All Forum Posts by: Kevin Garabedian

Unique question but I remember in one of the episodes the guest mentioned they requested a list of water meters/addresses from the towns water department. This requested lists criteria targeted the meters in town that were not in use for 6 months or longer. This criteria basically guarantees the property was vacant and in return would be a potential lead. 

My question to anyone who has successfully acquired this list from a water department is.... How did you do it? I have asked several town water departments and have not had any luck so far. Is there a specific script or department within the water company that I should focus on?

Or maybe they do exist in the market you are looking in you just might need to change up how you search for them. 

Thanks Peter. I appreciate your insight. 

Joe, thanks for commenting. So... I have documents from the bank that date back to November of 2018. These are "90 Day Right to Cure" docs that the bank sent certified and first class mail to them. Then another piece of certified mail November 2019 that states "You are hereby notified of the intention of ABC Mortgage Services, LLC to foreclose by sale under the
power of sale contained in a certain mortgage". The bank eventually foreclosed on them and took ownership Feb 2020. So covid did not prevent them from originally missing their mortgage payments. However, yes, covid was just starting to kick off when they bank took ownership early 2020. 

I do not know if I can sue or put a lien on the house. I was hoping the BP community would comment with some creative options rather than point out "Thats the risk you took". 

I have researched many similar cases in Massachusetts and RI. Both states seem to handle it the same way. The courts end up ruling that the bank did in fact foreclose properly in most cases but there are some instances where the judgement is in favor of the previous owner. Overall, from the research I have done and interactions I have had with this particular couple who have been foreclosed on, I am as close to certain that they know they were foreclosed on properly and drawing it out as long as they can.

John, very well said. I appreciate you taking the time to analyze my situation and share your response. SO to be honest I do not know where to direct my frustration but, it seems like you at least get why I am frustrated. Maybe my problem is not with the courts. But ultimately what I am trying to say is if someone is foreclosed on there should be some system in place to make sure that they actually deserve to be foreclosed on. A system that would not allow someone to challenge the validity because it has already been established that it was a valid foreclosure. Yes, I understand the courts are biased. Yes, I understand I took a risk. Forget my understanding of the courts. Forget me describing it being handled terribly. Yes, everyone may be doing there job but, if that is so, whos job is it to determine if the property was properly foreclosed in the first place? Can a bank just foreclose on anyone at anytime? No, there are rules that need to be followed. Who determines these rules are being followed and then allows the foreclosure to happen? That person clearly is not doing there job or is missing from the equation. Now, I am in court trying to figure out if it was actually foreclosed properly. I am not as familiar with all the roles and responsibilities, and you may be able to pick apart my words but, I think you see what I am getting at here. Seeing how houses can be foreclosed on and left in this situation, why not establish a system that determines this before hand to prevent it from getting this far? 

Imagine a world where the bank does everything properly, someone challenges the foreclosure, and instead of meeting in court a year later there is someone that says not so fast mr previous owner you can not do that because we have a process in place that does not allow a Bank to move forward with a foreclose unless it has been done properly and everything has been documented to prevent this problem from occurring. So whatever you are challenging we have the answer to it already and here it is for you to view. Or sorry mr bank you can not proceed with the foreclosure because so and so has not been done yet. 

Who ultimately gives the bank the power to foreclose?

Also, even the current situation I am in right now would not be so bad if there was not so much time in between court cases stretching the whole process out. the previous owners attorney initially met with us in district court where it was determined that the court should be tried in superior court against the bank. Then I think a month later in superior court it was determined that the court should be heard in district court. then maybe two months later in district court it was determined that they were wrong and this case will in fact be heard in superior court 4 months out. Come on now.

I am ok with being frustrated about this but, I just cant agree with someone who says that there is not room for improvement with how these situations can be handled.

Also, the evidence to determine if the foreclosure was done properly is either found and ready to be presented by now or it will never be found. Lets just speed up the court process to see if it was a valid foreclosure or not. If not, let them keep the home and remove the stress from the PIPs life. If it was properly done cool, lets get the eviction process going. No need to take a year or more to determine this. It is unbelievably hard to just sit back thinking that both sides (Bank and PIP) have all the evidence they will ever have but, we still have to wait a year or more to go through the process and get a ruling from the court. 

Peter, I think you are failing to realize that we are not discussing the eviction, that is currently on hold. The foreclosure validity and the current process used to establish it is the focal point here. I have factored in a regular eviction and I am 100% ok with that. What infuriates me is that everyone I talk to is content with the current legal process allowing a bank to foreclose on someone without checking if they did it the right way. Not one person has said wow that is a little backwards. Everyone takes the easy way out and says that's the risk you take with these investments. OK Cool however, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be fixed in the future. I would love to hear someone explain why a bank is allowed to foreclose without someone checking if they did everything they need to do in order to properly foreclose on someone. Imagine all of the people they wrongfully foreclosed on...  I'm a reasonable person. I might have purchased a house from someone in that situation... That is ok with me but, now that I learned about this I have seen where the process is broken and it should be addressed. 

How can changing the process from allowing a bank to foreclose without determining if they did everything they need to do in order to properly foreclose to allowing a bank to foreclose only if they have proven that they have done everything they need to do in order to foreclose hurt anyone? This seems like it should be a pretty simple thing to do. It seems like the right thing to do.

I could be wrong  but, I feel confident that eventually I will gain ownership of this home. If not, I am ok with that as well. However, the time it takes to determine if it was in fact a valid foreclosure does not seem right. Especially when they could set a process that addresses this, in order to actually foreclose on someone, instead of finding it out after they allow a foreclosure to go through

Also there is other options if the bank does not conduct a face to face. One being that the bank can send a certified letter to them detailing their options. During the due diligence process before I bought the house we requested and received this letter from the bank to determine it was foreclosed properly. 

And that is fine with me Jay. My issue is with this not being determined before the bank foreclosed on them. If it affects the validity of the foreclosure it should be addressed before they foreclose.