Comments on: Should You Walk Away From a House and Mortgage?

By: Tom G

Tom G — Sun, 06 May 2012 03:53:45 +0000

WoW ..I cant believe all this. and now its me. Im a Pharmacist who has until Sept 08 made all the right moves. I paid my house off then refinanced to send my 4 daughters to school and get some things I choose for them to have like horses….This was good for them but a bad move for thier mother and I. We built our home in 1989 and spent 149000.00 on the construction loan..We owned the property. We have a home 2500 feet off the road with the horse barn, creeks, and pasture on the Chattahoochee River right below Lake lanier. Its a wonderful place to live. Long story made short …We inherited a house next door which we were renting out. It belonged to my mother and was what was left of a family farm. It was a very nice home, however, my mother had been terribly ill and had left alot of debt. Like I said we were renting the house out after putting a terrific amount of money into it to bring it up to date. Then our problems started. The house was broken into and all the copper wires and pipe was stolen out of the basement,as well as, other damage to the rest of house. The damage came to about 14000.00 according to appraisers. Well we had let the bank put insurance on the house because it was so muc cheaper than what we had through Travlers..we were still having the insurance escrowed and were paying for it. We filed an insurance claim and the Bank wrote us a letter saying there was only 500.00 of damage and they were closing the claim when in actuallity it was 14,000.00 and the Balboa company should repair it. To shorten this after 9 months the Bank (BOA) forclosed, both the bank and Insurance company had got weekly letters from me telling them the damage was more extensive and they need to fix it so we could rent it out and make payments. In some way at this time the insurance company was an affiliate of BOA, the bank. They had never even sent out an appraiser, I know because the house was located a thousand feet down a gated drive for which no one had ever asked me for access, and thier was no way to get in with out codes and keys. Well, there was alot of lies told me by the bank while I put up the tenants in a hotel for the house to be repaired. After all the renovations I had done, and paying off all my moms debt I didnt have the money, In addition, I had put the house up for sell before all this happened and a realator had an original offer and a short sell offer after all this damage. BOA ignored the Realators and never got back in touch. After 9 months the bank forclosed. They then went back and used my estimates to file an insurance claim on the house for which they were paid. This was afer foreclosing. Now at the sam time all this was going on we had been on a foreberance on our home. I had called to get off the foreberance (after aquiring a Pharmacist job at Krogers). I was given the amounts to catch up and I paid them thru a Publix Western Union Quick Pay. The next day the money showed on my accounts correctly, several weeks laeter they didnt show up anywhewre. I called BOA and aske thm what had happened to my payments and they told me they didnt know and they would need to research it. I spent he net months calling and finally they told me it had been in advertantly put in my bank account. Well I though to myself this will be easy Ill just go online and pay the money back. However, when I went to my bank account the money was not there. Then I gotr to thinking….I dont Bank with BOA and how would they know where my bank account was? I had paid these quick pays at publix with cash. Well we started on what amounted to a 24 month chase that has ended with me having to put 24000 dollars on the back of my loan and struggling to make payment….While we have a heloc that we were told that would be modified ater the 1st but hasnt been and it looks like were gonna end up having to put 7000 or so onto that loan and modify. Well, while all this is going on a Krogers locates 800 feet from the property along with several fast food chains, and chase bank. Then the County is going to condemn us for a road widening . Krogers agress to do the road widening up to about 500 feet from us. Now the county actting on behslf of the state and thru Morelad Antobeli associates comes out to purchase our land, put us upside down on our home. The draw lines taking our pasturse and with not set back off our barn, but around our barn and they want to leave us a house with a drive. Take our pastures and creek and not buy the barn they have made useless. This will make our private little horse far go from a value of approximatelt 1,000,000.00.00 to just a 30 year old home at 159,000.00. It wasnt long after Krogers started building that they started washing out my creeks and making the hores sick, which we had to move. When I got stop orders through the state against Krogers they fired me and said I had fraudulenlty filled out thier application. Which unemployment found to be alotta of Bull shit and awarded me un employment. I had never had an appraisal below 85. Well while were researching this we find out that a guy named Wienan had purchased the property for krogers. That he had secured a loan through an attorney group and it was recorded while he was in the hospital 2 weeks later. The loan cam out of Tarp money which supposedly if you listen to the news, they werent loaning this kind of money anymore out of TARP. John Wienen died 2 weeks later in the hospital. The attornet group behind all of this was womblye, carlisle, snyder ect…look up thats enough info. They done represent you or me, only the 1% and to get what they want. However they have 3 basic groups…..Land aquisition, Investments, and I think litigation. I wonder if this one giant firm is consulting and and driving this whole thing against us. This is too much to be coincidence…and I have left out alot of the hardships….but just so you know were gonna continue to fight like Hell……and Womble…..Chamberlain Hrdicka say you wont win…Not here in the South…..

