credit agency “settled” language; but the concepts are still at a general level to me. Any (non-attorney) council for me? Or better yet, a resource where I can find the language for the “full release.”

My broker, who is a bit of specialist in short sales doesn’t seem to think this is necessary (which tells me he’s not the full specialist that I had hoped.) My deficiency amount will be $183k short of the $393k purchase price; and I don’t want this coming back on me.

Thanks for all your help

Don (more…)

Paul,

First off, many thanks to you for providing great insight and information on your blog!!

By following your “words of wisdom” I am in process of completing an approved short sale in which the lender has agreed to allow a full release of liability, a trade line entry of “Settled” (with no further language), and a zero balance.

My question is regarding the “Charge Off” listed (in their letter below). Does the “Charge Off” solely mean they will be writing off the loss in regards to tax filing? Or does it have other ramifications?

Do you have an idea of how this overall scenario (including the charge off) will affect credit and how long will it remain there?

Thanks again for being a “guiding light” for many of us!

Bob L.
Las Vegas

Copy of letter from lender follows:
Yes, we are agreeable to report “Settled” to the credit repositories without further language.  However, due to the large loss the Credit Union will be taking, due to our agreement with you not to pursue any deficiency balance, we will need to charge off the remaining balance on your Home Equity Line of Credit after the settlement.  When that transaction occurs, “Charge Off” will show on the Credit Report, although the amount due will show as “$0.00” as we will not be pursuing any recovery. (more…)

Q: What do you get when you have a $150,000 mortgage and a payoff of only $15,680 ? 

A: You get a 90% off sale at Saxon!

Payoff on July 25, 2009 is $150,031.37

Payoff on August 31, 2009 is a mere $15,680.62

And the borrower gets a full release of liability.

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…)

Greetings Paul,

In re: The case discussed at:
http://www.brokencredit.com/anatomy-of-a-florida-foreclosure-defense/

While doing some research, I checked the Duval County docket on this case and noticed some additional pleadings;

 9/15/2008     MOTION TO COMPEL (PLAINTIFF’S)
 9/17/2008     MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO RESPOND TO PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST FOR DISCOVERY
11/21/2008     MOTION TO COMPEL

As you notice, there has been no activity on this case since November 2008.

I was wondering if you have kept up with this case, and if you have obtained the additional pleadings on this matter.

Also curious as to your thoughts on why there is no recent activity on this case.

Thanks,
Curtis (more…)

We bought a house in Brevard County, FL in 2005 with an FHA backed loan. It has recently been pointed out to us that our house should not have been approved for financing because it has no heat. I contacted FHA, they confirmed houses outside of a few South Florida counties are required to have a permanent heat source.

Do we have any recourse in this situation?  We are now trying to get out of the house by way of short sale, we owe $129,000 and the home is valued at $40,000.  We need to move to pursue work opportunities in other parts of the country.

Thanks for your help!
Melissa (more…)

A friend of mine was at the Pinellas County Courthouse in Clearwater Florida yesterday and said while he was there, someone walked in with one of my mailers (my office sends out copies of the lis pendens along with a note to check out this site or call me for free information about some of your options).  Anyways, the person walked in to the courthouse to check to see if the lis pendens was real.  The purpose of this post is to inform anyone in Florida that they can check the following links in public records:

For Pinellas type ‘clerk of court Pinellas County’ into Google and then click ‘Official Records’ and then type in your name and ‘lis pendens’ or whatever you’re searching for.  All counties in Florida work similar, so you can type in ‘Clerk of Court’ and your county into Google for any county in the state.

If there is an active foreclosure case against you, then you can check that online too by clicking ‘Civil Records’ at the Clerk’s site in your county and then enter your name and click search.

This has been a public service message from your friends at the Broken Credit Blog.

(we now continue with our previously scheduled programming)

For Pinellas County Lis Pendens Short Sale Solutions Call Paul Jerome at 727-688-3779 or 727 688-3779 so that this phone number is indexed in Google and now you’ve reached my site and by the way, that’s my picture to the right.  So, call me and let’s talk about a full release of liability on a short sale.

I’ll try to make this short. My wife and I were discharged from a Chapter 7 almost a year ago (we’re in Colorado). We kept our home, did not reaffirm 1st (ARM) or 2nd (HELOC) mortgages.

After almost one year we are upside down in the home (value $150K, owe $210K). We starting to struggle. 2nd mortgage will not subordinate for a refinance, even though they are discharged and have no equity position. We are unable to keep up on badly needed repairs, etc., and definitely will fall behind if rates rise.

We have decided to give back the home (we’ll have no liability due to the BK). Wondering if we should do a short sale to prevent a foreclosure on our credit reports, or if it matters. 1st has not reported to credit reports in a year, but second has been reporting current payments, even though we have had lates (are they allowed to report after BK when not reaffirmed?).

We are going to stop making all payments to 1st and 2nd to save for a new home, possibly starting short sale process soon. Will we be able to buy a more modest home in 1-2 years? We will rent until then.

Casey (more…)

Hello Paul! 

Finding someone to answer this question has me thinking maybe I should just bang my head up against a wall for a while.  I just might get more accomplished. 

I have a question regarding a short sale that seems simple enough but no one (all three credit agencies and my bank) can give me a straight answer. 

I short sold a home in 2008.  I was short by 82,000, which my bank wrote off and issued a 1099 for. 

My question is this…why are they still reporting a balance owed and late payment history?  If you could tell me, or direct me to someone that can answer this I would be extremely grateful. 

Thank you,
Stephanie (more…)