Foreclosed by confusion, delays, inflexibility

I'll buy it if I can marry the occupant.

Maybe people should quit buying homes they can't afford. Also, if they would lay off charging everything to credit cards, have a nest egg they would be in this situation.

Listen to Dave Ramsey....

Thank God "I AM DEBT FREE"!

Yes, some people have made poor choices in their use of credit, but not all. I think the mortgage companies & banks that made these subprime (read junk) loans are getting off far too easy. They s/b held more accountable. We, the American taxpayers, are now bailing many out, while those who made the bad loans keep the proceeds of their chicanery. I feel for Mrs. Van. I am sure the mortgage company has downsized or moved to Bangalore, making it hard for her to rectify this unfortunate situation. In the meantime the world economy is in a tailspin on account of the magnitude of this "subprime" mess. I know my 401k is now a 200.5k! Follow the $$$$. Someone is prospering. Unfortunate thing is they are using our $$$$ to wine & dine those in DC or Lansing:(!

I'm in the same boat. I tried to get our mortgage company to allow a short sale. When we bought our house, everything was affordable but when my husband lost his job, that is when the struggles started. Now, we have less than one month to redeem our property or we have to move. We did not get any help at all to try and save our house. I tried to refinance and get out of the ARM that we are in and even tried to do the short sale to no avail. I'm pretty discouraged at this point. We are having a hard time finding a place to live within my income bracket too. It's very frustrating. I really think that these mortgage company's should work with homeowners more than they are. It's a shame, really.

I think the ARM is where many people went wrong. People tend to think of instant gratification and short term rather than responsibly with their money.

Bobby wrote:

I think the ARM is where many people went wrong. People tend to think of instant gratification and short term rather than responsibly with their money.

If I knew what I know now, I would have never bought this house using an ARM. We did not do our homework and our realtors didn't really explain to us what an ARM was. In fact, I didn't even know we had an ARM until our 2 years of a fixed rate were up. We tried at that time to refinance but couldn't due to our credit. Our interest rate is 13.175% and our mortgage is around $1079 now. It is over half of my take home income. Thus the reason we cannot afford it. It's a very small house too. I wish we would have stayed in our townhouse that we were living in and only paying $650 a month. When we bought the house it was at 9.5% interest and we were paying $840.02 a month. It was a little high for us then but we thought with both of us working that we would make it work. How wrong we were. Now, I'm trying to find a place for $700 a month and there is not too much out there that is in a good area.

This economy is so terrible that I wish mortgage companies and banks alike would work with people such as myself. If I could refinance at a lower fixed rate, I could probably keep my house but it's too late now as the sheriff sale was already in Feb and the house has defaulted back to the bank. It's been pure misery for the last 5 months. Now, I'm in crunch time to find a place.

I feel bad for this lady as I know all too well what she is going through. I hope it works out for her.

kwD wrote:

Maybe people should quit buying homes they can't afford. Also, if they would lay off charging everything to credit cards, have a nest egg they would be in this situation.

Sometimes bad things happen to good people. And, I have no credit cards...thank you very much.

Ben wrote:

I'll buy it if I can marry the occupant.

I know of a house/occupant that's available. Even comes with a bonus of 3 fabulous dogs.:)

I have heard Dave Ramsey is good. Larry Burkett ministries also did some good work re:financial stewardship. Yes, it is Christian based, for some of you who are very anti church, but it is very good. We had a class @ church using the Dick Towner (Willow Brook) program of financial stewardship. A little dry @ times & more discussion would have been nice, but eye opening. Michelle Singletary is good secular writer of personal finance material. I feel bad for those sucked into these crazy loans. No $$$ down, interest only, ARM. I couldn't believe they were allowed to offer these mongrel loans. Unfortunately it seems many people bit on them & then the economy tanks. I feel for them rather than blame them. Financial hardship is hard on families. Good luck, Jennifer. Mrs. Van, too.

The government doesn't give a rip about the average Joe.
All they care about is protecting their precious fat pension when they get voted out of office.

You are lucky to not have any credit cards, however, life might be tough w/o @ least one. I know we booked a Chicago weekend trip using Priceline. It required a credit card to get the best rate. I get a 5% rebate on my gas purchases using the card. Yes, I know, a whopping 20 cents/gallon, but I feel better about it & I don't have to go inside to pay & wait behind the fat guy buying lottery tix & smokes. My aunt & uncle must use theirs a lot. They get all sorts of frequent flyer miles w it & get lots of nice trips. My brother does the books for his wife (orthodontist). She uses her credit card for most of her office purchases. He says it is a nice form of cheap accounting. It is all there on the monthly statement. Makes his job easier. Credit itself is not bad. Like guns or motorcycles. When used poorly trouble can ensue.

kwD wrote:

Maybe people should quit buying homes they can't afford. Also, if they would lay off charging everything to credit cards, have a nest egg they would be in this situation.
Listen to Dave Ramsey....
Thank God "I AM DEBT FREE"!

