[Alice in Wonderland]

I sold a piece of property in December 2006 and am holding the mortgage. The fellow made 7 payments (less than $500/mo) then defaulted.

I filed for foreclosure, he filed for bankruptcy, stopping the foreclosure.

His bankruptcy was dismissed for failure to make plan payments. I got the foreclosure judgement and the sheriff’s sale was pending.

To stop the sale he’s just refiled for bankruptcy again.

I wonder if I can get a bailout. I’m a retired senior citizen, a widow on a fixed income. Not receiving the mortgage payments has put a financial burden on me.

[TomGuy]

I sold a piece of property in December 2006 and am holding the mortgage. The fellow made 7 payments (less than $500/mo) then defaulted.

In many areas the property values have plummeted. What was owed is higher than the value of the properties now.

Many banks got stuck with that -- high mortgages, little or no down payments, default, plummeting property value. They can't sell the properties for the original loan value.

I saw a couple of houses in my area (small town USA) that finally sold last month, but only after their initial prices were reduced 40%. The mortgage holders had to eat the difference.