Okay, straight question, and please no judgements or extra info:
Today is Nov. 2, and I am current on my home mortgage in the state of Florida.
If I quit paying today (and miss the next scheduled Dec. 1 payment) and ignore all notices and phone calls, what day should I expect a sheriff’s deputy to forcibly remove me from my home?
It can take quite a while. More than 3 months I would think. It also depends on how desperate your mortgage company is to get the house back. At the current rate of foreclosures, there is a huge problem with mortgage companies owning way, way too many foreclosed houses. From what I’ve read, it seems to me that your mortgage company would try to do anything possible to KEEP you from foreclosing.
To give you an idea, we have been through the ringer the last few years. We just ended a 6 month repayment plan to get us caught up on our mortgage. Now, according to our agreement, had I defaulted on any of those payments, the agreement would have been void and they could have started foreclosure proceedings immediately. You’ll get the notice of intent pretty quickly, but depending on how aggressive they are, I would guess you could still be in your house safely for about 3 months (which would put you 3 months behind) and then everything after that is a crap shoot.
If you are considering foreclosure, please, please, please investigate all the ways that can impact you in the long run. If you are trying to reduce expenses, perhaps you could rent your house to someone else and you get a small apartment. The short term effects of this market are exactly that. If you can find a way to ride it out for a year or so more, you’ll be much better off than if you get foreclosed on.
I have an absolute crapload of equity. Countrywide would have LOVED to foreclose on me. Now, if I had negative equity? Yeah, not so much.
Florida Foreclosure Laws - Foreclosure.com
Plus, they generally wouldn’t start foreclosure proceedings until you were 90 days down.
I’m a real estate attorney in Florida, so most of my business right now is foreclosures.
As previously stated, the lender generally won’t refer the defaulted loan to the attorneys until about 3 months after you stop paying. An uncontested foreclosure suit then takes about another 3 months to get a judgment (this can be considerably extended with certain methods of contesting the action). From judgment to sale is another 30-60 days. From sale to eviction is about another 10 days.
So, a minimum of about 7 months*; sometimes it will last close to a year.
*This is a generalization, naturally, and not a promise; clearly, YMMV
Thanks. You are close to me, so I will take your word. We have had financial difficulties lately, and I pray that it won’t come to this, but want to stare down the barrel, so to speak, in case the worst should happen.
I consider the question answered, and would appreicate a moderator to close…Thanks again…
Just a heads up, if you are having problems making your mortgage payment…call the bank. They will probably be willing to work with you as long as you stay in contact with them.
I think I read somewhere banks hate foreclosing on homes…they’re in the money business, not the real estate business, and it’s a headache they don’t want. Is that correct, Atomicktom?
Leaving this one open for a bit longer, as you may still get some good advice. But I will close it at the OP’s request later today.
samclem
Yes, I’d agree. All lenders (that I’ve dealt with) have a loss mitigation department that you can call to try and arrange some sort of payment plan. If you enter a plan, they’ll put the foreclosure on hold. IME, many people complain about the lack of customer service in the loss mit. departments, so it requires you to be aggressive and vigilent. Don’t expect them to call you.
There are other methods of delaying a foreclosure. Bankruptcy, while not desirous, is one. Also, by law, they have to provide you a breakdown of the debt once you are served with a lawsuit. Request a verification of debt, and that will delay the process. If you want to pay a lawyer, they can give you other tactics (however, be forewarned: a lawyer may delay the process, giving you time to sell the property or see the market turn around, but they aren’t going to make the debt go away)
I hate seeing all of these foreclosures (it’s job security for me, but I’m much more fulfilled helping people buy homes then helping banks take them away; besides, I have family in the mortgage business, and they’re really struggling). Having said that, being able to foreclose on property is a necessary evil that ensures that banks can recoup bad investments. But it doesn’t mean that you, the borrower, are a bad person. And it doesn’t mean that you’ll never be able to own again. Life does go on, so I hope that all people facing this unfortunate situation keeps a good perspective and doesn’t give up hope.
I thought I remembered that. Thanks!
Second this. If you’re having problems, call the bank and work with them to avoid foreclosure or damage to your credit (if possible).
Closed at the request of the OP.
samclem