I have never owned a house or condo, so I haven’t a clue
But I was wondering, suppose I have a $2,500/month mortgage payment and I just can’t pay.
Let’s say I stop paying on June 1, 2010. OK so I assume the bank sends letters and after a certain number of days starts foreclosure action. (How long?)
I assume you could fight this and ask the mortgage holder to prove the validity of the mortgage which would add time
Long story short, I was wondering about how long til the sheriff shows up and helps you pack
I got to thinking 'cause you could be living there and not paying anything right? I know this is highly unethical and I also realize that it would vary from company to company and state to state. I imagine some state laws make it easier to physically remove you than others.
Depends upon the terms of your mortgage agreement, and the individual laws, which vary state to state. One site estimates from 6 to 12 months depending upon your individual circumstances
I have an acquaintance who has made no payments on the mortgage for 20 months and not only have they not been forclosed upon, or evicted, they have not even been notified that they are delinquent. Nothing. So clearly, things vary greatly. (This is in CA.)
With the large number of foreclosures lately, banks have been getting more relaxed in their evictions. They would rather have someone living in the building, taking care of it and maybe getting back on their feet and catching up with their payment than have an empty, possibly trashed and quite possibly unsellable house on their books and requiring their time and effort to maintain. It’s just good for business and it help present a good public image for the banks. At least I think letting a somewhat delinquent but generally responsible family stay where they are looks better than tossing them onto the street. YMMV
My experience goes back to the recession of the early 80’s in British Columbia. I bought a $100,000 house with two mortgages totaling $80,000 and two years later became unemployed. I sought advice, and was told to stop full mortgage payments immediately and acquired a real estate agent to sell the house. At the same time, the housing market was slowly dropping. The idea was that as long as I was trying to make good my obligation to get the banks money, I would have a long time living for free. At some point, when I was essentially under water, the bank holding the first mortgage made an offer to pay me $2,000 to relinquish the house and allow me to rent the place at somewhat less than the mortgage payments. I accepted and two months later moved back into a much cheaper apartment until I got re-established.
The fact is the banks at that time needed a judge’s approval to foreclose and it was my understanding that I had nine months to play this game.
My real estate agent later on told me that I was on a special program where they made this kind of offer to 6 delinquent homeowners and subsequently decided to terminate the program.
Reading this got me wondering: Why are the banks doing the foreclosing? If most of the troubled loans are bundled and sold to investors, why are the banks still involved? Do they keep the job of managing the mortgages? If so, what would motivate them to foreclose or not?
Personal experience: three or four years, and then you go into bankruptsy so they can’t kick you out, as once you can’t pay the full amount, they refuse your money for the next payment (and actually threaten to consider any attempts at paying it back as a gift.)
Story:
The whole thing started with overdrafts, which happened because we were barely holding on due to our finances due to a medical emergency (a car crash) not being paid by our health insurance as they weaseled out. Combined with having to accept a $300 loss on our previous bank account that we had to close. Oh, and my dad being fired from his job for having narcolepsy, and our lawyer suddenly quitting on us right before we could go to trial, and not giving us back our money until afterward.
