Photographer from Wachovia--FL occupancy check

[BananaCabana]

I went by our (foreclosing) home today to put the trash & recycling bins back in the garage. I still go over there every week to put whatever trash and recycleables we have down to the curb. We have not occupied the home since August 2010. The neighbor came out to talk to me and said that two days ago they saw a car parked out in front of our house for quite a while and a man was taking pictures. When he approached him to find out who he was and what he was doing the man said he was from Wachovia (our mortgage holder) and wanted to know if we were still living there. The neighbor told him "no" but that we were still in the process of moving our things out. Wachovia man told our neighbor that they would need to post a vacant notice on our door soon. That was all my neighbor was able to tell me.

My questions:

What exactly does a vacant notice mean for Florida residents? What are our rights?
Will they change the locks even before we get our stuff out?
How much time do we have to move stuff out after a FL vacant notice?

I still have the utilities on. My DH was supposed to empty the house while I set up residence in our new home which is why the stuff is still there. As usual, I am the one who will have to follow through on what he was supposed to do. We will be filing for BK soon, still not sure if it will be 7 or 13 but we qualify for either one. Seriously considering divorce too which points me toward the Ch. 7.

The other thing my neighbor mentioned was he asked about the yard and overgrowth in case we decided to abandon the property once we had everything out. Supposedly this representative from Wachovia said that the city will cut it and charge it to the bank. I was under the impression that as long as our name was on the title, until it changed hands to the bank, that we would still be liable for it. Anyone know or is this a city oridinance that I need to look up?

Thanks!

[Pandora]

if you simply walked away, the lender may view that as abandonment and they do have a right to change the locks, keeping all property left behind.

[discouraged]

I would look it up. It seems to me that I read, recently on a post, that the owner (technically you) still receives the bill for anything the city has to take care of. You could also check with the city I suppose and see what they normally do.

[BananaCabana]

if you simply walked away, the lender may view that as abandonment and they do have a right to change the locks, keeping all property left behind.

It's not abandonment when you visit the property several times a week, keeping the yard mown, the electricity on and moving things out. We aren't sleeping there but we are still very active with the property. I am also not sure what you mean by "if I simply walked away" and I am a little offended by it. When you say someone walked away from their property you usually mean that that someone could have very easily made the payments, didn't try to work with the mortgage lender and "walked away" because it made more financial sense to them than continuing to pay a mortgage for a home that was completely underwater. We tried for over a year to work with Wachovia going through two modifications that did not work out. We did NOT simply walk away from the home and our obligations. Now, we are not going to make any improvements on the home but rather leave it exactly as is. Nor will it be spotless inside and out, but as long as we are given enough time to move everything out then we will leave it completely empty, "swept", and wiped down. Hopefully I am just being overly sensitive to the connotation of "if you simply walked away". If so, then I apologize but these kind of financial issues tend to damage ones pride and we tried to work with all of our lenders with very little to no help or patience from them.

I can report that we were there again tonight, moving more stuff out, and there is still no sign of a note on the property. If I can get the rest finished this weekend they can change the locks anytime after that.

[BananaCabana]

I would look it up. It seems to me that I read, recently on a post, that the owner (technically you) still receives the bill for anything the city has to take care of. You could also check with the city I suppose and see what they normally do.

I tend to agree with your statement. I also read that somewhere on this board....that as long as your name is on the title and the property has not yet switched hands then you, as the owner, are the one responsible for any charges to your property.

I will need to call the city to find out for sure. I do know that different counties handle this a little differently. Thanks for the reply!

[discouraged]

I also wonder what the Wachovia agent was talking about. Hopefully a Florida person will jump in. I know here, one of our neighbors had a foreclosure notice on their door. They were so great - held their heads high and used the other door. I plan on doing the same if it happens to me because I'm not leaving until I absolutely have to!

[Pandora]

It's not abandonment when you visit the property several times a week, keeping the yard mown, the electricity on and moving things out. We aren't sleeping there but we are still very active with the property. I am also not sure what you mean by "if I simply walked away" and I am a little offended by it. When you say someone walked away from their property you usually mean that that someone could have very easily made the payments, didn't try to work with the mortgage lender and "walked away" because it made more financial sense to them than continuing to pay a mortgage for a home that was completely underwater. We tried for over a year to work with Wachovia going through two modifications that did not work out. We did NOT simply walk away from the home and our obligations. Now, we are not going to make any improvements on the home but rather leave it exactly as is. Nor will it be spotless inside and out, but as long as we are given enough time to move everything out then we will leave it completely empty, "swept", and wiped down. Hopefully I am just being overly sensitive to the connotation of "if you simply walked away". If so, then I apologize but these kind of financial issues tend to damage ones pride and we tried to work with all of our lenders with very little to no help or patience from them.

I can report that we were there again tonight, moving more stuff out, and there is still no sign of a note on the property. If I can get the rest finished this weekend they can change the locks anytime after that.

Yes, you were being overly sensitive and misinterpreted what I wrote No harm, no foul - I was merely stating the the LENDER may perceive it as abandonment - not ME personally. Based on what you wrote, questions you posed (i.e. "will they change the locks? etc) and what was relayed from the property inspector by your neighbor, I just wanted you to be aware that its possible they could simply change the locks at any point in time, at which point all property left inside becomes the banks.

I could care less if people did a strategic default, declared BK or simply walked away - the banks deserve everything they're getting IMO.

Try not to get so stressed out with all of this and remember that the written text is hard to interpret sometimes while behind a computer screen

Have a good day!

[BananaCabana]

Yes, you were being overly sensitive and misinterpreted what I wrote No harm, no foul - I was merely stating the the LENDER may perceive it as abandonment - not ME personally. Based on what you wrote, questions you posed (i.e. "will they change the locks? etc) and what was relayed from the property inspector by your neighbor, I just wanted you to be aware that its possible they could simply change the locks at any point in time, at which point all property left inside becomes the banks.

I could care less if people did a strategic default, declared BK or simply walked away - the banks deserve everything they're getting IMO.

Try not to get so stressed out with all of this and remember that the written text is hard to interpret sometimes while behind a computer screen

Have a good day!

Yep, this whole thing tends to cause some stress. And I have always been one to be WAY overly sensitive. Sorry and thanks for explaining. Besides, we finished moving everything out this weekend and all that is left now is trash and recycleables. They can lock us out anytime if they want to take care of that themselves. As long as we are able to get in, I will continue to take care of putting what I can down by the curb each week. As soon as they lock us out they can deal with it on their own. Bwah haaa haaa! Now I just have to decide when to shut off the electricity. It is helpful to open the garage door but not neccessary as I could leave the bins outside instead. Yes, I really should just shut it off now.

Thanks for everyone's input. If nothing else, this Wachovia episode got a fire lit under me and I got something finished that I had been putting off.

[Pandora]

Yep, this whole thing tends to cause some stress. And I have always been one to be WAY overly sensitive. Sorry and thanks for explaining.

No apologies necessary - I know how stressful it all is Glad you got everything moved out - one less headache/worry for you!