No Notice Of Foreclosure Auction
I posted a question here about a week ago about the short sale process and have a new problem now! We got the deed on a pre-foreclosure property around the end of July. The owner was told the auction would be October 19, and we were told just last week that the date was October 23.
I was at the property on September 3, and used the garage door opener, gate key and house key the owner had provided us. Today, we arrived to find the front door lock changed, the gate and shed padlocked with new locks, the garage door track padlocked, and the lawn had been mowed. We got in the back door (our key still worked in there), and found cleaning supplies and the air conditioner turned on (I'd turned it off when I was out there 3 days ago). We can't figure out what happened. Would the bank purposely give us the wrong date and sell without notifying the owner? They have received no notice of the sale date. Is it usual for the lender to not notify the owner?
We were planning to obtain a payoff letter for the first, pay it off and hopefully short sale the second a bit. We've been working with both lenders for over a month now. Any ideas? We requested a payoff letter on the first last Tuesday (they chose not to short sale) and sent a short sale package to the second on Thursday.
Any light anyone with experience can shed on this will be greatly appreciated! We're planning on calling the foreclosure attorney assigned to the case on Monday (I talked to her on Sept. 3 to request a payoff letter and she didn't mention the sale date being soon). Maybe this is just how things work, but we feel like the rug has been pulled out from under us!
two ? , U must ask yourself.
Who is the investor, FHA, VA Fannie?
What is the state?
With this info. you could move ahead with the if's and buts and cherry & nuts.
If its a PUB state it was in th newspaper. if its not it ws in the mail. You may be able to get 30d if it is not a PUB state. With fannie, not VA or FHA. good luck
It was a conventional, non-assumable loan. We live in Nevada. We checked the foreclosure sales in the legal paper and it wasn't listed. I guess the question is, if it WASN'T auctioned, who could have done this and why? The owner only signed papers with us, so no one else has any rights to the property. Is it possible another investor is trying to take over? With us having the deed, it doesn't seem possible. It's a puzzling thing, to put it mildly.
Have you checked to see if any new deeds have been recorded on the property?
Did you actually record YOUR deed to the property?
Were the taxes current?
Mrs. Meltzer[ Edited by MrsMeltzer on Date 09/07/2003 ]
Could be that the mortgagee's field service has secured the property (new locks) or the designated REO broker has taken preliminary steps to prepare the property for market.
Do the new locks have any unsual markings that would indicate a professional service? Were the old locksets left by the door from which they had been removed?
We did record the deed, almost two weeks ago because another investor called us asking a lot of questions and saying he'd been talking to the owner and she seemed confused about what was going on. We've spoken to her and she was VERY clear on what we were trying to do to help her and had told him so.
As for the locks, they were padlocks you could get at any hardware store-the kind with keys. The front door-where the lock had been changed-looked no different from when I was last out there and the old one was no where in the house.
We wondered if the lender had sent someone out to start working on the place. If the second mortgage holder had sent someone out to do a BPO, would they have done this at that time? We switched the utilities in OUR name, and no attempt had been made to change this. It MUST be one of the lenders.
When we talk to the foreclosure attorney tomorrow, and if we find out the sale date hasn't occured yet, how do we go about getting access to the property? This is our first deal, and we've sure learned a lot already! Thanks to everyone who's trying to help us solve this mystery!
check with the attorneys office to see when the sale is scheduled for or if it has occured already. ...if nothing has happened then put a "no tresspassing sign" on the premises with a phone number to be reached at in case of any problems...the person who secured the property i assume would check on the house every once in a while..if there is a problem, they will call you . (perhaps the previous owner gave a deed to somebody else as well)...i am assuming that you didnt get title insurance...
I spoke to the foreclosure attorney today, and the sale date won't be until about a month after October 9.
I called the loss mitagation person I'd been working with from the first mortgage and she said someone had probably been out to 'secure' the property.
