I filed a Ch. 7 in 2005 and did not reaffirm my mortgages. I have been paying both of them on time every month since. 1st mortgage is through Countrywide for $89,000 and HELOC is through Wells Fargo for $50,000. Our last appraisal in 2003 came in at $175,000. The current tax assessment is $145,600. I have no idea what the current market value of the house is because of the houseing situation. I checked it on Zillo and the eppraisal was between 117,000 and 139,000. The problem getting an accurate appraisal is going to be the fact that there are very few houses in my specific area and even fewer that have sold? My question is do I have any leverage in making a settlement offer on the HELOC? I'm planning on staying in the house for at least another 10 years. I'm afraid that if I open this can of worms, they may just decide to foreclose and then I'm in trouble. I am self employed and would have a very hard time obtaining another mortgage to buy something else. I got both of these mortgages solely on credit and not on verified income. What are the chances that they would accept a settlement? Thanks in advance for any help.
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You have indicated that between the 1st and 2nd you owe $139k and that the property possibly is worth between $117k and $139k. This creates equity for the 2nd of between $28k and its full debt of $50k.
Based upon this I tend to doubt the 2nd will settle on anything less than what is owed. However, if you have access to $30k in cash and since your are current (no threat of foreclosure), you certainly can make an offer. The worst thing that can happen is Wells Fargo says "no" and you simply continue to service both loans.
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Thank you for your advice. I guess the only thing that is going to determine the outcome is to get an accurate appraisal. I have had huge differences every time I've tried to get an accurate worth on the property. I've had figures ranging from $33,000 all the way up to $250,000. I guess Wells will probably base their decision on whatever they come up with for a value. I have sent them an offer, so I'll see what happens. Thanks again.Comment
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Janhar04. Please post the response you receive from WF. I've had my own HELOC history with them that involved an offer. Thanks.Comment
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Was your offer accepted? Did you make the offer to them? I will post the response from them if and when I hear from them. If you got a response from WF, how long did it take for them to respond?Comment
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janhar04, My story is a bit different than yours. I was over 50% upside down in my home, my HELOC was $119. quite a bit of money. I tried the government HAMP program and in order to be eligible I had to be behind in my mortgages. WF paid for a credit councilor who advised me to make WF an offer. Before that happened I tried a short sale which WF agreed to. The intent was to make a settlement offer of 10k plus 3k from the first mortgage company. I was disqualified from HAMP, and right after I exited that program WF charged off my HELOC. After the short sale WF sold my account to a debt collector. So that was the end of the offer.
That was over a year ago and even that much time makes a difference. I'm sure you'll have been luck.Comment
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