Need help fast -- responding to a foreclosure summons

In My Humble Opinion
21

Boyo Jim in your own interests, you must respond before that date on the summons. Otherwise, like some others have said, you could lose your home by default.

We went down to the courthouse and wrote a brief handwritten letter to the judge asking for an extension, I think for time for a mediation to be set up, but it wasn’t a long explanation. In your case, if you want to, you can say something like your financial situation has changed. Talk to a lawyer first if you have time but if not just go ahead and do it.

It was free for us except for the fifteen cents it cost for a copy of the request which was date/time stamped by the clerk. And it was very, very legal. (Halted the process of foreclosure temporarily.) It’s expected. The bank knows this is just the first step in a long process.

I’m seeing my free lawyer again today at Legal Services. You must have an office like that in your area, some kind of legal aid. It is their job and they do help, direct, and file motions to protect you through this legal maze. They also go with you to any appearances.

Save every single thing from this point on…summons, letters from lawyers, copies of anything filed, notes jotted down, dates for different things…You’ll be getting a letter in the mail signed by the judge granting the extension. Save anything and everything.

It’s not a matter of calling up the bank and making nice. (Besides, you would want to get everything in writing anyway.) That nice lady you always talk to has no say in what is being done higher up. Let your free lawyer do the talking and tell you what to do.

Like I said, it’s a long process as long as you respond each time something comes up and don’t drop the ball. I don’t know if for you there will be a mediation or refinance or what, but you must dot all your "i"s and cross all your "t"s. Go to to your nearest free legal aid. Good luck and know that if you want to keep your home, this is the first step in that direction.

22

I’ve no advice of my own to give, but I wish you the best of luck.

23

THIS - X a million!

It has long ago ceased to amaze me how many folk think they can just ignore or put off responding to legal notices, and maybe it will go away. Far too often IMO such folk get second, third, 20th chances - but at some point the “do-overs” cease, and you may never really know when your last chance is. Further, you may run into a decision-maker who decides you’ve had enough chances.

You have to come up with a definite strategy, and definite end goals. Do you want to rework your mortgage and stay in your home for the long run, or do you just want to drag out the process as long as possible, while staying there rent-free?Whatever your interests, I suggest it behooves you to play an active role in making that happen, rather than simply being a pawn in someone else’s game.

24

Advice?

Yeah, I’ve got some -

  1. Consider yourself luck that you’ve been able to stay in the house this long without ‘paying’ what you own, cut your losses, and get out.

  2. Learn from your mistakes - the first one being ‘dont buy something you can’t afford.’

the second - being jobless for 3 years is impossible. Im a poor, no good loser, and I’ve had a perm. job and several side jobs in the last 3 1/2 years. If you couldnt ‘get a job’ you werent looking, and if you were and couldnt get the ‘one your wanted’ and didnt take another one that would pay MONEY. I find it hilarious that all of these people that had ‘all of this money’ to buy houses, cars, etc cant find a job, but I can get paid a 100 bucks to spin a sign in a street corner - thats 700 bucks a week incase you can’t do math. Grow up and get a job and pay your bills.

the third - refer to the first STOP LIVING BEYOND YOUR MEANS.

Im sure everyone will call me a jerk, but this is reality. I had no sympathy for anyone in your situation because your got yourself into it, and you should pay the price for making it difficult for people like me.

I’ve worked hard my entire life - the reccession didn’t hurt me at all, because I live like a real person, not beyond my means - and now that I can get a house its impossible because of ignorant people like you. Thanks a bunch for ruining my prospects for home ownership. wink

DONT GO DOWN THE SAME ROAD!

My advice to you is to get out of this as cleanly as you can and then buy something in your price range, and don’t screw up again.

25

slimdaddy, almost no one can afford a house. That’s why they take out mortgages. I’m sure that at the time Boyo Jim took it out, he was able to make the mortgage payments and had every assurance of being able to do so for the life of the mortgage.

I can’t speak to the other issues you raise, but it is a fact that over the life of a 30-year mortgage, dramatic and unexpected changes in household finances can arise. Banks are well aware of that, and it is one reason foreclosure proceedings are so slow.

26

slimdaddy, unless you can afford to purchase a house outright with cash, you have no leg to stand on when it comes to lecturing Boyo Jim. And if you CAN afford to do that, you’d actually own a house now instead of whining about how “other people” have ruined your purchasing prospects.

(And in this economy it is indeed perfectly possible to be unemployed for 3 years - especially if you own a house you can’t sell, and which ties your job search down to one city.)

Boyo Jim, I can only second what everyone else is saying. Respond to that summons ASAP, in order to give yourself time to negotiate with the bank. Remember, the bank wants its money - and if they can get it back from you, they’d prefer to, as that’s easier than foreclosing on a house and then selling it.

27

Bollocks, bunkum, and bullshit. Back when I was in Luton, even all the McJobs were taken.

28

Just dragging it out to live rent free and then getting out clean sounds great, but Wisconsin allows deficiency judgements. Should the OP be underwater they’ll be on the hook for the difference between their outstanding balance and whatever the home brings sight unseen at a foreclosure auction on the courthouse steps.

