Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Virginia

Re: $50,000 renovation

Theoretically, you could -- and probably should -- convert your receipts into a Promissory Note and record it as a 2nd or 3rd mortgage on the property, officially.

If I understand what you have described (and I am not sure that I do), you have ACTUALLY IMPROVED the proeprty by investing $50,000 to change the real estate and make it more valuable by converting the garage into extra living space.

Therefore, I think you should make your investment official as a home improvement loan, as a 2nd or 3rd mortgage, and actually record the 2nd or 3rd mortgage officially in the deed records.

The big concern I have about this is that being JUNIOR to the mortgage that is being foreclosed on, this might not protect you.

It is the best thing to do to protect you. But being "junior" to the mortgage in default, the protection might not be very good.

Note: Normally if a family member were to create a mortgage on the property like this when already in trouble, this might be HIGHLY SUSPECT as a gimmick.

Therefore, I think it is VERY important that you can PROVE that there were REAL expenses for this money. It is not just a trick to try to block foreclosure or extract money out of a future buyer. You need to be able to prove that you invested the money in the property, for real.

Meanwhile, however, your best option is to get very aggressive about finding other solutions.

Call the US Dept of Housing & Urban Development, www.HUD.gov. There are new programs to try to get a renegotiated mortgage. You have to find the right people. Many people at the mortgage company won't be cooperative or knowledgeable.

Call your Congressman and asked for "constituent services." It is THEIR JOB (to win votes) to help people navigate through the Federal bureaucracy.

There are new programs to help FORCE lenders to renegotiate.

ALSO try www. Mortgage Fraud Examiners (com). See if the mortgage is DEFECTIVE and legally unenforceable.

BELIEVE ME: THERE IS NOTHING IN YOUR FUTURE THAT WILL BE EASIER OR MORE COST-EFFECTIVE THAN BURNING UP THE PHONE LINES -- RIGHT NOW -- TO TRY TO FIND A WAY TO RENEGOTIATE THE MORTGAGE.

Any other scenario in front of you is going to be HARDER.

No matter how much you think it isn't working, it is BETTER to bang on every door to try to get a renegotiated mortgage NOW, than to try to glue the pieces back together again later.

Yes, 90% of the people who answer the phone at your mortgage lender will be WAY behind the times, out of the loop, uninformed, and uncooperative.

But with all the government pressure, there is some office somewhere whose job it is to work out a plan for you and your daughter and husband.

ALSO: Do not rely only on phone calls. It is a lot easier for a letter to bounce around and end up on the right desk than to catch the right person at just the right moment on the telephone. Try it all, but send letters to every address you can find.

Re: $50,000 renovation

There is not much you can do unless you can stop the foreclosure. Have your daughter and son in law considered filing bankruptcy to stop the foreclosure and cure the default?