Posted on 03/07/2009 11:56:28 PM PST by Chet 99
All Things Considered, March 3, 2009 · Let's say you're one of the millions of Americans facing foreclosure. You made mistakes, borrowed more than you should have — or maybe you lost your job — and now have to walk away from your house. In some parts of the country, simply walking away isn't so simple — especially if the bank doesn't want your house.
At 8:30 nearly every Monday morning, employees from the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office stand in a windowless room in Cleveland's Justice Center to auction off hundreds of foreclosed houses.
Hoping to buy are a few investors, bargain hunters and the rare person trying to save his or her house. Most often, it's lawyers from local law firms representing global financial institutions who claim property here. Although these days, that's starting to change.
When there's no bid, the lender can either try to sell at another sheriff sale or do nothing. Doing nothing means the foreclosure is not complete. And Cleveland foreclosure attorney Larry Rothenberg says doing nothing is becoming more popular.
Lenders Not Bidding
"Lately, lenders are finding that the costs to purchase property at the sheriff sale and resell it, and the likelihood of finding a buyer weigh against a decision to buy the property. And so it's become more likely than before that lenders are not entering bids at sheriff sales," Rothenberg says.
That changes the foreclosure equation. Rick Sharga of RealtyTrac says employees at his online foreclosure sales company have heard of other cities where lenders are walking away from foreclosures, and he worries it could spread.
"There are some urban areas where you've had rapid price depreciation, where you also have extreme unemployment issues, and nobody's buying the properties," Sharga says. "All those conditions need to be in place before a lender is going to be motivated to do what you're seeing happen now."
And when lenders don't complete a foreclosure action at a sheriff sale, the house stays in the homeowner's name.
'It's Not My House'
Sharon Little says she was shocked to find out she was still listed as the owner of a rental property on a busy Cleveland street. She walked away from the house in 2006 when she declared bankruptcy. Since then, thieves have stripped the house of siding, copper plumbing, and even windows. She found out her name was still on the deed only when she got a summons last October to appear in housing court.
"Eventually, they're going to tear this house down," Little says. "Somebody's going to have to foot the bill, and frankly I think it should be the bank because it's their house. It's not my house really, so ..."
Begging For Foreclosure
But the city of Cleveland is writing tickets for housing code violations to whomever is listed on the deed.
Bus driver Curley Jackson has been on the phone with his loan servicers trying to persuade them to foreclose on property he can no longer afford.
"I surrendered these properties back to you all. I said, 'You keep leaving them in my name, I'm getting these tickets.' They don't care. They're not getting a ticket. They're not getting threatened with jail," Jackson says.
Cleveland Housing Court officials say they are now seeing homeowners take matters into their own hands. Little, for instance, wrote up a deed and gave her house to her lender.
"That's because it was their house from the jump, so that's what we do — give it right back to them. You can keep your house. I don't want it," Little says.
Untouchable Real Estate
Bankruptcy attorney Richard Nemeth has asked state lawmakers to propose a bill that would force lenders to completely follow through with foreclosure or forgive the homeowner's debt.
"It's a really sad set of affairs when people don't want to touch a piece of real estate with a 10-foot pole," Nemeth says.
County officials in Cleveland hope a new land bank will help solve this problem by giving lenders a place to dump unwanted property. In the meantime, the city is forced to use scarce tax dollars to maintain or demolish some of these unwanted foreclosed houses.
True, if that’s actually the case. But there are people in foreclosure that do have assetts. Foreclosure is a choice, many people in this economy are “walking away” from their homes because they’re upside-down on their mortgages. They may have the money to pay, they just choose not to because the value of the house has so depreciated.
>>I wonder... if the bank won’t take your house back, what prevents you from just moving back in?
Nothing, I suppose. But a lot of these houses were not being bought as primary residences, but as “investment properties” to own for a short time and make a killing on the “fact” that real estate always goes up in price. That didn’t play out so well.
Cleveland was one of the biggest non-coastal homes of the sub-prime debacle. If you look, there are a number of news stories about all the problems there.
Welcome to Kusinichville. Coming soon to everywhere in Obamaland.
Yeah, he's probably at the donut shop. (Badda bing!)
There, fixed it. Cleveland is on the coast of Lake Erie.
non-Coastal, then.
Priced it? I just bought 10 sheets! The stuff isn't cheap!
Good question. I would think that if the owner walks away from the mortgage, the lender has the right to foreclose and take title and then become the owner. However if the lender doesn’t take title and through the courts tries to sell the house at auction and fails, wouldn’t the lender have to take title anyway? And regardless if either the previous owner/borrower or the subsequent owner/lender through foreclosure do not pay the real estate taxes, then the taxing authority has the right to put the house up for tax auction, however if no one bids, then I would think the taxing authority gets the title. Confusing, I think. The base root of the problem is that there is no market to purchase these homes; they’re “hot potatoes” and until markets stabilize, credit comes back, and the economy comes back, then maybe they’ll sell. Remember one thing though, in the end if the property ends up back in the tax authorities hands, no one is paying taxes on it, and therefore unless their budgets have been slashed, their coming after those who pay their real estate taxes for the shortfall, hell or highwater, and that is you and I.
“Kopechne Care”
I hope that catches on.
The state of Michigan is refusing to return overpayment of taxes. The communist governor grandwhore has instructed her gestapo treasury to demand additional paperwork, reject it as insufficient when sent and state that all paperwork will take at least four months to process.
I suspect I’ll never see a penny of my money. Meanwhile, if I don’t pay property taxes in that putrid Marxist state, the property will be seized by these Nazis.
We have that already.
Section 8 welfare tribes.
JOB 15:28 "And he has lived in desolate cities, In houses no one would inhabit, Which are destined to become ruins.
Isaiah 5:9 In my ears the Lord of hosts has sworn, "Surely, many houses shall become desolate, Even great and fine ones, without occupants.
Zephaniah 1:13 "Moreover, their wealth will become plunder, And their houses desolate; Yes, they will build houses but not inhabit them, And plant vineyards but not drink their wine."
And the reason for ALL of it is that people have turned their backs on God. :
Haggai 1:3 Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet saying,
Haggai 1:4 "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?"
Haggai 1:5 Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, "Consider your ways!
Haggai 1:6 "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes."
Haggai 1:7 Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Consider your ways!
Haggai 1:8 "Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,"says the Lord.
Take care of God's business and He will take care of you.
K
You can also be sued for future earnings.
Water lines freezing and bursting in an unheated house. If the water has not yet been shut down it causes flooding and usually severe damage.
What is this “water freeze” of which you write?
Just in case you are being serious and are from a Southern climate.
Water flows into the copper pipes and sits there until called on. No problem in the summer.
If these pipes are not drained when the people move out and turn off the heat, it freezes in the pipes during winter. If you are lucky, it thaws out. If you are unlucky, the “frozen water” expands and fractures the pipe. Then when summer comes along and the ice melts, the pipes leak water and the ceiling collapses. $$$$ to fix
Problem with pex isn’t the pipe, it’s the connectors.
The compression rings are complete rubbish. I’ve resorted to using the compression fittings with teeth.
What happens if the person on the deed under the mortgage does a quit claim deed to the holder of the mortgage.
Seems to me I’m hearing a lot lately in our area of deeds in lieu of foreclosure. Don’t know a thing about how that works.
I am not a real estate sort of person. And I even spent the night in a Holiday Inn Express. It seems to have helped my understanding of quantum physics, but real estate seems to be too much even for HIE!
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