Definitely file a response and try to work with the bank unless you’re interested in filing bankruptcy.

29

I’m not going to call you a jerk, but you don’t know Boyo Jim’s circumstances. I used to find it hard to believe that people couldn’t find anything to do to make money, but I’ve seen so many people here telling the same kinds of stories that I do believe it now. I can’t imagine that it was a fun time for Boyo to spend 3 years looking for work and watching his savings disappear and his mortgage going unpaid.

Boyo Jim, I’m sorry to hear that things have gone so badly for you, and I’m glad to hear that you’re back to work now and can (hopefully) get things straightened out financially. As everyone else has said, respond to the summons and go from there. :slight_smile:

30

I thank everyone (with one noteable exception) for their advice.

I responded to the complaint and verified the response was received. I did not dispute any of the particulars of the complaint, just pointed out that my financial prospects rose dramatically between th time the complaint was filed and the response was due, there had not been sufficient time for a negitiated settlement since beginning this new job, and that I was already in communication with the lender regarding reaching some equitable payment structure.

31

I could tell slimdaddy’s join date without even looking :rolleyes:.

Back (sort of) to the topic at hand: I don’t know if you looked into bankruptcy but if you did, that might impact the mortgage-holder’s ability to actually complete the foreclosure. I seem to recall reading something to that effect, anyway.

Realistically, the bank does not want your house. They want the money. If your new job is sufficient to pay the mortgage, with maybe a little extra to start paying the arrears bit by bit, the bank should be perfectly happy to work with you. One would hope so, at least. Even better if you can negotiate with them to waive most of the penalties they’ve probably slapped on the account.

One suggestion though: do NOT start paying the bank anything until you’ve got something signed saying they’re willing to work with you, and spelling out those terms. I have this image of you being able to come up with the monthly payment plus, say, 10%… starting to do that, and 3 months later finding out that you’re foreclosed after all because of the previous months of arrears. Then you’re out those 3 months of payments.

Deficiency judgement: yes, many states allow that. Realistically though I’d doubt the bank would bother in this situation, unless the loss was huge - that’s probably more time and trouble for them than it’s worth. Just speculating though, I don’t know how many banks bother.

32

That’s way too much…

33

Yeah, me too. Gettin’ kinda old.

I’ve told this around here before, but when my husband and I were laid off from our respective jobs within months of each other, my father’s advice to me was:

“You really should sign up for one of those full-time jobs.” Yes, sign up, those exact words. Like there’s a clipboard with a pen on someone’s door, and that’s all there is to it … Thanks dad!

His advice here reminds me of that moment.

Sounds like you did the right thing. Good luck to you.

34

What Mama Zappa said is right on the mark. I can’t stress this enough—and I’m not coming from a bad place, just an experienced one—the bank is not your friend. They now know you’ve responded and that’s enough. Please go to Legal Aid and get free representation. They may tell you to contact HUD who now has a program helping people stay in their homes affordably, something your bank doesn’t care a flip about. But Legal Aid will help you set up whatever is in your best interests.

You would think the banks don’t want another house on their hands etc. but unfortunately—not so much. We paid our mortgage each month for over twenty-eight years, then had to make some partial payments, then even those became sporadic till they petered out because we chose to eat. We were served because of $8,000.00. That’s all we had left on the loan but to us it might as well have been eight million.

To them this isn’t personal, it’s legal. Get legal right back (in a calm way, through your lawyer) and find out as soon as possible what your informed strategy is going to be. Let others help you not make mistakes. You really do have time to work all this out and get back on track as long as you perceive it as a financial “kink” and choose what’s right for you, not what you think will appease somebody. Keep crunching the numbers until they fit your wallet.

35

Ouch :(. In your case though, I can see where the bank would WANT the house. After 28 years, the value was presumably higher than when you bought it, and they would figure that it would certainly sell for more than 8K even in a depressed area :(.

36

For me it’s not even a local bank, it’s the ravenous corporate monolith Citimortgage. One problem is that every time I talk to them, it’s a total crapshoot as to whether I’ll get someone who has the slightest idea what they’re talking about.

37

When we sold our house four years ago, we were assured that if we got a new mortgage with the same bank, they would waive the early pay-out penalty. Comes down to crunch time, nope, no penalty waived - $7000 in early pay-out penalty. We ended up paying it and getting our new mortgage from a different lender for a rate that saved us far more than the $7000. The kicker - the original bank called us about three months later and practically begged us to give them our business. We told them what had gone on, and they seemed truly regretful that it had gone that way. Well, it’s too frigging late now, isn’t it? Jerks.

38

I know you wanted specific answers regarding if you should reply to the summons or not but this is good advice right here. There are lots of options for home retention available if you can demonstrate hardship and improvement in the situation.

39

Wowsers. Who has early-payoff penalties these days??? (especially when the house is sold, not refinanced).

40

Thanks again for your replies. My sister also suggested that as soon as I am able, I refinance, as much to get my mortgage out of the hands of Citimortgage as to save money.