Lost Job and May Lose House!
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
I cant vent to anyone else, so coming here to vent. Maybe someone can give me ideas I can try that I havent figured out by now.
I work at home. Back in August 2013 the work online ended and I began watching a boy b/a school and looking for others. Nov. 2013 I turned to my mortgage company for help. basically asked for a temporary modification. Sent all info into them, telling them about the loss of income. In January the online work started back up but was still behind on the mortgage (because they told me not to pay the payment, i used the money for other needs - groceries, bills, household necessities). I remained in touch with the mortgage company about every 2 weeks, they were updating me, asking me for more information, asking for the same stuff over and over claiming they needed this or that even though I sent in umpteen amounts of paperwork in duplicate/triplicate. The mortgage company continued to tell us to hold onto our money *(I had part of it in a savings account for when they'd tell me to start paying again). Come April, my DH lost his job and was denied unemployment. His employers lied through their teeth which caused the denial. All he was left with after that point was 5 weeks vacation pay and that was it. I continued to work online and watched the 1 child. DH has been applying everywhere he can think of that he qualifies. Nothing! I updated the mortgage company of the new situation and at this time they tell us "Well you should have been paying whatever you could to show you were making an effort." I was pissed, because they kept telling me NOT to pay.  So come May I began paying, but once the vacation pay ran out, I just couldnt make anymore payments (basically last two months). Finally, after MANY times of sending the SAME freaking paperwork into the mortgage company over and over, we got their decision. we were Denied. They claim if they modified our loan, it would give us more equity in the house. Go figure. I asked them if THEY would lend us money in our current situation. Since nobody would, it really wouldnt matter if I had hundreds of thousands available in equity. They said "you cant prove to us you have a hardship." Since when is unemployment NOT a hardship?
So now here we are September. Still no job (waiting to hear from one company after having reached step 2 in the process of what looks very promising right now). My hours with the online job have been cut back severely (BTW, DH is working online with same company I am and while it wasnt paying him near what he made before it was helping us keep afloat with household bills, gas, insurance and food). I am desperately trying to get more kids in to watch. I sell on the internet as well so trying to get a bunch of stuff listed. Just feeling like i am reaching the end of my rope. I called somewhere about the HARP program and basically got told until i have worked 2 years with this job online, they cant use that income. I am 3 months shy of 2 years. I told them I will call them back in January IF i still have a house. Next month, I have no idea how i am going to pay household bills or how I am going to put food on the table.
PLEASE does anyone have any suggestions on what else I can do? I am at wits end. I cant lose my house. Just dont know what else to do right now. and am very depressed because of the situation. Have NEVER been this low before. And please no snarky comments. I really do not need those right now. Thanks |
Anonymous
|
can you get on other assistance? Food stamps, etc.
|
Anonymous
| What about charity from your church if you belong to one? Have heard of this maybe with Catholic charities where they help out with rent or mortgages. |
Anonymous
| Can you rent something nearby that will work for you for less? It may be time to accept you can not keep the house. Can it be sold? How much do you owe and how much is it worth? I had a very close friend that tried for about three years to juggle like you. Finally was foreclosed on and she rented a home nearby for half her mortgage and she told me that she wishes she had done it sooner. |
Anonymous
| If it comes down to it make sure you sell it before they foreclose on it. If they foreclose, they sell it at auction to all cash bidders and often the bank is the only bidder so you can imagine how much they buy the house for. |
Anonymous
|
How much do you owe? Can you rent out a room or two for a month (CL has a short term wanted housing section) or can you AirBNB?
|
Anonymous
|
Two of the posts above are good suggestions.
1. Can you rent out rooms to cover the monthly payment? If so, do it and try to find a way to come up with the back payments by selling assets. 2. Sell the house if you are not underwater. 3. Bankruptcy. |
Anonymous
| I'm not an expert on this but I read during the recession that debt discharged could be considered income but I think they did away with that on home loans for a certain period of time, not sure if it's still in effect or not. You might want to look into that as a bankruptcy may be better than a shortsale if the shortsale results in thousand in taxes. Just something to research. |
Anonymous
+1. Put your house on the market and sell. It's better to sell the house than get foreclosed. |
Anonymous
| Can you rent out your house? |
Anonymous
| Do you live in the dc area |
Anonymous
| Call all your service providers and ask them for forbearance or payment plans. Cut back on cable and nonessential services. Put things on credit cards and call those companies and try to negotiate a lower interest rate temporarily. If you have two cars, get rid of one. These are small things but all I can think to suggest. Good luck. |
Anonymous
| What does dh do? |
Anonymous
|
OP, a few questions:
What state are you in? Do you have equity in the house? What bank is your mortgage with? If you have equity, I would sell. I have seen too many people try to fight the battles with the banks only to have to end up selling or doing a short sale (in one case a foreclosure which was truly sad - the man fought and fought and fought his bank and didn't contact me until he and his family were literally put out on the street by the Marshalls. By then it was too late). If your loan is with Bank of America simply forget about them trying to negotiate with you and if you DO have equity, put the house on the market ASAP and find something to rent. Could you rent the house out for enough to cover your mortgage payments and go rent something else? That way you could keep the house until you got back on your feet. Of course in this case you would have to have a co-signer on the lease because of the employment issues. The reason I asked what state you are in is because DC, MD & VA all have different foreclosure/bankruptcy laws (and each state also has different time frames as to how long you can stay in your home after you stop paying your mortgage and before foreclosure proceedings start). You CANNOT let this depress you even thought it IS hard. It is NOT the end of the world although it may feel as if it is. Depending on whether or not you have equity in the house and how the rest of your financial picture looks (are you behind on credit cards, auto loans, etc?) you may want to talk to a bankruptcy attorney but first I would talk to a real estate attorney. I would stop fooling with the bank. I have never heard of ONE case where HARP helped anyone nor have I ever known anyone who has received a loan modification. It is sad but true. It infuriates me that the banks make people stop paying their mortgages and ruin their credit before they will consider helping and then they ultimately offer none. It is a screwed up system. Stay strong and hang in there and let me know if you want me to post the name of an attorney to help you. Good luck. I will be thinking of you. |
Anonymous
| Pay anything monthly, even if it is $25-50 dollars. Both you and your husband get jobs anywhere that will hire you - Target, walmart, best buy, etc. Any money is better than nothing. |