[ale] OT: way off topic but help!!!!

Thu Mar 24 13:19:30 EDT 2011

A) Gwinnett Co. is leading GA in the number of homes begin foreclosed.
B) Brief description of the foreclosure procedure in GA

   1. Prior to initiating a foreclosure, the lender must send a demand
   letter requesting the payment of all past due amounts, which gives the
   borrower ten (10) days to pay these amounts otherwise foreclosure
   proceedings will begin. If payment is made at this stage noattorney's
   fees <http://www.foreclosure.com/statelaw_GA.html> are assessed.
   2. The lender must then publish the notice of the scheduled foreclosure
   sale in the county newspaper in which the property is located for four (6)
   consecutive weeks before the sale. The borrower must also receive
bycertified
   mail notice <http://www.foreclosure.com/statelaw_GA.html> at least
   fifteen (15) days before the date of the proposed sale.
   3. Foreclosure sales must take place on the first Tuesday of each month
   (between 10AM and 4PM) at the courthouse. The trustee will auction the
   property to the highest bidder at the courthouse steps.

Most home loans these days are upside down, meaning that the amount owed on
the mortgage is greater than the current value of the property. This results
in the courthouse sale being a one bid sale where the attorney handling the
foreclosure "cries the sale" on the courthouse steps and enters the bid for
the bank in the amount owed on the loan (including all the added attorney
fees) and nobody in their right mind outbids the bank. Thus the property
goes to the bank and becomes REO (Real Estate Owned), which banks don't like
since they are in the money lending business, not the Real Estate
rental/sales business. One might think that the banks have more than enough
REOs and are willing to work with the debtor to lower the interest rate and
forebear the payments. But if the debtor still can't keep up the payments,
the sale will eventually happen. So get a copy of the "legal journal" where
foreclosures are published each week and look for the foreclosure notice. It
HAS to appear for 6 weeks straight PRIOR to the sale, so if it hasn't
appeared yet, you will know when the countdown starts. If it has already
started, you can contact the attorney handling the foreclosure and ask when
the sale is scheduled and if it is still on. The debtor could do a short
sale (with banks permission) or surrender the keys in lieu of foreclosure.
In that case, as others have said, you negotiate things with the new owner,
but DO NOT continue paying the foreclosed party. If an investor picks up the
house, you may just get to stay with a new landlord. I don't know what to
expect if the bank winds up with the property, but you should at least have
weeks/months before you should have to move. It makes no economic sense for
the bank to throw you on the street and board up the house, losing any
potential revenue stream and opening the property up to the possibility of
vandalism, but that's not to say that they wouldn't do so.
Meanwhile, a little leg work & some phone calls can go a long way to put
your mind at ease.
One final word, if you are a renter, you should have renter's insurance.
GC

On Thu, Mar 24, 2011 at 12:37 PM, Damon L. Chesser <damon at damtek.com> wrote:

> On Thu, 2011-03-24 at 11:43 -0400, Scott Castaline wrote:
> > Since I believe many of you on the list or at least some rent their
> > homes instead of being actual homeowners I am posing this question to
> > the list. I will be posing it as a hypothetical question due to certain
> > circumstances that I wish not discuss at this time.
> >
> > We have found out that the actual homeowner of the house we rent is
> > delinquent in mortgage payments and has until April 19, 2011 to settle
> > back payments with additional fees or be responsible for the full amount
> > of loan, or I presume face foreclosure. Do I need to panic, or am I safe
> > since I have already spoken to the property management company? I don't
> > want to have Gwinnett SO knocking on my door to dump my stuff on the
> street.
>
> Here is what Clark Howard says to do:  If the own is foreclosed on, stop
> paying rent.  Keep the money, don't spend it, but do NOT send the rent
> check to the (former) owner:  The former owner is NOT due any rent if
> they don't own the property.  It normally takes 3 to 6 MONTHS for the
> bank to actually act.  Try to contact the foreclosure lawyers
> representing the bank.  The bank would love someone to live in the
> property as opposed to being empty and vandalized. Negotiate with the
> lawyers.  Who knows, you could walk away with a house you own for the
> cost of the monthly rent (of course, you may not want that).  When the
> property is foreclosed on and after some (long) period of time you get a
> vacate order, you can now use all your rent money you saved to move
> with.
>
> You can also negotiate with the banks to pay your monthly rent to them
> through the end of your lease.  Everything is negotiable.  If they don't
> want to negotiate, then use the time to save your rent payments.  If
> they do want to negotiate, then you have the "back" rent to pay them.
> In the event of fore closer, The current property management company has
> no authority to do anything, btw.  They work for the land lord, not the
> new owner (the bank).  Do take the time to look over Clark Howard's
> website for advice, or better yet, call him, he has a crew that answers
> questions 40 hours a week, not just when he is on the radio, all at no
> cost to you.
>
> HTH
> > _______________________________________________
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>
> --
> Damon
> damon at damtek.com
>
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