[foreclosure filter] Must we clean the home we lost?
March 28, 2010 2:05 PM Subscribe
House is being foreclosed on after a long battle with the bank. We've got mere days to move and nowhere to go. Can we leave behind furniture, etc, that we can't afford to move or dispose of? Are we liable to clean the house?
We're in Washington State. We were working with WaMu, and things were looking up, but then Chase bought WaMu. They initiated foreclosure proceedings. The house is up for trustee auction and then we have a few days before we have to be out.
My Father wants to empty the entire house (and the lifetime of accumulation) and cart it all to the dump or the thrift store. I want to take only those personal belongings that we treasure, and leave everything else (furniture, building materials -- we built the house ourselves -- and knickknacks, etc) behind. He's worried if we take that route, and just leave it in the house, the bank can sue us for cleanup costs.
Does anyone have experience with foreclosure? Do we have to spend the last days in our family home gutting it?
We're in Washington State. We were working with WaMu, and things were looking up, but then Chase bought WaMu. They initiated foreclosure proceedings. The house is up for trustee auction and then we have a few days before we have to be out.
My Father wants to empty the entire house (and the lifetime of accumulation) and cart it all to the dump or the thrift store. I want to take only those personal belongings that we treasure, and leave everything else (furniture, building materials -- we built the house ourselves -- and knickknacks, etc) behind. He's worried if we take that route, and just leave it in the house, the bank can sue us for cleanup costs.
Does anyone have experience with foreclosure? Do we have to spend the last days in our family home gutting it?
There exist companies whose job it is to clean out bank foreclosures. These companies would not exist if the persons-being-foreclosed-upon got all their stuff out themselves.
NYT had an article on it a while ago.
You're probably liable for cleanup costs, but the bank is *probably* not going to waste the time and effort to file further (civil, not criminal) paperwork against you in an unsuccessful effort to collect money that you clearly do not have.
If they do try to collect, they will win a "judgment" against you. This is a legal document saying that you owe them the money for cleaning up the place. (Odds are good that you'll also owe court costs and attorney fees and like that as part of the cost of *getting* a judgment against you.) Once they get a judgment, they will send you letters demanding payment. You do not pay them what they are owed on the judgment in much the same way that you didn't pay them what you owed them on the mortgage. Actually, it'll be easier this time because you don't have a house that they can take if you don't pay them.
You will not go to jail if you don't pay the judgment. (It'll ruin your credit further, but your credit is probably already pretty much shot because you're in immediate danger of foreclosure.) They can try to execute upon the judgment, but there are rules and laws about how they can do that. It's all very civilized. They may sell the judgment to a collections agency for pennies on the dollar, in which case the collections people will come after you. There are rules and laws about that, as well, and you would do well to find out what your protections are if you choose to go this route.
posted by which_chick at 3:01 PM on March 28, 2010
NYT had an article on it a while ago.
You're probably liable for cleanup costs, but the bank is *probably* not going to waste the time and effort to file further (civil, not criminal) paperwork against you in an unsuccessful effort to collect money that you clearly do not have.
If they do try to collect, they will win a "judgment" against you. This is a legal document saying that you owe them the money for cleaning up the place. (Odds are good that you'll also owe court costs and attorney fees and like that as part of the cost of *getting* a judgment against you.) Once they get a judgment, they will send you letters demanding payment. You do not pay them what they are owed on the judgment in much the same way that you didn't pay them what you owed them on the mortgage. Actually, it'll be easier this time because you don't have a house that they can take if you don't pay them.
You will not go to jail if you don't pay the judgment. (It'll ruin your credit further, but your credit is probably already pretty much shot because you're in immediate danger of foreclosure.) They can try to execute upon the judgment, but there are rules and laws about how they can do that. It's all very civilized. They may sell the judgment to a collections agency for pennies on the dollar, in which case the collections people will come after you. There are rules and laws about that, as well, and you would do well to find out what your protections are if you choose to go this route.
posted by which_chick at 3:01 PM on March 28, 2010
Have you asked about cash for keys? The bank may be willing to pay you to vacate. This happened to a friend recently -- a real estate agent contracted with the bank showed up on her doorstep with an offer a day before the sheriff's eviction. See this story for details about how it works. Best of luck.
posted by Wordwoman at 3:10 PM on March 28, 2010
posted by Wordwoman at 3:10 PM on March 28, 2010
FWIW, you don't really want a general real estate attorney; you want a consumer's rights attorney with experience in foreclosure law. If you had a work-out almost complete with WAMU, and then Chase came in and said no way, you really should talk to an attorney. I see the Washington State Bar Association has a homeowner's legal aid project. You owe it to yourself to call them tomorrow. At the very least, they can answer this question about clean-up for you.
