Is this a scam? "Independent Review Administrator" ????

[KevFinnerty]

My house is in foreclosure. A judgement was awarded to the bank months ago. The sheriff sale has still not been scheduled. Some weird things happened with the foreclosure & my BK but that is a long story.


Here's my question - I get weird spam type bankruptcy, credit, etc, mailings that are b.s. scams but just got something that could be for real and want to know if anyone has ever heard of this.

I got a letter from something called "Independent Review Administrator", in "Fairbault MN". It claims to be some kind of foreclosure review process that can be applied for to look for problems with my foreclosure

It lists my name, address, bank that issued my mortgage, my loan number. Includes a questionnaire regarding the foreclosure & bk etc. Looks pretty professional/official.

They have a website with info here:

http://independentforeclosurereview.com/

http://independentforeclosurereview.com/faq.aspx

What do you people think? Does this look real? Could I have anything to lose by applying for a review by them?

Perhaps at the very least they could look into the judgment figures and verify if the bank has inflated anything. Also there was a weird thing where the bank went ahead and got their judgment against me while I was in BK BEFORE the trustee abandoned my house as an asset (it was only after that happened that then the trustee quickly abandoned the asset and dismissed my case - when I believe the timeline should have been the other way around)....

[HHM]

Most likely a scam.

[debee]

Independent Foreclosure Review is the real deal. They just rolled it out on the 1st.

You can google the phrase "independent foreclosure review" to read news & reviews. You can read the US Dept of Treasury's blurb here.

[KevFinnerty]

Independent Foreclosure Review is the real deal. They just rolled it out on the 1st.

You can google the phrase "independent foreclosure review" to read news & reviews. You can read the US Dept of Treasury's blurb here.

Thanks. It looked real to me but I wasn't sure. I don't know if they can help me in any way but I am tempted to apply, as long as doing that doesn't hurt me somehow that I don't understand yet....

[debee]

Since it's so new, there's not much known. I read a little on the topic before posting earlier and I couldn't see a potential downside. I can't see any downside for you.

[keepsmiling]

Hey Kev,
Did your case ever finally close?
Did you try to sell?
Good luck. Hope things will look brighter for you soon.

[MD69107]

I just got the same thing in the mail..............I guess I'll hold on to it for a while and see if any info pops up (good or bad)

[debee]

The only way I can see these reviews playing into bankruptcy at all is in terms of "property of the estate". If someone has a right to income generated by one of the reviews at time of filing, it needs to be listed and hopefully exempted.

Whether anyone actually receives any money as a result of these reviews is yet to be seen. I think it's worth filing the form and making the lender jump through a few hoops. There's certainly nothing to lose by doing it.

In OP's case, possibly something to gain. If errors were made that can reduce the lender's right to proceeds from the sale, he stands a better chance of recovering some of his equity.

[KevFinnerty]

Hey Kev,
Did your case ever finally close?
Did you try to sell?
Good luck. Hope things will look brighter for you soon.

Thanks.

Yes, my BK case closed. The trustee abandoned my only asset (the house) and filed that he was done with me. The judge then closed my case.

I put the house on the market as quickly as I could after that (about 2-3 months ago). I've not had any offers, and practically no showings either. I'm still here, awaiting the sheriff sale/eviction. In the meantime I was finally able to get a (crap) temp job in order to hang on further and although I am very much struggling I'm still here.


There was definitely something strange about the way things happened with my bk & foreclosure, and I'm wondering if this is even kosher, maybe this new review board can look into this at least. That is, about 7 months after the trustee declared me an asset case (and subsequently nothing happened), the bank did some kind of refiling (??) of my foreclosure case and asked for a judgment of an increased amount over their original filing from last year, and they then "got" their judgment (since I did not respond, didn't understand how nor did I see how responding would even matter anyways other delaying things further).

