Can bank foreclose on lien that is past SOL?

[stevet1]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?PA

My dad was ripped off in late 1970's. He bought a piece of land in the Poconos through some unscrupulous bank. He paid off the mortgage, but has no records to prove it other than the bank sent him back the original loan paper. He never received the deed to the land. He has moved several times since then and has lost his records of payment of the loan.

Fast forward 24-25 years. No action/notice from the bank. The bank has been bought out by Wachovia many years ago. No action or notice about any unpaid loan from Wachovia either. My dad has discovered that the land is worthless (not buildable on) and tried to donate it to the local homeowner's association. A title search found that Wachovia has a lien on the property for the entire original loan amount, as if it had never been paid. (I suspect that the unscrupulous bank sold itself to Wachovia, falsely claiming these paid off loans as unpaid) Now Wachovia is trying to foreclose on the property, and mentioned that it may sue to try to collect the old debt.

Several Questions:
1. Can we stop Wachovia from foreclosing based on SOL? If so, how can we stop Wachovia.
2. We actually don't want the worthless land, should we just let Wachovia foreclose anyway?
3. Can Wachovia sue my dad for a lien 24+ years old?
4. Can Wachovia do anything that can harm my dad's credit at this point in time?

 

[Ladynred]

1 - No. How do you stop them ?? Produce proof the loan was paid.

2 - Why waste the resources to fight them if you don't want it ?

3 - They CAN sue, is it valid ?? Not really. SOL on debts in PA is FOUR years. Since they are probably claiming there has been no payments in a long, long time, then the SOL has expired... 5 times over. If Wachovia sued, you could use the expired SOL as your defense to get the case thrown out.

4 - Yes, they sure can. If they DO foreclose, it will go on his credit. So, it behooves somebody to find proof that the original loan WAS paid.

 

[stevet1]

Ladynred,

Thank you for your reply. As much as I wish that it were possible to produce proof of payment, my dad has lost all of his old files when he moved from the east coast to the west coast. Just assume that he does not, and is not capable of producing proof of payment.

Given the above, should he contact Wachovia to try to work out a deal? For example, Wachovia has no way to collect on this (out of SOL) debt except to foreclose. However, my dad would be willing to quitclaim the worthless property over to Wachovia if it would prevent this foreclosure from impacting his credit. Do you think it would be worthwhile to approach Wachovia with this? Would there be any downside to this approach?

Thanks again for all the help and advice.

Steve