Foreclosure

If you signed the mortgage you are fully responsible for paying it. If you don't keep up the payments the lender will foreclose and take possession of the property. If your name is on the mortgage your credit will be ruined and you may find that you owe the bank costs associated with the foreclosure.

You should consult with an attorney who can review your situation and explain your rights and options.

If you are filing for a divorce and you sell your house without the court's order, yes. There is an "Automatic Court Order" that is served with the divorce complaint that avoids parties from incurring expenses and/or spending money in joint accounts or selling property whether pesonal or real.

It is when an indivdual (or married couple) file for bankruptcy rather than a business or corporation.

A foreclosure wipes out any liens that were recorded subsequent to the mortgage. However, the lender must give notice to the IRS if a tax lien has been recorded against the property. If not notified the IRS has certain rights that may encumber the property after the foreclosure sale. Delinquent property taxes are not wiped out.

If you were a joint owner and didn't sign the mortgage then the bank cannot foreclose on your interest in the property. Therefore, you shouldn't sign a deed in lieu of foreclosure. Only the borrower in default should sign that deed. The lender erred by not having all the fee owners sign the note and mortgage. If only one owner signed then the bank only received that person's interest in the property. If you want to sell your interest to the bank it should conveyed by a separate deed with you alone as the grantor.

If your name was added after the original owner granted the mortgage the situation is different. You should seek the advice of a real estate attorney who could advise you about your rights and how to make the transfer properly so it doesn't have an effect on your own credit.

Bank doesn't re-affirm...the debtor does. If bank does not foreclose, the debt still exists, and grows. They just may some other time.

Yes. A foreclosure of a senior lien will eliminate your interest. I suggest you see a real estate attorney right away if you are facing such a situation (see the phone book for lawyers who offer "free consultations").

Generally those laws apply to the primary residence only.

Either in relative or absolute terms. Relative would be in the form of a percentage of GDP or GNP and absolute would be in total dollars. Relative is a better indicator of debt but would still not provide a clear picture of past, present or future economic performance.

The Landlord

The first contact should be to your master insurance policy carrier.

Two duties are involved: one, a duty to repair; and second, a duty to pay for the repair.


The insurance carrier can help the association in both of the duties, above, including tapping into sources of money to pay for the repair.


The foreclosure action means that a lender now owns the unit. The lender may be absolved of any responsibility if the board has not crafted a resolution that covers lenders' responsibilities in foreclosure actions, such as maintaining heat in the unit during cold periods.


It's a good idea for any association these days to develop and pass a resolution that covers foreclosure owners' responsibilities, and deliver a copy of the resolution to lenders who foreclose. No foreclosure action should be a mystery to an attentive association or condominium property manager.

Be aware that a pre-foreclosure property is not necessarily for sale. The pre-foreclosure stage is the period between the time in which a Notice of Default (in non-judicial foreclosure) or lis pendens (in judicial foreclosure) has been issued to the homeowner and after the property is sold at a foreclosure auction.

Then the secured creditor would most likely foreclose on the property.

Yes. And they normally do...because they owe it to others.

You borrowed money from them and bought a house. You owe them the money. Not the house.

You would have kept any amount you sold it for that was more than you paid...you would not have given them more. You would have paid them what you owed them only.

They did not buy the house, alone or with you.

You probably would have owed them less after all, had you sold the house on your own...because you will owe them all fee's and costs they have to incur to sell the house at foreclosure to recover funds you were to pay, and having to act to do so.

You made a bad investment with money you borrowed. That's all.

Holding to how you asked the question:

You seem to understand garnishment is generally legally available.

If your "after" bankruptcy, it's over and there is no longer any protection by being in BK.

A summons for a foreclosure is a lawsuit by the plaintiff/lender against the defendant/borrower. All civil suits are basically the same and therefore the process of filing an answer or "first pleading" by the defendant is the same. Read the summons very carefully and then respond to each paragraph either as being in agreement or disputing the claim for whatever valid reason you may have. For example, if you have made all the payments in the prescribed manner of the mortgage contract and the plaintiff is claiming a default due to non payment, you dispute that charge on the grounds that you have proof of payment. DO NOT, make a claim that is not true and/or cannot be substantiated. File a copy of your response within the required time limit with the clerk of the court and the plaintiff's legal counsel by means of a certified letter with receipt requested. In some states it is also necessary to file an answer of appearance with the court issuing the summons. You can go to SummonsReply.com to get help if you are trying to write an answer on your own. The site will provide you with a template and an example of an answer to a summons written by a certified lawyer, which will guide you to write your own answer in order to stall foreclosure.

I THINK it is 25% of what is owed on the loan...as an average.

In Michigan, you must give tenants at least 30 days notice that they need to move out. This notice must also be in writing.

Simply having a foreclosure on one's credit report will not decrease the score to the point where it is impossible to get any other loans. However, the entire foreclosure process often has many more negative marks than just the actual legal process and charge-off of the loan.

As soon as homeowners begin missing mortgage payments, their credit score will begin to drop quickly. Having one or two missed payments over years, though, does not impact their loan history as much as when they experience a hardship and start stringing together 30-, 60-, or 90-day periods where they are late.

Once borrowers do fall behind by more than a month or two, though, their ability to take out any new loans will disappear, as potential lenders will be aware that there is a current financial crisis and little chance of being repaid. This is, of course, one of the main reasons homeowners should try and take care of a potential foreclosure even before they have missed their first payment.

But in terms of the credit score, even having several late mortgage payments may not drag it down as far as possible. The credit reporting agencies base their scoring system around the total picture of the borrower's payment and credit situation, meaning that the more debts the homeowners can keep up payments on, the higher they will keep their score.

Also, if homeowners have numerous credit cards, car loans, student loans, and other bills and have kept on time with all of them, they may be able to retain a good score (although probably not an excellent one). The real risk to the credit report comes when payments are late on numerous debts at once, as may happen during a real economic hardship.

Even borrowers with a near perfect credit score above 750 (out of 800 total) can experience a drop into the low 600s just by missing mortgage payments for consecutive months and going into foreclosure. Combine that with numerous other late payments or collection accounts, and the score can drop into the middle or high 400s.

The important thing to remember is that simply having a foreclosure is not that significant an event to destroy a credit score all on its own. But for owners who are defaulting on other debts at the same time as facing foreclosure, it may take years of recovery to regain even a good credit rating.

Bankruptcy is simply having debt beyond what you can pay. A short sale would have nothing to do with it. When you sell short, you leave the deal with nothing. No profit, no cash from the sale. Also, a lender would not even approve the short sale unless they are satisfied that you are 'upside down' each month and have no savings or other assets with which to pay the mortgage.

Your creditors can make claims against your estate if you own any property at the time of your death.