By: Troy

Troy — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:07:07 +0000

Yea just try to stay in your house with the MPA, also contact your local goverment hud houseing they have counslors that are free they do not cost you money, and they can help you with MHA and your bank and guide you along the way in this tough house job market. I say this because I am there and this is how i got help, talking to just the bank and MHA was like pulling teeth. I think it’s best to have a houseing counslor on your side, but remember they the helpers hud coulnslors are free pay no one nothing.

By: Debra

Debra — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 02:55:04 +0000

Very well said and I agree 100%

By: natasa

natasa — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:10:36 +0000

Rick, every word you write makes a lot of sense. I am grateful there are people like you out there!

By: natasa

natasa — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:07:09 +0000

Rick, you are awesome

By: Lynn W

Lynn W — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 02:05:07 +0000

Should you do bankruptcy or just walk away? Will I be hit with a tax form at the end of the year if we just walk away? We can’t afford our home and never will be able to. Plus we owe 154,000.00 and we could only get maybe 70,000.00 if that. So bankruptcy or walk away our credit is in BAD shape which one will make it even worse?

By: Judy

Judy — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 02:32:22 +0000

I can make the payments and my interest rate is low but I am not paying on the principal because it is a rotten interest only mortgage recommended by my former realtor who is about to get a very nasty letter. from me siince she recommended this financial guy and was in cahoots in taking advantage of me. But still, I don’t really want to ruin my credit and I have to live somewhere. I would like to move to a warmer climate since I am older now and can’t stand the snow and cold here.

By: Judy

Judy — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 02:22:02 +0000

upside down. I owe more than it is currently worth with a difference of about 20,000 now.

By: tw

tw — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:08:03 +0000

1st off i woild like to say that i have been in my home for 8 years. Up until last year i have not had any problems until now. My 1st problem is that my house is worth 30,000 but i owe 112,000 on the loan. i can affford to pay the morgage but the neighborhood has taken a beaten and people keep breaking into my house!(2nd problem) this is my 3rd break in! They even went as far as cutting a hole into my floor! I dont know what to do i have and alerm system but they seems to get around it everytime. they even stole my a.c system. THIS IS REALLY BAD. my family is scared to live here considering how offten they keep comming back. I replace it they find a way to take it. Im ready to walk! LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND ME! Im wondering if anybody else incountered this problem and can give me and insight on what is best…p.s my neighbors seems to hate me for some reason i have never done anything to them!

By: Debra

Debra — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:32:07 +0000

I don’t think the counseling session will change anything, they will most likely just go over your options and agree with you that a foreclosure will be looming. unless these bankers adjust the loan to currant value in- which is unlikely” I think the only thing to do is walk!, you don’t have to take any of the options if you do not feel they will make a permanent cure-all we had a mod a year ago only to realize we are still in a horrible bind thus we have missed our fist payment I’m sure we will hear something in the next couple weeks….good luck.

By: Pam

Pam — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 19:00:16 +0000

Well, we are one payment behind on our mortgage and we received from the bank a Notice of Pre-foreclosure options…. So, we are to meet with a Housing counselor provided by hud I believe…. We are probably $75,000 upside down on our house. Do we have to accept any of the proposals at this meeting? We have already been denied a loan modification, so it is not like we have not tried to work with our bank, Flagstar.
We feel like we just want to walk away, can we do that if we attend this meeting to “”so call work out other options?” We thought we would just still remain in the house and save our payments of $l.063.00 per month and try to buy a mobile home in florida…. Any thoughts or has anyone done the counseling with a housing counselor?

By: Debra

Debra — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 01:55:40 +0000

We bought our home 6 years ago and paid 172,000 and put 36,000 down then we put an additional 45,000 with new roof, custom porch, concrete, custom kitchen and bath. we are 40% under water and have decided to walk OMG what a loss of money!… it is only worth about 85,000 and we owe 147,000 so we are walking and cutting the loss that will grieve us for years but why stay and throw away more money and continue to struggle in a beautiful home that we can no longer afford, we thought back when we put all that investment into we would down the road make money on it if we sold it….if the banks would modify to the currant market value then we could stay but that will not happen in a Fannie or Freddie back mortgage , thus I just made my last payment.

