Foreclosure...... need help.....

I was awarded the house in divorce along with property settlement payments. My ex-husband quit paying his property settlement payments after making only three of the ordered 60 and I fell behind on the loan. He is now behind 10 months.After two months of not being able to make the payments I moved out and found someone to rent the house. We are now having to wait on the courts to reschedule his contempt hearing because we were not heard on the day scheduled. I have not been able to catch up those two payments although I have made all other payments. The last mortgage payment showing applied was on June 8, 2007 which says it was applied to April, 07. He got the notice about the foreclosure instead of me since he was on the loan.He did not tell me about it until July, at which time I called the Mortgage company and was told they could only talk to him. He has repeatedly refused to "Authorize" me to speak with the mortgage company. A quit claim deed had been filed, but we did not refinance to put my name on it.The July payment was also sent before I knew it was in foreclosure, I do not have funds to reinstate because now instead of the two payments it was behind they are asking for 8000.00. What can I do? At the time when they contacted him around July 5th it had not been referred to Foreclosure, I tried talking to them then to find out the amount of arrears and they would not tell me.He informed me it was turned over to an attorney on the 18th of July. He believes that if I can not pay to reinstate the house he will and get possession of my house. Shouldn't I have been notified also since we are both on the paperwork although he is the guarantor on the loan ? I am the only person on the deed to the house. They have now set a sell date of Sept. 14, 2007. Help.....What can I do? One attorney said finance it in just my name, but I can not do that.....Are there any other options?

My specialization is in criminal law, so I am not speaking in my field of expertise, but I wanted to point out that since the court AWARDED you the house, your husband doesn't HAVE to authorize them to speak with you. THE JUDGE already did that. Fax the mortgage company the paperwork that shows you are the rightful owner of the home. Also, explaining the circumstances might help.

Example: When my husband of twenty years recently died suddenly, I was left with his property and house---a large house we needed for our seven children. The property is ONLY in his name as are the vehicles. I have the option of keeping these items OR Selling them. I chose to purchase a house of my own instead of keeping his. But, of course, when I called the mortgage company to speak with them, they could not since I wasn't "authorized". I simply sent them a copy of the court documents naming me as the executor of his estate and his wife. That was all they needed. The same with his vehicles. While four of them did not have liens on them, one did. I chose to buy myself a new vehicle in my name, and called his lender about his car and asked them to come and get it. Their response was to nearly BEG me to keep it ( since I had made the payments in the months after he died)--and I did, in fact "buy" his car--the one he had been making payments on, for less than half the book value.

I gave you those examples to demonstrate that lenders are willing to go to great lengths to avoid foreclosure and repossession and the such. Provide them with your paperwork, sent registered mail since the customer service rep that doesn't speak English will probably not help. Send it to them registered mail with return receipt. Once they believe YOU are able to make decisions regarding the home, and once they have reassurance that there are things happening beyond your control, they will be willing to work with you.

Its worth a try.

Thank you for your reply. I did that today by express mail so hopefully I will hear something tomorrow. I also sent the same package with all court documents to the mortgage company's attorney as well. I hope it helps.

I agree with the above suggestion that sending court documents, as well as a copy of the recorded quitclaim deed would help, but then again, it may not.

Lender's generally do not and cannot talk about confidential matters b/c of privacy laws and other lender's laws.

Also, although I'm not familiar with Alabama real property law, assuming that your quitclaim deed was properly recorded, I would imagine that you should be provided written notification of any pending foreclosure on your property. Generally state laws have pretty strict guidelines regarding foreclosures in order to protect homeowners. However, if the lender didn't properly send notices, likely all this will do is delay the process and give you possibly another month or two.

Bottom line is that you need to cure the default with the lender or they can sell your home at a foreclosure auction. However, I agree that most lenders do not want to foreclose and take possession of property. It's generally very expensive for them to do this, and most are willing to attempt to work the situation out with you.

