It simply amazes me how people react when they are facing foreclosure. It’s like they become zombies and just ignore the facts. They just won’t take the action needed to save themselves!
Last week a man called me on January 2nd and told me that he was facing foreclosure. The bank was going to auction his house on the February 4th. He told me that he was trying to get the house refinanced but wasn’t sure if he could get approved. I told him that it is very rare that anyone gets approved for a refinance when they are behind on their payments. I also told him the same thing I tell everyone else. Make sure you have a good back up plan.
I went and met with him and made him an offer on his house. He was fortunate enough to have enough equity to be able to sell if he wanted to. But he wanted to wait and see if he could get the house refinanced. I warned him that if he wanted to sell we would need to allow about two weeks before the sale date just to give ourselves plenty of time. But he didn’t seem concerned.
As the sale date approached I kept contacting him to remind him that he needed to do something. I told him that waiting until the last minute was very risky. In order to buy a house in foreclosure you have to get the bank to send you a payoff. Banks usually drag their feet and take anywhere from 3-7 business days to get it to you. This presents a real problem.
Finally he called me 8 days before the sale and said he wanted to sell. We immediately sent a payoff request to the bank. This was on a Monday and the sale date was on the following Tuesday. The bank responded to our request on Tuesday and told us that it would take 4-5 business days to get the payoff. So now we were hoping to have it by Friday or Monday.
Finally we received the payoff Monday at 4:45. The bank informed us that they would not accept a wire transfer. They had to have a cashiers check on by 5:00 that same day or they would foreclose. We called the bank and begged and pleaded but they just did not care. The following morning at 10:00 the bank foreclosed on his house. He didn’t get a dime. To make matters worse he received an eviction notice the next day. I wish I could say that this was an isolated event but it is not. I see this all the time. If he would have just listened to me and taken action he would have had money in his pocket and plenty of time to find a new place to stay.
If you are facing foreclosure call me. You may have more options than you think. Call 806-359-7653 or visit me online at StopForeclosureAmarillo.com
