Approximately 2 1/2 years ago, I paid off a second and third deed of trust in foreclosure on a property in Alaska. There was still a first mortgage with Wells Fargo. The trustee provided me with a Trustees Deed that said I own it and it is held in the name of my LLC. I contacted the woman who was on the first mortgage and asked for the information monthly regarding principal, interest, escrow, payments, etc. and told her that I would like to take over the loan, as I thought it was possible to do. She was furious that someone had bought it other than her mother. I explained to her that the foreclosure was public knowledge and showed her the Trustees Deed proving that I own the property. She has never cooperated with me and has done everything possible to make it difficult. I contacted Wells Fargo and asked if I could assume the loan or be assigned the loan or something and they said no. I was not a family member, no one had died for me to inherit it, so the answer was no.
Shortly after I bought the property through foreclosure, the Wells Fargo loan was assigned to a servicing company, which I did receive some brief information about from the woman on the loan. I called them frequently to ask about principal, interest, escrows , and of course they refused to give me any information. All I can say is that persistence and the number of Foreclosures happening in Alaska apparently changed the mind of one of the supervisors. I am still not able to assume the loan, but I provided them with all the documents, proving my ownership and she ( the servicing supervisor.) agreed to put me on as a “lien interest” in the notes on the mortgage. In theory, this will allow me to call and get all of the information that I need for tax purposes, and to check on the payments that have been made. They will not mail or email me any statements. I will not receive year end statements., But I can at least get loan balances and the pertinent information that I need. I will say that it wasn’t until I asked to speak to a supervisor that I finally got this permission.
My “subject to“ loan is 3 - 3/4 % so I am not interested in doing a refinance now. I believe that part of the reason the supervisor agreed to this was she was able to look back at the time that I have owned it and saw that my payments have been on time every month, and I would imagine they checked my credit, which is quite good.
My advice to anyone else who might be dealing with a “subject to” transaction is that it’s likely to be very difficult. For this particular piece of property, I would do it again. The woman who is still on the loan lives next door to my property, and for the last 2 1/2 years has pestered my tenants telling them that I “stole“ the property, and that it really wasn’t mine. I’ve asked her to stop doing this, however, she continues to be a nuisance to the tenants. So my answer to that is to prepare new tenants each time, for the likelihood that they will hear this story from her. I assure them that I do own the property and they have nothing to worry about.