By: Debra

Debra — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 01:17:21 +0000

Sounds like you need to walk, there will be other homes down the road when the time is right, your credit will get better in a few years, remember there is no shame in doing whats important and makes the most sense, Good luck.

By: Debra

Debra — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 01:08:43 +0000

Please do what you have to do to live, it sounds like you need to walk, hell I say run! and take care of yourself and your mother we only have one mom and there will be other houses down the road nothing is worth all that pain, sometimes we all have to stop and look at the real situation and make the right choice at the right time. I am walking also after I have invested over 90,000 in my property who ever gets this home when I leave will reap all the work money and time that was done in vain as I too will be starting over and I am almost 60 years old….Good luck to you and God Bless. Remember there is no shame in doing the intelligent thing taking care of yourself and family is as good as it gets…also you can ask the bank for a deed in lue they will pay you for the deed and it is usually around 2500 that they give you and get a document stating that your loan was satisfied so they can’t come back later….good luck..

By: Debra

Debra — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 00:34:28 +0000

I agree all the way !!! sometimes some of us fall on bad luck, loss of income and bad choices, so why would anyone in their right mind stay in a struggling upside down mortgage unless you have more money than sense, the bankers have shown little to no remorse with realistic modifications all they had to do in most cases was modify to currant market value to all the true hardship (real) cases and this mess would not have grown to economic disaster which now has lead to massive foreclosures and upside down housing causing so many to start at the bottom all over again….bail out!!! hmmmm…all the greedy deals that were made from 2000 and up were so far fetched selling for crazy prices no wonder people are screwed. as far as Honor and responsibility do what you have to do to make it!…show respect to your family making a sound intelligent decision and learn a valuable lesson in life” there is no shame here.

By: Thnkr917

Thnkr917 — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 05:15:21 +0000

“horrible re-fi(my own fault)”……”lots of reasons why,but it could of been avoided” sounds like you are also one of those “lazy,financially unresponsible home owners”. Ever heard the expression “pot calling the kettle black”?
I’m sick of hearing all the slandering of “irresponsible homeowners”. Maybe some or a lot made bad choices (I’ll include myself), but no one thought the economy was just going to bottom out that far and that fast. Regular people didn’t expected that housing prices were going to drop and jobs were going to dry up overnight. There are the things that happen in life, like illness and death, but people couldn’t rebound from those life events because all of their resources were tied up in their houses and the rest of our economic mess that came crashing down on us all. Stop the blaming each other and show some compassion. Right now the main difference between the ones who still have their houses and the ones who don’t (whether they walked away or were forced to leave or sell) is simply in what kinds of resources they had to fall back on. I walked away and filed a bankruptcy to cover what I owed. I have crappy credit, but my stress is almost gone. As for finding a new place to live, don’t you think that renters know that more than half of the people wanting to rent right now have been through the same thing? So you pay two months rent for deposit instead of one, it still doesn’t add up to $70,000 upside down mortgage with 3 times a normal monthly payment.
I have NO loyalty to that mortgage contract you people are whining about. You would be the same people that would take your luggage onto the lifeboats when the Titanic sinks (no sense of what is really important or what is really happening for that matter).

By: so happy now

so happy now — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:43:26 +0000

I walked away in June of 2011 and am so relieved.i am still currently living in that home,and have recieved very few calls from my lender.My home is now worth 80-100k less than I owed on it,and after a horrible re-fi(my own fault),I went from a 1600$ payment to 2700$..lots of reasons why,but it could of been avoided.My credit will be shot,but I have saved 16,000$ in cash already.My spouse(who wasnt on my first house)will be buying our next home w/o me on it,and only needs 5% down because we have got her credit into the high 600′s.Im in Washington,and would like to thank all the democrats for catering to the lazy,financially unresponsible home owners.Thanks Obama! You democrats finally paid off!

