All Forum Posts by: Dion DePaoli

A good alternative is look up a state approved mortgage school and go get a license. Then find a season mortgage licensee to help you.

Just a thought...

It doesn't sound like you were the owner of said home to officially offer the work to begin with. You as a consumer have a right to change your mind, no work was done and thus no damage occurred for the painter to file against. I think he was bluffing, there is no real basis to go after.

IT MATTERS!!

Joe O is right and has a best practice. As a REO seller I do not just look at the lien, I look at everything about you the buyer. Your escrow amount offered, your inspection days and any and all other parameters. I go with the strongest offer. Bottom line, show me your serious by putting your money where your mouth is and be ready to move forward efficiently and quickly. You can structure aggressive offers but still favor your own protection like Joe said with minimal offers and then up the EMD. The more you show me you know how to work through the deal the more inclined I am to deal with you. Don't assume the REO owner has no idea of how this all works, in all likeliness they have moved much more property than you.

Secondly, your money is not "up" or posted until an offer is counter signed by the seller. So Joe's money is not posted at all but it shows me he is ready to go and serious. All I see when the offer comes over is a copy of your check and if both Joe and J Scott's offers come over at the same time, Joe wins. Giving your agent or an escrow agent a check is not the same as posting the funds in consideration to the contract. If I think you are a lite weight or will play games I will ask for an increase EMD and will decrease your inspection time. Your EMD is at jeopardy when your inspection is over, trust me I know this. If we step past the cancellation period I will do what I can to make it hurt if you walk away or play games.

In this market buyers are not hard to find, good buyers are hard to find. There is a difference.

In Illinois there is absolutely a redemption period. Not sure who told you that but not correct.

It is more of a cosmetic thing and a make you feel good sort of idea opposed to something that has real legal merit. In the event of the short sale the property is being conveyed in full by the homeowner to you the buyer just like any other sale. When they sign their name they grant you legal ownership and possession of the property. Just like any other sale. The fact that the bank is getting "shorted" does not effect the net effect of conveyance.

In many cases the homeowner (borrower) has signed documents which attest to them leaving the property as a condition to the bank accepting the short amount of funds as full payment. Additionally the bank requires the borrower convey a warranty deed and clear and marketable title to you the new buyer. All of this stems from the lender trying to avoid their own liability on the property and serves as a good layer of protection for you.

As a tactic you can always ask when the borrower is moving out and don't close if they have property in the home. Additionally, you can ask your title company or attorney to collect the keys as they too have a responsibility to pass possession to you.

Someone staying in your house can be done by anyone short sale or not. Short sales are not different from any other sort of sale of property even though they tend to garner some mystery about them as far as a buyer goes.

Chis is correct.

A bankruptcy filing by a borrower prior to FCL can "stay" the sale. The borrower can then file with the court to "vacate" the sale but this has to be ordered by the judge. Nothing is ever cancelled.

In the event the sale is vacated by the judge the property rescinds back to the borrower and the foreclosing party has to revisit their legal action which sometimes ends up being very timely delays. In that event the process of FCL sale would take place all over again and you would be returned your monies and you are not the legal owner by way of the court order.

In the event the borrower files for the bankruptcy and the sale has taken place, as you describe. As far as process goes you are the "legal" owner of the property. But you do not have possession of the property. What has happened is called an "Automatic Stay". In that event the tenant can not be served in eviction. You will want to make yourself known to the bankruptcy court and file for a "Relief of Stay", that is relieve you of the order of stay from the court. This does not take all that long and you can get the stay "Lifted" faster sometimes if property is in poor care.

In most cases now a days the BK file is a counter to the foreclosure filing. If you legally filed the eviction they will comply with the law regarding notice, etc. Typically a bankruptcy filing is not the correct legal argument to revoke the sale of a foreclosed property and the borrower is just late with his defense or I suppose he just really needs to file for BK.

Depending on what your intention is with your property you can contact the court and perhaps offer to rent/lease the property to the borrower upon the execution of your lease agreement. This can be beneficial to you as the court controls the payment albeit the tenant has to pay into the bankruptcy program so the court has money to pay you. It never hurts to know how to warm up to the trustee and look more like a solution opposed to a problem new owner who is just driving the eviction bus.

The "homeowner" has a right to redeem not convey. In the event an offer was made the homeowner post FCL auction does not have legal right over title any longer, you do. So the homeowner would not be able to sell the property. Redemption is the process of the borrower regaining their legal right to the property, during the redemption period the borrower has a equitable right to the property.

Possession of real property is also different. Possession falls under the equitable rights of a borrower or tenant not legal rights. A new owner can have legal ownership but not have possession of the property ergo the need for a Writ of Possession. Even in states with no redemption there is delays with the process of taking back possession of property as equity is really equality or fairness and the courts allow reasonable time which varies from state to state to grant the "fairness" part of the equation.

The selection of a title company is governed by local law typically county specific. Many REO owners will offer to pay for title services to regain the right to dictate the use of a title company they are familiar with. So first check what is your local rules on the same.

When you submit your offer make a formal statement of the use of a company you think will do a good job. This may require you to pay for your own title insurance or if the choice is the Seller's you may want to offer to pay.

Also, there is no requirement for you to order survey or other third party services through the title company. You are free to do this yourself, instead of asking them to do it in a letter, send a letter that says you will do it and do not want to be liable for them ordering the service. This puts the control back in your hand and ensures it is done.

In my experience you have to be involved, even if you have a favorite title company as no one will care more about your closing than you. From time to time, I will ask for copies of their abstract and ensure we have crystal clear understandings of who is clearing a lean and when and then follow up.

Typically the assumption fee is around 1.0% of balance. The lender will reserve the right to underwrite you as the new borrower (the property is already approved). You will have to provide the similar recourse as the borrower provided but could be stipulated by the underwriter to provide additional depending on the the nature of the loan.

The current owner can put you in touch with the bank and they will supply you with the paperwork and list of documents you will need to supply. The lender may ask for additional equity injection, security or alike from both you and the old borrower depending on how strong the property is in today's market.

Chris,

Jon's response is spot on. New York is judicial foreclosure. Your total legal balance will be submitted to a court and ran through the court referee to ensure the court agrees. All of what he said about your rights are correct but you may have one other strategy, that I truly love to pull out.

The commercial loan should consist of a Mortgage and Assignment of Leases and Rents. Tell your current foreclosure attorney you want to enforce the Assignment and ask the court to insert a receiver. In New York this is "Ex parte" which essentially means you can request the court and the borrower can not defend against it.

The court will assign a receiver, court appointed. The receiver will enter the property with the purpose of taking property preservation and payment of property expenses and creditors. Once this is done, the receiver has full court power of the property, he can eject the borrower, amend rents, pay bills, etc. The receiver acts as an independent third party and reports only to the court.

This will get the borrower's attention. If the borrower gets lippy with the receiver, they have the power to sell the asset at a price, the receiver determines is fair and just.

If you don't have this specific security instrument, look at the language in the body of your mortgage, even residential mortgages have language to the same effect.

Good luck!