Then like less than a week after the bank got their judgment all of a sudden the trustee awakened and filed a report indicating that he had decided that it was not worth him selling my house & that he intended to abandon the asset & close the case, which he then did a few days after that. Just kind of seemed to me it should have worked in reverse (the trustee makes his determination, abandons the asset, closes the case, THEN the bank can continue & get their judgment, not the other way around). But it probably doesn't make any difference.

[KevFinnerty]

The only way I can see these reviews playing into bankruptcy at all is in terms of "property of the estate". If someone has a right to income generated by one of the reviews at time of filing, it needs to be listed and hopefully exempted.

Whether anyone actually receives any money as a result of these reviews is yet to be seen. I think it's worth filing the form and making the lender jump through a few hoops. There's certainly nothing to lose by doing it.

In OP's case, possibly something to gain. If errors were made that can reduce the lender's right to proceeds from the sale, he stands a better chance of recovering some of his equity.

Thanks for your replies.

I guess perhaps the only way this could hurt me is if my filing wakes up the bank & they file the papers for the sheriff sale. For some unknown reason, even though they got their judgment back in around August, they have yet to file with the sheriff's office, and at this point that pushes the possible sale date for my house back to like February or March of next year at the earliest (thus giving me more time to try to sell it or get some kind of miracle job/windfall to save it).




Can I ask a related but off track question? Take for granted that the bank currently have a judgment against me/my house and that that judgment is correct. As I understand it I have up until 1 hour before a sheriff sale to come up with that amount of $, and if I can do that I can "buy" my house free & clear from the bank for that amount.

Yet if that is true, then how come if I were to SELL my house, I have to give the bank like $5000-10,000 MORE than that judgment amount at the time of sale, in what in real estate jargon is called a "buy out" or "pay out" figure, which is a moving target that the bank keeps adding onto every month as it continually applies interest to my loan. My realtor asked me to get the buy out amount from the bank & I was shocked to learn that it is higher than my judgment. Although I understand how that buy out amount would like that work for normally selling your house, why in the case of a foreclosure when the bank's court granted figure is already decided can they demand more from you in a sale than if you just gave them the $ yourself???? I must be missing something here.

[debee]

why in the case of a foreclosure when the bank's court granted figure is already decided can they demand more from you in a sale than if you just gave them the $ yourself????

I dunno, Kev. The only reasonable explanation that I can think of is that they're greedy ba$tard$.

[KevFinnerty]

I dunno, Kev. The only reasonable explanation that I can think of is that they're greedy ba$tard$.

I wish I knew an attorney that dealt in real estate/foreclosures that can answer this. For all I know there may be some kind of motion/filing/protest/appeal that I could do to make the judgment figure also be the "buy out" figure. Or not.

[flaguy]

because they can.............believe it or not Judges all the time cross out fees and charges that banks try to get tacked on.........if you try to sell your house that's up to the bank to decide what they want........if they foreclose it they have to follow the judge

[KevFinnerty]

because they can.............believe it or not Judges all the time cross out fees and charges that banks try to get tacked on.........if you try to sell your house that's up to the bank to decide what they want........if they foreclose it they have to follow the judge

Thanks. I guess that makes sense.

I know this is a longshot, and have no idea how this would work, but if I sell the house I wonder if there is some way I can take that payment and pay off my judgment, then take the title, THEN turn the house over to the buyer. Therefore not allowing the bank to receive it as a "payout/buyout" at all, but rather a payback of the judgment, thus removing their claim to the property (???).

[shark66]

I doubt that your concept would work...but am mainly responding to give my two cents on a couple of other things that might be of your concern...

a) Apart from a couple of select areas, PA real estate market is a dump, and the banks know it....hence

b) If your bank is one of TBTF outfits, they might sit on that judgment three days short of forever, not wanting another house that they'd have to sell at a loss. If you're dealing with a small local bank, someone in charge has forgotten about you, which is pretty darn rare and you should count your blessings.

If it were me, I'd just lay down low under the radar unless I had significant equity in the house...

Good luck to us all.