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:27:39 +0000

My brother and his girlfriend are living together in a house she bought before they met. 4 years later they have two children, he (because of a degenerative eye disease) is not working and she is the sole income provider for the household. They recently found that their home is worth 20,000 less than what they owe on it PLUS they need to fix the bathroom (i.e. totally replace), replace foundation in the basement, get new windows etc. They have an option to move into my other brother’s house and pay rent for a few years until she inherits her mother’s house (she has been asked to take out a $40,000 loan to give each of her siblings $10,000 since she is inheriting the house) my brother could take out this loan (his name is not on the house loan.) After talking with this over with their lender they were told they cannot voluntarily forclose. They spoke with their realator who told them to put the house on the market and instead of making the necessary repairs paint the mold spots on the celing that have accumulated from the prolematic bathroom, staple rugs over areas of the carpeting that have shown ware and a few other recomendations that had me appalled. Is this common in the realestate business? Not to fix problems but just mask them? Is there some kind of “lemon law” for homes? Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you!

By: Lyle

Lyle — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:10:18 +0000

Relax!
I`m no lawyer, I can say you will have bad credit for 7 years or so, if you cannot make the payments it is maybe better you back away and if your young you will still have time in your life to get a home and go on and be happy. It is tough to letting your home go, if you cannot make the payments you do not have any other choice, well maybe you could starve and save it, then you would be in bad health or die, so you need to do what you have to to stay healthy. good luck.

By: Debra

Debra — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:40:45 +0000

I just missed my first payment I don’t know if I should call them yet or just wait for them to contact me…….I am a wreck!

By: scott

scott — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:31:53 +0000

im 41 single was making 40 000 a year ive lost my job in construction. i bought a cheap townhouse when things were good economy for 43000 put new roof, new heat ,new ac, new bathroom, new floors, new windows, after 10 years of never missing a payment at 6.5 percent nothing down fha loan i owe like 30000. the townhouses like mine in worse condition are just about all vacant in process of foreclosure. crime is moving in the area, people dont even want them for 10000 my moms health is going down fast i want to move in with her and take some minimum wage job or maybe 11 an hour and take care of her shes 63. she is disabled and in the modification program also. im thinking i dont want my mom miserable to die alone. it seems obvious to me take what furniture i have or want and move in her basement. lock the door and call b.o.a and tell them come get it!
i havent eaten but 1 meal a day for three weeks and have begun thinking about suicide. we both are underwater. together i could eat food though. please god someone help me, she cant take care of herself and i cant either

By: Gill_I_AM

Gill_I_AM — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:04:25 +0000

I bought my 92 year old house 6 years ago for $130,000. I was able to make the payment and pay the monthly bills comfortably. I planned on going in and fixing it up and being out in 5 years. I was young and naive. After tearing into the basement, I found that my foundation walls and support system were failing. My 40 year old furnace and 10 year old air conditioner were not energy efficent. Basically, I got hosed. 5 years later, I lost my job, had a baby and my boyfriend decided to travel for work just to make our $1100 a month payment. We have to put $30,000 into the basement just to make it safe for us. So now that my house is only worth $80,000, we can’t afford to put the work into it that it so despreatly needs. My boyfriend wants to walk away from it but I am too proud. It is ruining our relationship but I am so afraid of ruining my credit for life. Any suggestions??

By: NorseCode

NorseCode — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:13:01 +0000

Mine is another sad story. I am a single woman in my 60s and bought a little house 8 years ago after having rented it for 2 years. I’ve enjoyed it enormously. Up until November, upon my return from seeing kids/grandkids—–It had been raining while I was away and was very cold. On Monday evening, I decided to turn on the heat (gas furnace in crawl space). Well, it made a horrendous noise, so I immediately turned it off and looked up an HVAC repairman to come out the next day @ 2pm. That day, I went to unlock the crawl space prior to the tech coming out and found the whole place filled with water. No one could get in and my plastic storage bins were floating. So, I called the insurance company to come out the very next day. The adjuster said that it was surface water coming through the foundation vents and I said “no it is not and you can very clearly see that.” He was not happy with my response so he countered that he would send out an independent engineer for an assessment. I was away on business the next Wednesday when the engineer came to do his review. He called me and said that the foundation was crumbling (still no idea where the water is coming from because the city meter was not moving at all) and that I was in danger of the house collapsing with me in it. He stated that I must do something to correct the foundation problem as soon as possible. Well, like so many of you, I am upside down in the mortgage (50%). The foundation repair would cost 1/2 the mortgaged amount. Then on 2/1, I get a cancellation notice which will be effective 3/1. Okay, now I am in a home that may collapse at any moment plus I will not have any insurance in 3 weeks time. I conferred with family and they said “get out of that death trap and don’t put any more money into it.” This has literally made me sick. I am current on the mortgage and all my bills, so walking away is going to destroy my credit and is hurting my hyper-responsible nature. That being said, I went out and rented a little house this week and will not be staying in the dangerous house I own any more. Come March, no more payments will be made and the mortgage company will no doubt ruin me. Sad, but the danger became the issue, not making the payments on an upside-down mortgage. My life and my health were what motivated my action. How bad will it be when I am foreclosed? It is killing me and I loved my home. That is my sad story.

