10 years rent-free?

[drowning123]

Stopped paying in April of 2010. Received notice of default from bank in June (I think) of 2011. Have heard nothing since. Predator law firm handling my foreclosure got shut down by the government. 6 months later (maybe) I received a letter from new law firm handling case. They had my parents as defendants. My parents have no ownership in the property. I wrote the new law firm telling them to remove my parents as defendants, re-file their motions and send me proof of my parents' signature on the mortgage papers. To date, I've heard nothing from this new law firm. I figure maybe I have another 10 years in this house rent-free? Opinions, please.

[keepsmiling]

Awesome if it works out for you, but how do you figure that long?

[drowning123]

That's just a figure I made up. At the rate this is going, who knows. If I can get 3 years out of it, I'd be happy. I would have saved enough for my kid's college education.

[DeadManCrawling]

Three years is more likely than ten, but nothing is impossible.

Every so often, I see a news story about a couple in South Florida. I believe they are on year 15 of rent-free, and no sign of it ending. It would be nice if we could calculate it accurately, to better plan. For the debtor, anyway.

[cory1848]

I just passed 2.5 years rent free. Think I will be able to make the 3 year mark myself.

[BKOnce]

Introducing the "Ritters" family.. living 5-year rent free on $1.29 million home in MD....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-million-dollar-mortgage-goes-unpaid-for-years-while-couple-fights-foreclosure/2012/03/01/gIQAb4DBpR_story.html

Do we have a winner yet..??

[davetedge]

I'm in NY too. So far its been 3 years since I stopped paying, with the Lis Pendens filed in March 2010. From what a clerk told me at the settlement conference, when they do get around to filing the Foreclosure Action (which is the next step after I ended the negotiations), it will be 3 years from that point. Things may change, but for now I'm using this generous window to take a deep breath and get my life back together.

The bank's attorneys were pushing a short sale on me but I realized it was a bad idea, especially with the other lien holders making it a complicated negotiation between the bank, the buyer, all of the interested parties and me in the middle of it all. It would have been high stress and of no benefit for me.

If you've already received the Lis Pendens, make sure to attend whatever court appearances are required. Otherwise you'll get a default judgement which might speed up the process.

[drowning123]

Will do dave, thanks.

[AZNoName]

I only got 10 months between last payment to date of auction. I hoped BK would slow it down, but no such luck. Apparently GreenTree is on the ball!

[DeadManCrawling]

A close friend is a GreenTree foreclosure Realtor. They move VERY fast, generally. The reason is: Most of the GreenTree homes are mobile homes and they are subject to a much quicker depreciation than homes built on foundation. There are many reasons for this, one of which is increased wear and tear and generally speaking, mobiles are not built to last in the same ways. Exceptions exist, I imagine.

In any case, a typical GreenTree mobile deteriorates quickly, so they move as fast as possible.

I believe GreenTree was recently acquired by Jim Walter homes, so there may be some changes coming, but this is my recent experience with my friend, on the front line with that lender.

[AZNoName]

A close friend is a GreenTree foreclosure Realtor. They move VERY fast, generally.

Yep, our house isn't a mobile home, but it's moved to Countrywide to BofA to Greentree over the past few years, so it's definately on the 'high risk' list!!

[MikeW]

Yep, our house isn't a mobile home, but it's moved to Countrywide to BofA to Greentree over the past few years, so it's definately on the 'high risk' list!!

Same here. Countrywide to BofA to Greentree. They must be psychic. As soon as I had my first passing thought about not paying the mortgage, that's when GT took over.