Mortgage Company Trickery

[nioka]

I have read of several cases where the banks/mortgage companies use trickery to get the HO/tenant out of the house prior to taking possession. This is especially true where HOA fees are involved.

How does one know with certainty that a house has been taken possession of by a bank or new owner and is no longer in their name?

[tobee43]

check you county records for deed transfers. in my old county you just go to the county clerk site and you can look it up to see.

[LadyInTheRed]

Another option is to stay until you get an eviction notice from the new owner.

[justbroke]

I have not heard about this trickery. In fact, many banks that own delinquent properties in HOA areas seem to like it when homeowners stay and "maintain" the property. This way, the bank does not maintenance, pays no utilities (you need A/C or the place would rot in Florida), and keeps up the lawn. I don't see why I bank would need to do any tricks or how they would perform such a trick. (At least for Florida!) We have people that have been in their homes for 3+ years (not paying and) awaiting foreclosure with the banks not even moving a muscle or even attempting to foreclose.

As stated, you would always just check the county records if you are unsure who owns the home that you think you own. Besides, you don't lose your home unless and until the earlier of a.) a foreclosure sale occurs (which may still leave you temporarily with ownership in some States due to redemption laws), b.) you execute a deed in lieu of foreclosure, c.) you execute a Quit Claim (or other transfer), or d.) the deed has been otherwise transferred (foreclosure or other).

[nioka]

Justbroke,

I agree with your statements, however some bank/mortgage companies lead HO's to believe they are taking ownership when in fact they have no intention to do so. The HO moves on thinking they are free only to find they owe thousands in back taxes or delinquent HOA fees along with ridiculously high late fees, penalties, and attorney fees. I believe the term "trickery" applies.

As I am now aware of this I plan to wait for the eviction, As suggested in an above post, I will check the county records for a deed change before I move on.

http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=21782888

BTW, the HOA fees on this house are about $100 a month and the annual taxes are only $400 a year. Even tacking on the HO insurance of $700 makes staying here a sweet deal for me. That breaks down to a cost of $200 per month. If the bank waited years to take possession I could build a nice bank account while building my credit back.
I would like to move on but would not object to staying under those conditions.

[nioka]

I met with a third attorney today and I had a long discussion with the attorney's assistant.

I told her about what I read with banks/mortgage companies foreclosing and not taking possession. She told me that the mortgage company I have is very slow to react and it is sometimes a year or more before they hear from them.

When I spoke with the attorney he said that if I filed next month I would only have one HOA fee to list. He suggested that it is such a small amount that I should keep up the HOA payments current especially with this particular mortgage company. The monthly fee is only $100 so I think I will just keep it up until the bank or new owner takes over.
With my income protected they would have no way to collect a debt from unpaid HOA fees. However, after discharge future unpaid HOA fees would remain on my credit report.

[justbroke]

I just wanted to clarify something you wrote. Foreclosure sale is the final act after receiving a Judgement of Foreclosure. It is true that at times, the sale is postponed, but that -- the judgment of foreclosure -- does not change ownership at all. It just allows either a Trustee sale or Sheriffs sale (or whatever the process is for that particular jurisdiction and type of mortgage). I think the true problem is that they file foreclosure lawsuits, but never see them to judgment. In fact, Florida courts have dismissed thousands of cases in bulk (!) for lack of prosecution (as they call it).

Once the sale occurs, possession is imminent as it is only a matter of the clerk of the court (or the county recorder) recording the transfer of deed.

Sounds like Tennessee and your lender will be slow to process this anyhow. If you can actually save the money, it could be a nice chunk of change to have for either a rainy day fund, general/retirement savings, or for a down payment in 3 year (after foreclosure)!