By: Barnebyte

Barnebyte — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:21:31 +0000

That is weird. In my country, there’s no such option as simply “walk away”. If you cannot pay your doubled mortgage, the bank will sell your house. They will sell it for the half of the actual price, and you will always owe them with the remaining amount. If you die, your child will complete the payment. Or your parents. Or your dog.
Sorry for my bad English, i’m not a native speaker.

By: RJ

RJ — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:07:27 +0000

My father was recently diagnosed with vascular dementia in addition to suffering a stroke a few months ago. He no longer can live in his house independently. I had to move him into an assisted living facility to address his medical needs. His house has a mortgage balance that is about $25,000 higher than the values of similar homes in his neighborhood so trying to sell it and making up the difference isn’t possible because his only income is his pension and social security. He has no assets and very limited savings. I’ve got to help him out in this situation because he isn’t able to do this for himself. He can’t afford the costs of assisted living as well as continuing to make mortgage payments which include real estate taxes and homeowner’s insurance premiums. Is the best option to let the bank foreclose on his house?

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:22:47 +0000

John,

The commitment was to pay or let the bank secure the property. Get over yourself. I am abiding by my signed contract.

By: Debra

Debra — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:19:18 +0000

Very well said!

By: Lyle

Lyle — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:04:31 +0000

Why don`t the banks refinance the people that have made thier payments? Yes we owe more than the house is worth, I just do not understand why they won`t lower your interest rate and help you save some money, but no! they say because your current on payments and you are not having any problems. Well! Then why don`t they refinance you before the problems start? The banks don`t want to help a person that is trying to make it and does have good credit and has always made thier payments, I feel we are the one`s they want to fail too just s they can have it all, so why should we try to pay for our home when we owe twice as much as it is worth, Save our money now and let them have our house too, some day they will come back and wish they would not have been so greaty.

By: Debra

Debra — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:15:17 +0000

You are so right….we had faith in them and lost all our investment of a life time….this is the worst feeling in the world, like a death as you leave all your money behind and all the work, hopes and dreams…..only to face the cold judgmental world because you did what anyone who has a brain would do to even attempt to re-build a life keep your enemys close!

By: Debra

Debra — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:07:46 +0000

Also…Has everyone heard yet ….The Government is going to take all the stressed empty homes and make them into rentals….what crap! no more American dream to own your home!….its a take over thats been long in the making….open your eyes people. great info on housewire.com.

By: Debra

Debra — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:02:28 +0000

I say RUN very fast indeed!!!! you are so right!

By: Debra

Debra — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:59:41 +0000

I agree 100%….It is a very hard decision VERY HARD! This was done with the best intent and being stuck in a 50,000 and up extra debt… and people are eating noodles to get by, there is no shame in walking out!….I am going to stop paying this month and start saving….the banks will not ever loan us money again, not after a bankruptcy and a forecloser….It is a choice for survival!

By: X Guy

X Guy — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 03:29:13 +0000

So many stories here… reading each make me feel very sad for all, yet at the same time I have come to acceptance of ‘walking’ with the help of some of the above comments. — My story – We paid $629,000 June 2007 when our first son was born because we wanted him to have a home for at least the next 18 years of his life :-( . Our home is now worth $355,000 per the last comp which is identical in sq footage to my unit (townhome). So, $274,000.00 less in value AND we put at least $50,000.00 bring the place from 1974 era as it had not been touched since new. So, $274,000.00 + $50,000.00 = $324,000.00! We put down $125,000.00 or 20%- “WE I DID THE RIGHT THING!” We decided to have my wife stay home until our child was 2 and then began looking for work. Has looked for 3 + years now and nothing above $30,000.00 offered. With the cost of babysitter, she would work for free. We worked for 12 months with Wells Fargo to get a modification only after paying a lump $5,000.00 payment to them back in 2010 did they allow a rate reduction that took off $400.00 for 3 years. After the recent SHORT SALE in my lovely complex, we have decided to call it quits. We will rent a modest condo in a good school district here in the Bay Area and she can remain a stay-at-home mommy which is for the ‘betterment’ of our child. We should have left during the modification negotiations with Wells Fargo (in which we sent the required docs in on 4 seperate occasions!) long ago and would have saved a ton of $ per:

