I have just received notice of Lis Pendis / Foreclosure. What am I looking at?

Your Questions Answered

At Ashlar, I firmly b that an educated home buyer or seller is best equipped to make their own decisions. That’s why I take time out of my day each and every day to answer someone’s real estate question. And, when I think the answer can be useful to you as well, I share it here. So without further ado:

Question:

Why do I have a FORECLOSURE notice (Lis Pendens)?

The good news is foreclosure usually take a while. It’s not immediate like a rental eviction.

The other good news is that you have a right of redemption, meaning that if you are able to, you can payoff the house and foreclosure fees and get out of foreclosure.

Now, I realize that with the house being in foreclosure you likely do not have the means to payoff the mortgage.

However! The right of redemption also means that if you are to sell the house and payoff the mortgage and the legal fees and penalties associated with the foreclosure thus far, you are able to pocket the difference!

And the good news is that with the way the market has been the last few years, if you have had that mortgage for a couple years, there is a very high likelihood that you would be able to sell the house, put money in the bank, and avoid a foreclosure on your credit. The alternative is to let the foreclosure proceed and lose everything and have a big negative on your credit for nearly a decade.

Even if the numbers don’t add up, there is the possibility of negotiating a Short Sale which is where we get the bank to agree to a sale for less money than is owed on the mortgage. You likely will not receive any money from the sale, or a small amount, but you will avoid the credit hit.

I know this isn’t a fun position, but I have helped other homeowners in situations just like yours. Most recently was 3 months ago, and they had completely given up on a home they had owned since the 90s they had refinanced in 2010 and fell on hard times. They had abandoned it for over a year, figuring there was nothing they could do. Thankfully, their son thought to mention the situation to me and I told them the exact same that I told you above. They didn’t believe it was possible, had huge doubts, didn’t get their hopes up. With 45 days I was able to list the property for sale, get the property sold in “needs full renovation” condition, they put about $20,000 in the bank, and they had no foreclosure on their record.

It is possible but you need to make moves QUICKLY. Once a foreclosure starts which is sounds like it is, the clock starts ticking. I’m happy to help and take a look if you’d like to pm me some information.