I work in the Mortgage industry and saw this coming. I acutally sold everything Includinghte house to keep this happening to me. I know my job is not secure, the industry isn't either so I have gone back to school to change that. I am now debt free and loving it. Even if i have to rent. Oh, and byt he way you don't need a credit cdard to buy air line ticket, etc....VISA debt works the same way and you can't spend it if you don't have it.

kwD wrote:

Maybe people should quit buying homes they can't afford. Also, if they would lay off charging everything to credit cards, have a nest egg they would be in this situation.
Listen to Dave Ramsey....
Thank God "I AM DEBT FREE"!

LOL DAVE RAMSEY!!! Thats who I want too take advice from. A guy who ran his business into the ground went bankrupt not once but twice. You have to be joking. There are honest people out there just trying to make it and the mortgage company's should have a better name how about the modern Mafia. What kind of a racketeer loan is it to pay all the interest first then your principal oh yea a mortgage. A house loan should be setup just like a car loan. But that would be to honest and fair.

On the other side...they make you jump through hoops to purchase these short sale and forclosed homes...if anyone has tried like myself, they know what I mean...absolutely ridiculous...these bankers and economists complain everyday about foreclosures but when people want to sell and have buyers lined up, they cant seem to complete the sale for whatever reason they say...conspiracy?????? Someones making big money off of this mess!!!

home buyer wrote:

On the other side...they make you jump through hoops to purchase these short sale and forclosed homes...if anyone has tried like myself, they know what I mean...absolutely ridiculous...these bankers and economists complain everyday about foreclosures but when people want to sell and have buyers lined up, they cant seem to complete the sale for whatever reason they say...conspiracy?????? Someones making big money off of this mess!!!

Well, when people making ten bucks an hour are handling all the fine details over the phone and your paperwork infringes on their smoke/coffee breaks, what do you expect?

I doubt they are paying the folks in Bangalore $10/hr. I am sure that's where those jobs have now gone. If they want to make $10/hr they should try Starbux. Oops, another posting. Sorry.

Jennifer wrote:

I'm in the same boat. I tried to get our mortgage company to allow a short sale. When we bought our house, everything was affordable but when my husband lost his job, that is when the struggles started. Now, we have less than one month to redeem our property or we have to move. We did not get any help at all to try and save our house. I tried to refinance and get out of the ARM that we are in and even tried to do the short sale to no avail. I'm pretty discouraged at this point. We are having a hard time finding a place to live within my income bracket too. It's very frustrating. I really think that these mortgage company's should work with homeowners more than they are. It's a shame, really.

Same here! I'd personally like to see this happen to the arrogant aholes who preach Dave Ramsey. He worked for us, too, until hubby lost his job!

Just remember that Dave Ramsey did the exact same things that these people who are in trouble now.
Even though he tells you it's the last thing to do, he did it anyway. He declared bankruptcy and had
his depts wiped out so he could start over. That
is a fact that people seem to over look.

Dave was just smart enough to write about his experiences and how he was able to overcome them.
I wonder how it would have turned out for him if he did not claim bankruptcy, work three jobs and pay everyone back?? Would he be in the position today he is in?? Dave gives great advice, just remember how he got there in the first place.

kwD wrote:

Maybe people should quit buying homes they can't afford. Also, if they would lay off charging everything to credit cards, have a nest egg they would be in this situation.
Listen to Dave Ramsey....
Thank God "I AM DEBT FREE"!

kwD wrote:

Maybe people should quit buying homes they can't afford. Also, if they would lay off charging everything to credit cards, have a nest egg they would be in this situation.
Listen to Dave Ramsey....
Thank God "I AM DEBT FREE"!

That's great that you're debt free,(for now). But take my word for it, you or someone in your immediate circle is in the same situation as these people. Try having some compassion for the down and out and stop being so judgemental of others. The only thing you told us is that you're debt free. I know a lot of debt free people but they're debt free because they have nothing!

So does anyone have any advice for people in this situation. We are currently not behind but our arm goes into affect in April next year. Our mortgage is already so high. We bought our house 3 years ago FHA, (that was great) but then my husband lost his job and we got behind. We refinanced through the wonderful company Arbor Mortgage. What a bunch of scam artists they are. We not only raised our house payment but were in an arm now. We should have got out then. Well we just went to try to refinance out of our arm and our house appraised at 30,000 less then what we owe. We want to get out of it but we do not want to hurt our credit. We are just now getting it back on track. Any advise.