http://youwalkaway.com/output24/InterectiveFlashCalculator.html

Word of advice – If you are 20% under now and are struggling to feed your kids or save $ for your family, and have done all you can to get a favorable loan with your lender, WALK AWAY and do not feel guilty about it. You are holding onto what is called a bad investment and the bank who owns your home can afford the loss. You can’t. Lesson learned and now I’m hoping to help someone else not to make the same mistake we have made by waiting.

By: Kristi

Kristi — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:47:47 +0000

[But I still believe that when you walk into that bank branch and ask for money, the expectation is that you will pay it back, not follow the winds of the real estate market.]

When you obtain a mortgage (the ask for money part) you are doing it with the house iteself as collateral. The deal is – you give me the house, I make payments until you are paid back, and if I don’t/can’t/won’t pay you back, you get to take the house back. As so many others have said, this is not an ETHICAL issue, it is a business decision and the banks are 100% NOT willing to play ball with consumers.

By: Lyle

Lyle — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:38:33 +0000

Here is one! Why should I keep paying on a home that is worth sixty percent of what we owe? I`m 62 and by the time we have it payed for I will be dead or close to it. We have tried to get cheaper interest, no deal thay say, (banks) we are current and have a credit score over 800 but as long as we have not fallen behind on paying they will not even try to help us out with lowering the interest. We have tried many different places for lower int. nothing doing they say, We have even ask if we could get a lower int. rate if we dropped it to fifteen years, they say no, Why should we be punished for being the people that are commited and have been paying out mortgage and still they don`t want to help us, for this reason I feel the bank can have the house, all they want is money money money, they can still make money if they would refinance people like us that have a higher interest rat and have great credit, but no thay want everyone to have bad credit.

By: Lyle

Lyle — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:22:39 +0000

WE did the same thing, I`m 62, Spent all my savings and still have a house that is worth only 70,000, (Not fancy here) We are just about ready to stop paying on it, Just is not worth staying here, would rather rent and have the same thing than have
maintaining this place.

By: Debra

Debra — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:11:56 +0000

I am getting ready to default as well, we put 36000 down in 05 and another 50,000 in the home remodeling it….I hate to leave my home I have all my money in it, but the facts are its only worth 90,000 and I owe 150,000….we are almost 60 years old we will be dead before its paid off…..property’s will not get better fast enough to warrant us staying….we have been living on saving until they are almost gone, so leaving seems to make the most since, just wondering what advice I can get.

By: LMH

LMH — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:21:58 +0000

Not sure when you wrote this or if the tax laws still allow this but if this was your primary residence you were allowed to exclude up to 250K income due to forgiveness of debt. If it was an investment home and you can prove insolvency (assets – debts < 0) on your taxes you are able to exclude the income. I had to do this numerous times as I lost 9 investiment homes when the market collapsed. The bank sends you a 1099 form. Give this to your tax preparer.

By: Mitchell Ball

Mitchell Ball — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:58:30 +0000

I walked away from my mortgage due to preditory lending. My house sold for 22,000 @ auction I owed 90,000 on the loan. They sent the 60 some thous.and dollar difference to the I.r.s as income now im supossed to pay income tax on that difference. Dont walk away you will not gey away with it. Has any one else found a way to get out of this trouble im in now ? Please help

By: Rosalind

Rosalind — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:40:48 +0000

Let me tell you, I left my house and the foundation was very bad the house is still in our name. The bank write off the house and the city is coming after us for property taxes. They have decided to garnish my wages. How do I get this house out if my name. It’s been 3 years. Help

By: Richard Cato

Richard Cato — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:26:20 +0000

Matt, you assume there is a willing buyer who will pay your asking price. Banks may be willing to work a short sale for a small percentage below the mortgage value but not 30% or more. The people who are having problems are 50% or more underwater, not a few thousand. If I am a buyer and you are selling short, why should I accept your initial offer? You are desperate and the market is distressed. I can name my own price. Short sales may work in a few special cases, but it just is not an option for most people who are in trouble. Same for refinancing.The bank is not going to take a loss until they absolutely have to.

