spmitchell3
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado
I guess I should explain the situation and see if anyone has suggestions or can advise me.
My wife and I lived in Tampa, FL for 5 1/2 years (Jul 2003 - Jan 2009) until my wife accepted a job here in Colorado Springs. We put our house up for sale and hoped for the best, listing it as an assumable mortgage. At the time, the house was worth just over what we owed so we would have been happy to just break even. Within a week, we had a couple that wanted the house and a contract was signed. He started the process of assuming the mortgage through Wells Fargo (our lender...not by choice but that's who the mortgage was sold to after we bought the house) and we moved to Colorado. Everything seemed to be going well. At the end of February, we got a letter in the mail advising us when closing would be. A week before the closing date, we got another letter from Wells Fargo saying they had decided to reject the buyer's application to assume our mortgage because of his credit history. He's a 100% disabled veteran who had to declare bankruptcy when the VA screwed something up and cut his benefits in half. It took him some time to get that straightened out and he provided documentation to Wells Fargo to show what happened. Wells Fargo refused to reconsider. So, we offered to let him rent the house for a year and then try to buy it again. He agreed. When the lease came up for renewal this past April, he said he wasn't quite ready to buy the house but was going to do so sometime during the summer so another lease was prepared. In mid-July he gave notice that he was leaving because he had secured a loan through Lennar for a brand new house. For the past two months the house has sat empty while we try to find a new tenant. We had someone sign a lease agreement last month but two days before the move in date, she changed her mind and terminated the lease. Since then, we've had people look at it but no one willing to actually rent it...which we don't understand. The house was built in 2004 so it's fairly new and it has all appliances including a new front loading washer and dryer. Rent is set at $1100, which is the going rate for houses of this size in that area.
We recently bought a house that we qualified for on my wife's income and using my VA eligibility. We did this before we knew our tenant/buyer was going to back out. Since moving here, I've been unable to find a job and I'm currently a full time student going after a BSc in Network Systems Administration. We've managed to make the mortgage payment for the past two months but now the money is gone. If our property manager can find someone to rent the house by the end of this month, we'll find money somewhere to make the mortgage payment for October. If she's unable to find someone, we've decided to let the bank have it. But I'm concerned as to what will happen. I've read about banks going after assets when people walk away from their home. But, from what I can tell, that's mostly for people who are doing "strategic foreclosures"...people who can afford their mortgage payment but are choosing to walk away because they own more than their house is worth. I don't consider our case a "strategic foreclosure" because we aren't walking away due to being upside down (although we are now)...we're doing it because we left for my wife's job and, because we've had no luck in finding a new tenant, we can no longer afford two mortgages.
Can anyone advise what Wells Fargo will do if we let the loan go in to default? Will they try to take this house?
Thanks
I guess I should explain the situation and see if anyone has suggestions or can advise me.
My wife and I lived in Tampa, FL for 5 1/2 years (Jul 2003 - Jan 2009) until my wife accepted a job here in Colorado Springs. We put our house up for sale and hoped for the best, listing it as an assumable mortgage. At the time, the house was worth just over what we owed so we would have been happy to just break even. Within a week, we had a couple that wanted the house and a contract was signed. He started the process of assuming the mortgage through Wells Fargo (our lender...not by choice but that's who the mortgage was sold to after we bought the house) and we moved to Colorado. Everything seemed to be going well. At the end of February, we got a letter in the mail advising us when closing would be. A week before the closing date, we got another letter from Wells Fargo saying they had decided to reject the buyer's application to assume our mortgage because of his credit history. He's a 100% disabled veteran who had to declare bankruptcy when the VA screwed something up and cut his benefits in half. It took him some time to get that straightened out and he provided documentation to Wells Fargo to show what happened. Wells Fargo refused to reconsider. So, we offered to let him rent the house for a year and then try to buy it again. He agreed. When the lease came up for renewal this past April, he said he wasn't quite ready to buy the house but was going to do so sometime during the summer so another lease was prepared. In mid-July he gave notice that he was leaving because he had secured a loan through Lennar for a brand new house. For the past two months the house has sat empty while we try to find a new tenant. We had someone sign a lease agreement last month but two days before the move in date, she changed her mind and terminated the lease. Since then, we've had people look at it but no one willing to actually rent it...which we don't understand. The house was built in 2004 so it's fairly new and it has all appliances including a new front loading washer and dryer. Rent is set at $1100, which is the going rate for houses of this size in that area.
We recently bought a house that we qualified for on my wife's income and using my VA eligibility. We did this before we knew our tenant/buyer was going to back out. Since moving here, I've been unable to find a job and I'm currently a full time student going after a BSc in Network Systems Administration. We've managed to make the mortgage payment for the past two months but now the money is gone. If our property manager can find someone to rent the house by the end of this month, we'll find money somewhere to make the mortgage payment for October. If she's unable to find someone, we've decided to let the bank have it. But I'm concerned as to what will happen. I've read about banks going after assets when people walk away from their home. But, from what I can tell, that's mostly for people who are doing "strategic foreclosures"...people who can afford their mortgage payment but are choosing to walk away because they own more than their house is worth. I don't consider our case a "strategic foreclosure" because we aren't walking away due to being upside down (although we are now)...we're doing it because we left for my wife's job and, because we've had no luck in finding a new tenant, we can no longer afford two mortgages.
Can anyone advise what Wells Fargo will do if we let the loan go in to default? Will they try to take this house?
Thanks