Best

edited to add a bit more info

Surely he understands that foreclosure on YOU means foreclosure on HIM.

If he doesn't understand the nuances of foreclosure, perhaps he can comprehend the mystical magical import of the phrase CONTEMPT OF COURT?

If his position is that the house ISN'T yours ( thats why you CAN'T talk to the lender ) then he can't have it "both ways". The house is HIS when you want to discuss it with the lender, and YOURS when its being foreclosed on. Perhaps you could direct his attention to this site where he can read for himself the advice you are being given.

Also, perhaps it would be advantageous to point out that contempt of court ( NOT following the court order ) will not only incur CRIMINAL charges. He very well could be held accountable financially for some or all of the cost of the house, the equity in the house, or your cost to relocate since you lost the house because of his failure to pay.

How narrowminded we become when love goes awry.

Gentle winds.

Unfortunately, I concur with the attorney you mentioned. From your post, I think you're in a rather tricky situation here. Unless somewhere in your divorce settlement it specifically stated you would "hold him (your ex) harmless from the debt on the house," you really don't have legal rights to obtain information on the loan. It's not clear from your post, but it appears you were awarded the property and he was in effect stuck with the mortgage payments .. is that correct? If so, unfortunately, you really don't have legal recourse with the lender. You did not originally sign for the mortgage, you did not appear anywhere as either coborrower or co-signer and as such, the lender cannot, by law, divulge any specific information to you. Your ex would have to agree (in writing) and that doesn't sound very likely.

I've often posted how understanding and cooperative mortgage lenders are in cases such as this. Much as they'd like to avoid the cost of foreclosure, in your case, their legal hands are tied. The very basic difference here, if I understand your post correctly, is quite simply you're nowhere associated with the mortgage transaction and as such, your wishes, your desire for information are basically irrelevant (in the eyes of the lender.) They cannot, by law, do anything other than what they are doing...foreclosing on the property.

I think you received sound advice from that attorney. You can either purchase the property outright from your ex (as you mentioned someone has already suggested to you earlier.) You can approach the lender on your own and ask them how you can purchase directly from them once the foreclosure has been completed. Unfortunately, they may want to take it as far as a sheriff's sale to recoup as much money as they can. On the other hand, property values are declining drastically and mortgage lenders are struggling to survive. You really won't know until you call. Even, as you stated it's not possible to do this on your own, at least make the call. It doesn't hurt to find out.

One thing I do have to mention is that your ex is under a very much mistaken (almost funny) impression. Unless the 2 of you agreed within your divorce decree that you were responsible for the mortgage payments, he couldn't be more wrong in his assumption. He's already lost ownership of the marital home by a simple recorded divorce decree/quit claim deed. That's already done. The house will revert back to the mortgage company, not him, once the foreclosure is settled. Since he's the only recognized loan guarantor, the mortgage company will enter every foreclosure detail on his credit report (not yours) and that will haunt him for as long as 7 to 10 years, depending on your jurisdiction. His credit has already been irreparably affected, both with the history of late payments, the current delinquencies and by now, foreclosure proceeding notifications. To be as honest as I know, you will lose the home; he will pay the credit price. There's no easy way to cushion it, unless you and an acceptable cosigner can purchase the home outright.

That being said, I'm also curious to know exactly what paperwork you state "both of your names are on." If your name appears jointly on the mortgage and/or note, you ARE legally entitled to account information and that's where I would concur with suggestions to contact the lender. To keep this post necessarily brief, I've provided additional information to you via private message above. Either way, good luck to you there. It may not be as bad as you think.

I am compelled to respond to your situation because I personally just went through the exact same thing and hopefully what I have to tell you will help you because you still have time on your side.

While going through my divorce process it was mutually agreed between the ex and I that he was to maintain the payments, since he resided in our home, until the courts decided the outcome of dividing the community property assets. Unfortunately 3 months into the divorce proceedings he vacated the residence and had quit making the monthly payments 1 month into the divorce.

