Our home is sliding off the hill it sits on....

[osxgal]

Hello! Our home is in the suburbs of Seattle.
We have immaculate payment history. Home has been vacant for the past few two years, but we have vacant home insurance. How do we just give this back to the bank? The value obviously has sunk way past its prime and its simply bleeding us dry. Given the current economy we did not want to use the foreclosure option to add to the burden on our society. But we also don't think any kind of sale at this time would be in good faith to the new folks who would buy it. Please help. We don't even know where to start.

 

[cyjeff]

when you say sliding off the hill, could it be condemned?

 

[osxgal]

thanks!

when you say sliding off the hill, could it be condemned?

thanks for your response. That is precisely the problem. We don't know if that is the term. But it sounds right.

To answer your question better, w\We do not think it can be salvaged - unless we spend a couple hundred grand building the retaining walls from some forty-sixty feet under. The house was bought for 330k, we put in almost 75k of renovations and the value is about 350 now.

There are a whole bunch of homes in the same line and a lot of them have a 20-30 ft clearance from the hill side. Ours is right at the edge and the lawn is showing huge crevices. Our front porch is separating out - and that sits towards the front of the property.

The municipalty has built a faulty gutter system that accumulates and pours all the water from the cul-de-sac onto ours and it sloughs of the hill a bit every year for the past seven years since we have owned it. I am afraid I am throwing out a lot of details, some of which might not even be pertinent. Sorry!

 

[justalayman]

if it does fall over the cliff, does insurance even cover it? Especially since it is not an instantaneous event, I would think they might argue you failed to take action to prevent the damage and as such, are liable. You might want to check that out before you let it fall off the hill.

The municipalty has built a faulty gutter system that accumulates and pours all the water from the cul-de-sac onto ours and it sloughs of the hill a bit every year for the past seven years since we have owned it.

I hope you have evidence of this such as pictures and letters to the pertinent people. If you can argue the municipality is the cause of the eventual demise of the house, you may be able to get to either be liable for the repair or, if it would be cheaper, purchase the property.

You need a lawyer involved in this.


and no, I doubt you have a chance in Hades of selling the home for anything other than the possibility of an empty building site somewhere in the future. Given you are aware of the problem, you are required to disclose it as well.

If it comes down to foreclosure; I believe Washington is a non-recourse state. That means once they foreclose, they cannot come after you for any deficiency between what you owe and what they sell it for.

 

[st-kitts]

Have you looked into the possibility of "deed in lieu of foreclosure." Research that specific option.

Here is a link to WA state as well.

http://www.dfi.wa.gov/consumers/homeownership/foreclosure_assistance_programs.htm

 

[osxgal]

thank you for educating me. Selling it is just not an option - we happen to be fools who just cannot live with the thought of giving our burden to someone. So no we are not seeking a subverted disclosure at any point.

But we did have a county geologist come out to do an eval and he said everything was just dandy - despite my protests. We had just bought the house and had learned of a mudslide that had already happened on the property - not in disclosures, but from our neighbors.

Also thanks for the tip about deed in lieu of foreclosure - will check that out and get back with more questions. Is there a specific kind of attorney we should be looking at? (speciality)

 

[justalayman]

the bank doesn't have to accept the deed in lieu of foreclosure. You can surely approach them with the possibility but no guarantees. You really don't have anything to lose.


as to suggesting anything close to being less than honest: that is not what I was saying. What I said is you must disclose it and realistically, due to the cracking issue currently experienced, selling it would be extremely difficult, it not actually outright impossible.


so, any idea if your insurance would cover the home if it does slide off the cliff?

 

[FarmerJ]

Back in the early 80s there was one house I remember from news when I was out in CA began to slide when it finally slid off the hill, the home owner tried and tried for the longest time to keep it stable but Nature was gonna win, they moved out and it took years for it to finish sliding. SO since you see this now, I am wondering if its possible to move the home off this lot to another ?
Yes I understand your lender really only cares about getting paid but if by chance the home can be moved to another site would your lender go for it ? ( or is it just too far gone?) So you called a county engineer , ok what did a private engineer have to tell you ?

 

[tranquility]

Since we're talking about a lot of money which can be completely lost, an attorney is appropriate. There needs to be a review of the facts to see if any liability can be shifted to another party.