By: Richard Cato

Richard Cato — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:14:45 +0000

Sorry, I meant Lmm, not Lyle

By: Richard Cato

Richard Cato — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:13:47 +0000

Think about this,Lyle.In the not too distant future your circumstances may require you to consider selling your house. Your house may still be underwater and you may have to sell at or below your original purchase price, meaning you would take a loss on all the money you poured into the house because you felt “obligated ” to pay your mortgage. Your decision to stay in the house would be a good one if the cost to move and pay for alternate housing was much higher. But,and here is the good part, what if you could have found similar housing for much less and not have spent thousands on an underwater mortgage? Would it have still been a good decision?

By: Richard Cato

Richard Cato — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:04:13 +0000

Buying a house should be,should be, strictly a business consideration. The bank looks at it that way, why shouldn’t you?True enough that there is an emotional component, but that emotional component needs to take a back seat in tough times. Most people will pay their mortgages as long as they have the funds and they feel it is a worth while investment. When you are underwater with no hope of recovery and you can find shelter for a lot less, why continue paying for a losing asset? Your house is an ASSET;treat it that way. The bank most certainly is. They care not a whit about your emotional ties. They only care about your willingness and ability to pay. The bank has the means to handle your “non-performing asset”(that’s what your underwater house is called)so don’t worry about the bank.

By: Lyle

Lyle — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:29:11 +0000

It would really help if we could at least get a lower interest rate, With a credit rating over 800 it is horrible not beable to get a lower interest loan, if we could get the going rate we could lower the interest rate over two points. We can`t becuase we owe to much, it makes us feel like they want everybody to fail

By: Lmm

Lmm — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:43:43 +0000

Lyle,
I’ve heard that too from some friends that were approved for a loan modification, they needed to get behind on payments and then take a chance that the bank would approve them for the modification, to me that is too risky to do, cause if the bank doesn’t approve it, then you could end up facing foreclosure. We personally are not willing to take that risk as to having too much invested in our house over the last 10 years. It’s just so unfortunate, the government should reduce everyone’s payments/balance across the board to reflect the housing economy. After all, it was the banks fault that everything got out of control in the first place, and again, the ones that make payments on time are the ones that get it socked to em!

By: Lyle

Lyle — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:04:48 +0000

Yes! They told us we do not qualify for that. We were told the company will not take anything less than what we owe because we are not late on payments.

By: Lmm

Lmm — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:25:35 +0000

Lyle,
have you tried a loan modification? I know of people that have done this and got their mortgage amounts greatly reduced due to their homes values decreasing. It messes their credit up for about 2 years and they cannot sell for 2 years, but, this would be worth checking into.

By: Lyle

Lyle — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:29:59 +0000

Stuck in Mn.

My wife bought the house we live in over six years ago before we got married, it is an FMHA loan, we owe $120,000 and I have been told it is maybe worth $75,000 at best, I have retired and my wife will be working a few more years, we would like to move to a warmed climate. We cannot refinace they tell us, do to the fact we owe way more compared to what it is now worth. It is a manufactured home, I feel if we stay here we will have nothing when we get it paid for do to the fact these manufactured homes are getting very hard to refinance, I think that is going to elimanate them down the road. We are not late on payments. Are we here for life or is there away out? Can someone tell us what we should do? Thank you

By: LMM

LMM — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 14:26:09 +0000

When we bought our house 10 years ago we paid 175,000 and within 4 years we sunk in another 50,000 adding another 2 story garage, made our driveway circular, 2 decks, finished basement yada yada yada, paid off our 50,000 equity loan 3 years ago and have never been late on payments, problem is now, the house is worth about 150,000 which is approx what our balance is on the mortgage and even though we continue to pay on our mortgage, we are the ones that have been screwed!!! while others around us now by their homes for 100,000 although their homes on the outside don’t have what ours have, we can’t sell cause we would lose our ass! so much for buying, adding to the value and selling at a profit… it’s the banks fault!!! All those interest free loans, no doc loans etc..etc..etc…I believe is what made us homeowners lose our butts and made them richer cause of all the money they made at closing on those homes… I think the banks need to pay or GREATLY reduce our mortgage… Why should we be in the hole because of banks all over the nation allowing these loans to go through. it’s not fair to the homeowners who still continue to pay on their mortgages while watching others around them get their homes for next to nothing!!!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated on what to do. Thanks