I was told by our real estate agent 5 months into the divorce that my ex left a note on her lock box that he changed the locks per the lenders request and put the lenders lock box on the house without telling a sole about his actions.

When I called the lender I got the same response as you, since his was the only name on the loan I had to get written permission from him. To date I still have no knowledge of his whereabouts. Luckily once I advised my attorney of the situation we made sure that in the divorce decree it stated that the lender was ordered by the court to acknowledge me as the responsible party since I acquired his interest in the property.

By the time my divorce was final and filed in the courts I called the lender and advised them of the divorce decree and the Grant Deed to me signed by the court on behalf of my ex. The lender advised me the foreclosure sale was scheduled for Wednesday and before discussing anything with me they had to review the documents I had faxed to them. That conversation took place on Friday prior to the sale date. The lender called me Monday afternoon and said the documentation was acceptable and they gave me the amount I had to pay prior to the close of business on Tuesday. They also advised me they would NOT delay the sale date to allow me time to gather the funds nor would they even try to work something out with me. NOTE: They demanded I pay 14 months of mortgage payments plus late fees, attorney fees, foreclosure fees etc.

I wasn't fortunate enough to gather over $28,000 within 24 hours and I lost my house. This happened July 18th, 2007. Fortunately for you I learned some valuable information.

Calling your lender and sending them your documentation is the first step. So depending on the manner you sent the package via regular mail, overnight delivery, etc. you need to call the attorney daily until they've received your information and keep on them until they tell whether or not they'll accept your documentation. Remember the clock is ticking.

One thing I need to get clarified is you said your ex was notified of the foreclosure in June? And that you sent in the July payment after the notice was mailed out? (I know you were not aware of the notice at the time) The reason I'm asking this is because if a loan is in default and a Notice of Default has been filed with the county, a lender cannot accept any funds unless they are in agreement with you the amount acceptable to stop the foreclosure. If they accept any other type of funds the foreclosure is voided and the lender has to start the process all over. You can go on-line to your states website and look up your states laws pertaining to foreclosure procedures.

Also, this is very important, every state has a HUD (Housing and Urban Development) office, you can find it on-line on you states website or by looking in your local phone book under state services or county services. In most cases each state has more than one type of service available to you in assisting and/or counseling you on your rights and helps you in dealing with your lender. You need to contact them immediately. These services will even contact your lender with you present and work out a plan suitable to your situation.

Lastly, find out if your loan is an FHA loan. If it is you've hit the mother load!
FHA loans are federally insured and HUD will step in and take your loan over from the lender and save you from foreclosure. HUD will want your financial information, employment info, personal info, etc. They will keep the same loan you have already but they will alter the terms based on your ability to pay and carry the arrears to the back of the loan until you either sell your house or refinance their loan.

I know other avenues available to you but I think the options I've set out will probably work out for you. I hope this helps and I'll make sure you're in my prayers. You have a stressful road ahead of you, if you stay focused and keep calling and calling until YOU are satisfied, everything will work out and probably to your benefit.

GOOD LUCK and please keep in touch, let me know how things go and feel free to contact me if you need help in finding the places I've suggested.

It is an FHA loan I believe I know in looking back at all the paperwork over the last few days it has a HUD rider in it. How can I find out what kind of loan it is?

There are two places that a quick glance will tell you without having to read all documentation.

Look for your copy of the Deed of Trust/Mortgage usually on the very bottom left hand corner you will see FHA and some numbers. Or look for an 8" x 14" (legal size) page that has in bold print at the top with Truth-in-Lending Disclosure as the title. On this page generally from the middle of the page towards the bottom there is preprinted statements with small boxes for check marks. One of the boxed items indicates if your loan is FHA if that box is checked you do in fact have an FHA loan.

If you have an FHA loan contact me through private message and I can go into detail what you'll need to do to get assistance.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.