Foreclosure, Deficiency, Taxes in Wisconsin

[jefferino]

I was at my foreclosure auction this morning and had a few questions:

1. My mortgage statement says that the balance outstanding is about $175K but the attorney for the Plaintiff, Nationstar, only bid $155K. Why is that? There were no other bidders and I guess the house is now an REO and the bank owns it. But why would they bid less?

2. Since they bid less, will they come after me for the deficiency? I am getting conflicting answers elsewhere and was told that the Mortgage Relief Act prohibited banks from getting any kind of deficiency judgment against me. Is that true? Does it expire at the end of this year or was it extended?

3. How long typically does it take for the bank to evict me now? What kind of timeline can I expect in Wisconsin? Some say 3 months. Others say about 3 weeks.

I will be visiting with an attorney later on this week but I thought I would try here first. Other than that, my credit score is in the tank but now I am debt-free! I hope that I don't have to pay a deficiency but I will be in a much better position now that I am out from under this house!

Thanks for the responses!

[LadyInTheRed]

Did you file BK and was the mortgage discharged? If so, they can't come after you for a deficiency.

If the mortgage was not discharged in BK, then whether they can go after you for a deficiency depends on your state laws.

The Federal Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act provides that if debt is foregiven on a mortgage for your principal residence, the forgiven debt is not taxable income. It expires at the end of this year. It has nothing to do with whether the lender can persue you for a deficiency after foreclosure.