Bank Representatives Entering Home Illegally?

[BarbaraL]

My sister and I had purchased a home in North Carolina. Due to many factors, we moved to Texas in late Oct 2007. The last mortgage payment we made was the Oct 2007 one. Through many conversations with our mortage lender, we offered to sign the home back over to them in lieu of foreclosure, but they refused, saying we had guidelines to follow first (listing and trying to sell the place for at least four months, etc.).

We received a letter this month, advising us that we had until Feb 6 to make the account current or they would accelerate the note, leading to foreclosure.

I talked to an old neighbor of our's in NC today, and he said "some bank-type or realtor-type" looking people have been IN the home on at least two separate occasions over the past month.

NO ONE has keys to the home other than myself and my sister (we had the locks changed).

We are both filing BK within the next two or three weeks, and had intended on giving up this home anyway. So, although I guess technically it really shouldn't matter, if this turns out to be bank reps, and they would have had to have broken into the home, is this legal?? Is there something we should do??

[phoenyx]

My sister and I had purchased a home in North Carolina. Due to many factors, we moved to Texas in late Oct 2007. The last mortgage payment we made was the Oct 2007 one. Through many conversations with our mortage lender, we offered to sign the home back over to them in lieu of foreclosure, but they refused, saying we had guidelines to follow first (listing and trying to sell the place for at least four months, etc.).

We received a letter this month, advising us that we had until Feb 6 to make the account current or they would accelerate the note, leading to foreclosure.

I talked to an old neighbor of our's in NC today, and he said "some bank-type or realtor-type" looking people have been IN the home on at least two separate occasions over the past month.

NO ONE has keys to the home other than myself and my sister (we had the locks changed).

We are both filing BK within the next two or three weeks, and had intended on giving up this home anyway. So, although I guess technically it really shouldn't matter, if this turns out to be bank reps, and they would have had to have broken into the home, is this legal?? Is there something we should do??

If you're filing BK within the next two to three weeks, I'd talk to the attorney that you're filing through. If you're not using an attorney, at least contact a few for initial consultations - many will do the initial consult for free.

Explain to the attorney what's happened. I don't know the legalities of what happened at your NC home, but I'd definately persue it as long as it wasn't costing me money until I ran into a dead end. I'd see if an attorney thought it helped my case. If they thought it would, I'd definately contact the NC police department about a breaking and entering. The attorney might know something I don't, and say they might have the right to be in there. I don't know.

The other problem you run into is positively being able to identify who was in there, unless they admit it somehow.


I had a somewhat related situation which let me out of tons of debt. My Corporation was leasing a commercial space. It became quite late on its rent, adding up to about $30,000 -- which was about 11 months of payments. I was on decent terms with the landlord, and we were trading goods and making some payments, but the balance kept growing. I was stringing them along as much as possible thinking things would get better.

When it hit the $30,000 mark, totaling about 11 months of rent, and we hadn't been able to trade goods or make payments recently, they went for eviction.

They won a default judgment for the eviction. However, they decided to enter the premises a week before the court's ordered date for us to be out by. They even took some inventory and the personal computer I used for the company's accounting and taxes.

It was the landlord's attorney's son who was handling the property mainly, and he was the one that went in and took things. First, he wasn't allowed to be in there the days he went in. Second, removing property without a court order is considered a self-help eviction which is illegal.

The landlord's attorney offered me a settlement agreement, which I gladly signed, forgiving the company's entire $30,000 balance, without paying another dime, and in return I waived my right to sue the landlord for civil damages. My threat of criminal prosecution on his son for breaking and entering and larceny probably helped him decide to make a settlement offer.


I'm not saying you'll get money off your debt, I'm not saying you'll wipe out your balance. I'd be shocked if that happened. I was shocked by what I got out of my situation. All I'm saying is if talking to an attorney about it is free, and maybe the NC police department, why not? Nothing to lose.

[Flamingo]

My sister and I had purchased a home in North Carolina. Due to many factors, we moved to Texas in late Oct 2007. The last mortgage payment we made was the Oct 2007 one. Through many conversations with our mortage lender, we offered to sign the home back over to them in lieu of foreclosure, but they refused, saying we had guidelines to follow first (listing and trying to sell the place for at least four months, etc.).

We received a letter this month, advising us that we had until Feb 6 to make the account current or they would accelerate the note, leading to foreclosure.

I talked to an old neighbor of our's in NC today, and he said "some bank-type or realtor-type" looking people have been IN the home on at least two separate occasions over the past month.

NO ONE has keys to the home other than myself and my sister (we had the locks changed).

We are both filing BK within the next two or three weeks, and had intended on giving up this home anyway. So, although I guess technically it really shouldn't matter, if this turns out to be bank reps, and they would have had to have broken into the home, is this legal?? Is there something we should do??

If the house is still in your name with your possessions inside the home, and you did not give signed permission for anyone from the mortgagor or any realtor to enter the home, you had better get this investigated right away. Was your neighbor maybe exagerating and thought they were in the house when maybe they were outside and looking around the house? Banks, real estate folks or mortgagors just do not enter houses when you are not there unless they have the key and specified permission to be there at that time.

[BarbaraL]

Thanks all for your info. We have already retained an attorney for the BK, but I didn't talk to our old neighbor until after her "business hours" yesterday. I intend on contacting her today to run this by her.

The home is still in our name, and we had removed all of our personal property in late October when we moved. As I said, we had offered to sign the place back over to them and provide them with all keys, but they refused. So, no one had permission to enter. The neighbor also specified that they were inside; the first time there were two people, the second time there was the same two people plus two others. Unknown if there were other occurrences.

We don't expect anything monetary from this, even if they will admit they did it. It just seems so totally unnecessary for them to take these measures, especially since we have been straight with them since the beginning.

[needafreshstart]

I had something similar happen, we had our house listed with an agent to sell. A representative formt eh bank called the agent and told her to come take her lock box off they were changing the locks. This was before any foreclosure proceedings took place. What I was told if the bank thought the house was abandoned they have the right to protect their interest by going in and securing the property. As in my situation if you were still living there nothing would've happened. But if nobody's living there, then they can go in without any court order or permission.

[BarbaraL]

Thanks, that does make sense, in a way. We did tell them no one was living there, when we offered to sign it over and mail them the keys. We just couldn't see them spending extra money to go through a foreclosure or whatever, but I guess they are a large enough financial institution where it matters not to them! The BK will hopefully be filed soon enough to stop further action on their part, if it even makes a difference at this point.