All Forum Posts by: Jean Norton

Unfortunately Mr. Hicks passed away a few years ago :( 

I've bought many Fannie Mae houses and found that they are more flexible on pricing for the ones approaching 90 days on the market.  No reason to worry about title as they will provide a title commitment and convey the property with title insurance. (Of course, read the title commitment or have someone experienced help you through this.)

I believe it is still true that you must hold the property for 90 days.  It's been a while since I bought one.  However, the houses I bought took at least 90 days to fix, market, sell and close, so that wasn't too big a deal for me.

Once the offer is made, and accepted, you can not assign the contract.  The name on the purchase agreement must be the name that will be on title, filed in the county.

I hope this helps!

At the very least you can make money helping your college friends find apartments.  I've known several that do this.

@Kim Meredith Hampton - yes I received those.  The issue is the property management company told me in error that I could use it as a corporate rental. 

@Mike McCarthy - I've shown the property management company the screenshot where they told me in err that I could rent monthly.  They are aware I have this documentation and have not acknowledged it.

The property management company the association chooses is not within my control.  They serve the association and the board of directors.

Two years ago I bought a Condo in Chicago.  The property management company that represents the Condo Association said I could furnish it and rent it monthly as a corporate rental, which I have done.

Now they state I must Cease and Desist as it is in violation of the Association's governing documents.

I don't mind following their rules. However, the cost for me to sell the furniture at fire sale rates, plus lost income during this phase (plus had to turn away and refund a corporate rental for a month), plus the losses incurred as a result of having to accept a lower income model is significant.

Had they properly represented the association and conveyed the rules appropriately, I never would have bought the condo.

I assume the property management company has E&O insurance, but I don't really know.

What is my recourse?

One of the reasons we are changing attorneys @Greg H.  I even asked about getting the unsecured judgement, but I guess that would be too simple for our attorney.

It is not homesteaded.

Good point @Tom Gimer.  Thanks for helping me see the obvious.

This is an incredible and convoluted case that involves a conflict in the law.

First: Deeds must be signed (This includes Deed of Trust)
Second: Doctrine of Incorporation by Reference (Which means that one signed document that references another unsigned document makes both documents enforceable.)

I may write a blog post: How to Steal a House, and the Money too.

My husband loaned money on a property in another county and hired an attorney to prepare the documents.  The closing happened remotely.  The borrower signed the promissory note and told my husband he would save him the trip and file the deed of trust for him in the local county.  My husband trusted he would do so.

Months later, the Deed of Trust was still not filed, nor signed.

My husband and the borrower had a falling apart due to some other legal issues, of which the issue of the Deed of Trust still wasn't signed was included.  The judge ordered that there was a "meeting of the minds" and ordered the borrower to sign the Deed of Trust.

The balloon payment was never paid, nor was the Deed of Trust signed.  The attorney that drew up the paperwork guided us in the foreclosure process, suggesting that the judge's order of a signed Deed of Trust was sufficient to perform a non-judicial foreclosure, of which we did in January 2014.

They borrowers sued us for "wrongful foreclosure", as we foreclosed without a signed Deed of Trust.

There was a clerical issue in that when the judge ordered the deed of trust to be signed and executed his order said "attached".  However the deed of trust wasn't attached, therefore the borrowers claimed they didn't know what they needed to sign.

A new judge came into play, and ordered the deed of trust to be attached some 18 months ago.  At that time there was a motion for summary judgement to set aside the foreclosure sale.  It took the judge 18 months to revisit that motion (and it got his attention as we filed a writ of mandamus to force him to rule), and he ruled to set aside the sale.

Already $30k in legal fees, we have to revisit our next steps:

1. Appeal to a higher court to decide the conflict in the law.

2. Continue the legal battle, motion to compel (face contempt of court/jail) the borrower to sign and foreclose once again.

3. Let the property go to tax sale, where we or others could bid on the property and collect the overages as the lender.

This is why I wanted the taxes that my husband already paid to be repaid as a tax lien.  Even if he got a judgement for "unjust enrichment", that judgement would not survive a tax sale.

And yes, we still face charges of conspiracy and fraud in addition to the complication of the foreclosure.

Much like a tax loan lien @Wayne Brooks