I've faxed a limited power of attorney to her so she can send me the keys. We'll have a 'For Sale' sign in the yard soon if the second mortgage holder accepts our offer, so that should be a message to anyone still trying to go out there!
No, we didn't get title insurance, but we are certain that no one else has been given the title, and we're now on record so that should be okay. We're going to try to save the house for the owner and make a little bit ourselves along the way, but if it doesn't sell for what we need to make, we'll just have to walk away. Thanks for all your suggestions!
I had this happen to a foreclosure property here in Michigan. From what I understand, if the house is vacant or appears abandoned than the bank can lock the house up to secure its collateral. It doesn't mean they own it. They called it winterizeing the property which was funny because this happened in June.
Tom
Yes, now it's an incredible hassle getting access to a house we've been given permission by the owner to be in! We had to send the Limited Power Of Attorney signed by the owner to the lender and wait and see if they'll accept it. Otherwise, they'll only send the keys to the owner, who lives in another state, or accept her request for them to be sent to us, and we can't get ahold of her.
On top of it all, we got the payoff letter from the first, and it was over $10,000 higher than estimated. Now our offer to the second can't come close to their supposed 'bottom line' or we'd be lucky to make $5,000! What an experience this has been!
Lessons learned: Don't try to short sale (by much) a mortgage when they can easily make their money back at foreclosure sale. Don't play too long with the second, especially if they keep telling you how much equity an overmortgaged house has. And don't tell the lender the property is vacant! It's all in the learning, and we'll take this experience on to our next deal. That is worth a lot to us!
I agree with Tom. When the mortgage is over two months old, the mortgage company's computer sends the information to someone in that town who does a drive by on the properties. If it is abanonded, they "winterize" it: turn off the water, elec and board it up and change the locks. It's customary. They are protecting their (the mortgage company) interest. I have NEVER seen them go in and clean it though. I would just continue with what I was doing,
Dawn
You've recorded the deed and have a legal right to be there. Cut their padlocks, change the locks again and post a 'no trespassing' sign because that's what they're doing is trespassing. Right?
To me it sounds like a combination of factors going on here. First of all, your name recorded in public record will just continue with the default of the loan. 99% of mortgages say that a title change is an automatic default of the mortgage. Just like when you try to transfer your property from your name to your LLC's name, mortgages don't really care who is on title, but the paperwork changes and can make it a pain in the butt.
The padlocks and 'winterizing' are very common w/ REO properties. Have you checked to see if the property was FHA insured?
HUD will come in and secure properties quite often enough for when they resell them.
Sounds like your property may not be hitting the auction block to me.
Depending on state guidelines, irregardless of what people may tell you, they don't always go up for auction.
Perhaps HUD or the REO broker is just moving things along.
I have seen them come in and do some mild cleaning before, nothing extensive.
They also steal the appliances as well.....
Anyway, let everyone know how this goes.
Good Luck
Joe
They didn't bother to turn off any utilities, and even switched the sprinklers to every day, which is in violation of watering laws in this town! I turned everything off effective tomorrow. The second won't come down and are holding firm on asking $25,000 on a $60,000 loan, even though the first will take $270,000 off the top if they even get that at auction. The market will support about $295,000 or so, so I guess they all think they'll make their money on it, and they may. Although auctions historically don't go for market price. Anyway, it's been a learning experience, and I would've cut the locks and put a big 'For Sale By Owner' sign in the front lawn if the first had come down more. Time to move on to the next one!
i see this all the time here in phoenix. Put a sign on the door when you have the deed that says "No tresspassing, contact XXX-XXXX for entry." the lender is securing the property against possible damage. Yes, they are tresspassing but if the property is abandoned its says in the paperwork of most lenders that they have a right to do this. Cut of their locks and replace the locks.
Also, I have found in most cases, if there is considerable equity in the property, the lenders are most of the time unwilling to short sale and will delay even responding to you. you have to paint the picture to the lender why they should sell short.