Caroline Gerardo 

You ask many thought-provoking and probing questions. 

There are paid-for services that provide information on homes with a notice of default. 

It would be wonderful if the issues were addressed with a solution. Banks and servicing companies are profit centers.  If they cared about the "people" perhaps they would invest in solutions other than foreclosure. 

Real Estate agents could use a paid-for service and market directly to the homeowners to get their homes sold and avoid foreclosure.  

If we wait for banks and services to help, we will be waiting for a very. long. time. 

There are many solutions.
However NONE can be applied until MABLE takes action.
Mable received  'lots' maybe thousands of solitations to help, in the mailbox, on the door, incessant phone calls, everywhere!
Sometimes, if someone REALLY want to help Mable, they may have to knock on the door.
That eliminates most of the AR bunch.

There are smart people that sell and claim their equity and there are foolish people that do not - that's life - who can expalin the waste other than ignorance. Some do, Some don't, Some will, Some won't and the wheels on the bus go round and round.

If her house goes to auction, Mabel gets nothing.  IF she had something other than purchase money on the house (i.e. a refi) she now has a recourse loan and the lender can go after her for any deficiency.

I am so thankful I live in Charlotte, NC! I had two requests for foreclosure properties in our city limits this week alone and each time I checked, we had ZERO!

I'm curious if Hannah Williams and Nick Vandekar, 610-203-4543 are seeing any Mables in the PA area or if Ben Graboske is simply selling fake news?!

If a speeding train leaves San Jose will Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist be a passenger or the engineer?   

There are many scenarios for me to consider the logic in this or determine why anyone does(or doesn't do) anything.    

Sad to hear Mabel was deaf, dumb and blind! Solutions to her problem are everywhere and someone probably did knock on the door! You can't fix stupid!

There is plenty of help for her out there, she just needed to ask.

    Agents ready to sell it for her.

    Ibuyers ready to buy it.

We cant blame the system when people dont use it.

Notice of Defaults are public record, no reason to think otherwise. The solution was for Mabel to ask for help prior to foreclosure proceedings. 

Caroline, I'm at a loss to see what the problem you are eluding to is.  Could you please clarify?

From what I read there is an owner who did not pay her mortgage as she was obligated to do for over 1.5 years and was foreclosed upon.

NODs are public record and ridiculously easy to find and are typically filed if you're 30 days late.  Black Knight or the servicer do not need to publish a list and foreclosures in California have to be advertised for a month prior to the date of sale/auction. 

I've marketed to NODs before.  They get a lot of solicitations.  Most are either in denial, working on a solution or just don't care.  Most don't respond and some can get rather hostile.

The only ways to "solve" this "problem" is for:
1) Mabel to honor her obligations to pay the mortgage.

2) Mabel to RECOGNIZE that she's in trouble and MAKE THE DECISION to sell.

In short, personal responsibility.

I am amazed also that Mabel didn't reach out to someone to give her the full amount she could get.   Didn't anyone suggest a REALTOR or sell for a profit?

Caroline,

An intriguing question and I think that Annette Lawrence , Palm Harbor, FL 727-420-4041 has a viable solution.  And of course Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist has a good one too.  What many do not realize is the vast profits of kindness and care.  A

Wow, this is definitely an interesting thread.  and I do agree that it is an interesting situation.  but I have always believed that home ownership is not for everyone.  don't hang me for that comment  

Solutions indeed! One would have been for Mabel to have hired a broker to get her that equity! 
But this happens and I don't get it . . . my across the street neighbor did this many years back. She met with several agents, had 50% equity in her home and she STILL decided to 'just walk away' . . . she was gainfully employed and current on her payments. Can't fix stupid!

Mortgage borrowers in default need to seek professional advice. When they fail to seek assistance, it it their own fault. Sadly, some fail to do anything to protect their own interests.

Well back during the recession, the bank can suck up Mabel's equity with some hefty fees. I would say Mabel wouldn't be getting what you are saying from your math. I'm sure the lender told her what this was going to cost her. Also, why not just get an attorney to help?

Debe Maxwell, CRS  I have not had any calls of distress this year. Sellers in distress in the past years have called me for help and I sincerly believe they would have reached out to me and will if they are in trouble. The other point i will make is there are many investers making a type of robo calls and TV commercials saying they will buy your house. No commissions no fees any condition. This in itself in my humble opinion would avoid forclosures. On the other hand does bring up another subject that many of these callers are licensed Real Estate Agents and not identifying themselves as such which is a violation of Pennsylvania licensing act.

There are lots of solutions, but it really depends who reaches out to the Mabels of the world.  How many phone calls and solicitations do we get on a daily basis that are looking to take advantage of us or sell us some service we don't need?  Mabel is probably confused, embarrassed and more than a little afraid.  During the Great Recession, I was always astonished the smart people that were paralyzed by fear.  I knew one Mabel that let her home get foreclosed on and she called me when the notice was put on her door to move out.  Luckily, I put her in touch with an attorney that saved the house.

It is much harder to help than it appears.  Mabel really does need to reach out to the bank, a friend, a family member, somebody.

With respect to Aunt Mabel...

1) She signed a Promissory Note to pay back this mortgage

2) In conjunction with those same loan docs, she acknowledged a lien would be placed on her property to payback said lien

3) Bank/Servicer has a Loss Mitigation Department specifically in place to explore solutions for Borrower's experiencing a financial hardship

4) Bank/Servicer is not shy about sending a ton of messages to get payment and/or open a dialog for Loss Mitigation (which no doubt she received)

5) Under the CARES Act, ANYONE who verbally asserts (with no documentation requirements) that they had been negatively impacted on any level amidst COVID-19 was eligible for 2 consectutive 6 month periods of forbearance (1 year total) regardless of their income/employment status.

If Aunt Mabel is ignoring all of these efforts, what choice is she leaving?

If we were to get on an idealistic soap box for a moment...

A) She should be paying what she owes on a loan she has agreed to pay back

B) She should answer one of these many phone calls (or letters) she is getting from the Bank/Servicer

C) While we're being idealistic here, perhaps there is someone, ANYONE in her life (friends/family/priest/other) that she can bring up this problem to with the hope of seeking a solution

When all else fails, the Bank/Servicer needs to move forward with the foreclosure. Nobody wins (including Aunt Mabel's neighbors). Respectfully (and I really do want to be respectful here), this is not a case where Aunt Mabel gets to cry foul or play victim. Solutions are already in place...she chose not to access them.

She had choices and either didn't know about them or didn't act on them. It is difficult to understand why a person doesn't do things to help their situation. 

You want a solution? We as agents need to let people out there know there is a solution. We can help them sell for a profit, sell to an ibuyer or sell as a short sale. The market is too good to let a house go into foreclosure.

Here's what I'm hearing in NC. Many lenders (especially credit unions) are fixing up properties and selling them for a profit. They figure flippers can do it and they can too. Ibuyer companies are buying these homes from the banks before they get a chance to hit the market. There are homes that are in foreclosure that will never hit the main market because investors, ibuyers and banks want to make a profit. So, all those people (including flippers/investors) waiting for a big foreclosure dump so they can scoop up a bargain are going to be disappointed.

Buyers will have to compete for a foreclosure property just like any other property. It's a new day!