House Forclosure

[ricky62usa]

I have a house in Marysville Ohio. My wife and I have been divorced for over a year. I was depressed and moved out of the house in November, 1999. I have not paid on it since. I received notice in March that the bank was going to forclosure. I received another letter at the beginning of May informing me of the lawyer for the bank.
I now want to save my credit to the best of my ability. I don't have the money to pay the bank up. I would like to sell the house.
I called the bank's lawyer and asked what my options were. I was told that, one - I could let it go to forclosure, two - I could sign over the deed to the bank.

These are the only options they gave me. They said they had applied for w date for forclosure but when I went to the courthouse no date was listed.

I feel that the bank may have a buyer for my house and just want me to sign it over to them to make money on it. This property is currently zoned residential but it is across the street from commercial and I don't feel it would be difficult to have it re-zoned. I owe approximately $75,000. and was recently offered $115,000. for commercial use if I could sell it.

What are my rights and how do I get the bank and their lawyer to work with me in letting me get the house sold instead of signing it over to them or going to forclosure.

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ricky62usa:
I have a house in Marysville Ohio. My wife and I have been divorced for over a year. I was depressed and moved out of the house in November, 1999. I have not paid on it since. I received notice in March that the bank was going to forclosure. I received another letter at the beginning of May informing me of the lawyer for the bank.
I now want to save my credit to the best of my ability. I don't have the money to pay the bank up. I would like to sell the house.
I called the bank's lawyer and asked what my options were. I was told that, one - I could let it go to forclosure, two - I could sign over the deed to the bank.

These are the only options they gave me. They said they had applied for w date for forclosure but when I went to the courthouse no date was listed.

I feel that the bank may have a buyer for my house and just want me to sign it over to them to make money on it. This property is currently zoned residential but it is across the street from commercial and I don't feel it would be difficult to have it re-zoned. I owe approximately $75,000. and was recently offered $115,000. for commercial use if I could sell it.

What are my rights and how do I get the bank and their lawyer to work with me in letting me get the house sold instead of signing it over to them or going to forclosure.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hire a real estate attorney immediately to file an answer to the foreclosure complaint and to do a work out. You have some other options: sell the property on your own at a little below market value with a fast closing (30-60 days) and if there is no equity in the property, ask the bank if they would take a short sale. A short sale is a transaction where the bank approves a sales' price that is less than the mortgage balance. The bank waives the deficiency and only accepts this route to avoid the long and costly foreclosure route. Get an experienced Realtor to list the property right away to see if it can be sold.

What the bank is recomending is called a deed in lieu of foreclosure which means that you give the property back to the bank to avoid foreclosure action. If you do not have any equity in the property, deeding the property back to the bank may be your best alternative. Do not fool yourself in overestimating the value of the property. If the property is zoned residential, that is what the market value is based on. And not a projected commercial value. Get an attorney right away as time is not on your side.