Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Foreclosure

Banks rep offered a vaguely written offer to pay us to move out. Eviction notice has not been served yet though I expect it soon. The notice from the bank is written in such a way that any excuse can be used to withdraw payment. We tried repeatedly to work with the bank prior to the default but they rejected everything saying only that they could do nothing until we defaulted. When we defaulted they stated that there was nothing they could do. This same bank has publicly stated that it was temporarily halting foreclosure actions. A few days after their statement we received our notice of trustee sale. My wife, age 50, is disabled and now experiencing seizures. I am 59 and have repeatedly experienced job loss due to downsizing or outsourcing and now the economy. In addition, due to my wife's seizures and no health insurance I have become somewhat housebound. We have no children and I was recently told that we could expect no help from the government by a counselor from social services. Shelters are full in my area so that is out. Would bankruptcy give us a little more time to prepare or should I just buy the body bags now?


Asked on 3/15/09, 8:39 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Re: Foreclosure

Your question is well-written and compelling. Nevertheless, it leaves out a couple of details that might affect the answer:

(1) Has a foreclosure sale occurred?

(2) Who was the buyer?

There is often a lot of slack in a foreclosure schedule, especially these days, when everyone is so busy, including the courts and the sheriff. Also, everyone (lenders and buyers of foreclosures) is groping around for the bast way to handle foreclosed properties.

If your property has been foreclosed, you need to identify the buyer and his/her/its goals. Not all buyers at foreclosure necessarily want to evict the former owners (or the tenant of the former owners). Rather than suffer a lengthy vacancy, the buyer may be willing to rent to someone who is already there. It's worth asking before taking drastic measures like filing bankruptcy (which will provide only very temporary relief from an eviction).

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Answered on 3/15/09, 11:18 pm


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