posted by crush-onastick at 3:26 PM on March 28, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by crush-onastick at 3:26 PM on March 28, 2010 [3 favorites]
If you are willing to abandon your personal belongings, you might contact the Salvation Army, Disabled Veterans or other such group and see if they would be willing to come get everything. That way you save yourself the work while ensuring that good items don't end up in a landfill for expediency's sake. Or, if you have enough money to store the items, consider getting a POD, where they deliver a storage "bin" to your driveway, then come pick it up and transport it to a storage facility when you call back.
posted by wwartorff at 4:11 PM on March 28, 2010
posted by wwartorff at 4:11 PM on March 28, 2010
You owe it to yourself to call them tomorrow. At the very least, they can answer this question about clean-up for you.
Do this, do this, do this. Best advice in the thread.
posted by davejay at 4:18 PM on March 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
Do this, do this, do this. Best advice in the thread.
posted by davejay at 4:18 PM on March 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm so sorry to hear about your situation, I suppose other people above probably have better advice than I do since I have no idea. I did find a hotline for Washington State which might have some help/suggestions even if you're already at the point of dealing with a foreclosure: 1.877.894.HOME.
posted by Wuggie Norple at 4:54 PM on March 28, 2010
posted by Wuggie Norple at 4:54 PM on March 28, 2010
The federal government's mortgage help hotline is 1-888-995-HOPE (4673), in case you wanted to try that one, along with the Washington State one. (They may both go to the same switchboard, but it might be worth trying both.)
posted by palliser at 6:26 PM on March 28, 2010
posted by palliser at 6:26 PM on March 28, 2010
It looks from the Washington State Bar Association's website that in order to get help from their legal aid project, you have to go through the mortgage aid agencies that you reach via the hotlines listed above:
The Washington State Bar Association is pleased to offer moderate income homeowners free legal assistance through the Home Foreclosure Legal Aid Project.
Our recruitment and training of volunteer lawyers began on May 1, 2009. The project is now accepting referrals of homeowners from federally approved foreclosure prevention agencies around the state. To locate a foreclosure prevention agency in your community please call Homeownership Information Hotline - 1-877-894-HOME (4663) or visit: http://www.dfi.wa.gov/consumers/homeownership/post_purchase_counselors_foreclosure.htm.
Call 1-877-894-HOME (4663)
posted by palliser at 6:31 PM on March 28, 2010
The Washington State Bar Association is pleased to offer moderate income homeowners free legal assistance through the Home Foreclosure Legal Aid Project.
Our recruitment and training of volunteer lawyers began on May 1, 2009. The project is now accepting referrals of homeowners from federally approved foreclosure prevention agencies around the state. To locate a foreclosure prevention agency in your community please call Homeownership Information Hotline - 1-877-894-HOME (4663) or visit: http://www.dfi.wa.gov/consumers/homeownership/post_purchase_counselors_foreclosure.htm.
Call 1-877-894-HOME (4663)
posted by palliser at 6:31 PM on March 28, 2010
If you do end up moving, why not have the biggest one-day yard sale your neighborhood has ever seen? Advertise on signs, advertise on Craigslist, and try to sell as much as possible (and get some cash in your pocket) before you need to leave.
posted by MsKim at 7:52 PM on March 28, 2010
posted by MsKim at 7:52 PM on March 28, 2010
I don't know anything about the legal side of this, but if you do need to move your stuff on short notice, do you have any neighbors or nearby family/friends that could temporarily help you out by storing things at their place? Yes it takes up space, but if they have a huge basement or half an empty garage or something they might be willing to give that space to you while you get yourself situated.
posted by Elminster24 at 10:43 PM on March 28, 2010
posted by Elminster24 at 10:43 PM on March 28, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
My understanding is that Washington is a "non-recourse" state, i.e. the lender's only recourse when you default on the loan is to forclose and sell the house at auction. This suggests to me that if they can't come after you for whatever money they don't recover from the trustee sale, they also can't come after you for cleanup costs.
Have you been served with an eviction order already? Is the sheriff going to show up and kick you out? If not, you may be able to stay (possibly for weeks or months) until the bank (or the new owner) has legally evicted you. Try to find an attorney who can advise you on this.
posted by brain at 2:33 PM on March 28, 2010