Looking for ways to stop foreclosure in San Diego?
Trusted House Buyers is a market leader in buying local homes fast for cash and helping homeowners caught in this tough situation. Our Company’s President discusses the process and shares some tips that might help you if you’re faced with this problem.
(click below to listen)
Video Transcription:
Hey Everyone! I’m Brian Mollo, President of Trusted House Buyers. Foreclosure is a normally a long and heartbreaking process for homeowners. We’re going to specifically discuss the California process today, and then take a look at just some of the options that you have to stop foreclosure in San Diego. We’ll also be walking around the San Diego Courthouse here in El Cajon to get a peak as to how the foreclosure sales take place, if we can find any.
First, I have to point out one very important thing: I am not an attorney and I am NOT giving any legal advice! You might want to search online for “foreclosure attorney near me” or “foreclosure law firm”. Now that that is outta the way, let’s get to business.
Here we are in at the El Cajon San Diego Courthouse, and we’ll chat about ways to avoid foreclosure in California as we get closer to the auction, see if there is a little action later on. You might already know a little bit about California Foreclosure law; for instance, California is a non-judicial state. This basically gives this trustee the authority to sell the home to pay off the loan balance if the borrower doesn’t make payments. Up until the house is sold at auction, you can actually rescue your home by selling it and paying the lender everything you owe, including back payments and penalties.
What you need to do first is get to know your timeline and deadlines. Before the foreclosure process begins, the lender or loan servicer may send you letters over the course of months, demanding late payments. Those letters are NOT a notice of default. The lender MUST contact you to assess your financial situation and explore some options to avoid foreclosure. It’s called a “foreclosure avoidance assessment”. They cannot start the foreclosure process until at least 30 days after contacting you to make this assessment. They must advise you during that first contact that you have the right to request another meeting about how to stop foreclosure in San Diego.
Now, once the actual foreclosure process begins, it has to follow a very specific set of timed events. Initially, you’ll get a Notice of Default- THIS is the start of the foreclosure process. Keep in mind it has to be at least 30 days after contacting you for that foreclosure avoidance assessment.
If you do not pay what you owe, next will be the Notice of Trustee Sale, which sets auction date. This can be recorded 3 months after Notice of Default and the initial auction date can be just 20 days after Notice of Trustees Sale is recorded. Very fast. These timelines are extremely important because and if they’re not followed to a ‘T’, you might have a case for a wrongful foreclosure.
So we’re coming up the foreclosure auction here in a bit. A lot of people have already left. Let’s check out some of the action, but keep our distance and keep it brief. Here is where the auctions happen, believe it or not, but we’ll try and keep our distance, if the proxy comes out. At an auction, a few things can happen: a possible foreclosure postponement California, the house will be sold to the bank or sold to a third party, or the foreclosure can be canceled. The lender will usually bid at the auction in the amount of the balance due plus the foreclosure costs. In the case of another successful bidder other than the lender, they must pay the full amount of the bid immediately with cash or a cashier’s check.
In order to get the house, a Trustee’s Deed will transfer the property. The new owner will usually serve you with a 3-day written notice to “quit” or a written notice to move out. That’s when it can get messy- if you do NOT move out in the 3 days, they’ll normally go through the formal eviction process in court in order to get possession of the home.
So with all the technical aspects on the table, how can you really stop foreclosure in San Diego? You know, avoid this mess of having the house go to auction and getting that dreaded 3-day notice to quit?
Option #1:
Talk to you lender. Early. Time is your enemy anytime you miss a mortgage payment. Don’t be embarrassed. This happens all the time and inaction will just cause more harm. Lots of unforeseen circumstances happen in life, but it’s not a problem that will just go away on its own. Discuss some options with your lender like forbearance, a loan modification, short sales-get it all out on the table.
Additionally, there are other sources of assistance –the San Diego Housing Opportunities Collaborative and HOPE for Homeowners. These two provide counseling and they also partner with mortgage companies and local governments to reduce foreclosures. They could be of help. You can also get a list of housing counselors approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on its website. Other helpful sites are ‘Save Your Home California’, or technically I think its called ‘Keep Your Home California’. Check it out.
Option #2 to stop foreclosure in San Diego?
Bankruptcy. When a homeowner files for bankruptcy protection, it puts an automatic stay on all debt collection actions, including foreclosure. It simply delays the sale of the property until the homeowner resolves the debt, or in many cases, the lender gets approval from the bankruptcy court to continue the sale.
In Chapter 13 bankruptcy, during this automatic stay, you have an opportunity to reorganize your debt into a three-to five-year repayment plan. This assumes that you even qualify for Chapter 13 relief. It is NOT a total discharge of debt. And of course there are major downsides:
During that entire time, the debtor is obligated to commit all of their disposable income to the payment plan. Every penny after expenses must go toward paying back unsecured creditors. This is a big commitment that lasts quite awhile. Bankruptcy will ruin your credit for years to come and it may also negatively impact your opportunities for employment. And a bankruptcy on your record will make it nearly impossible to get a mortgage, obviously. Don’t go at that alone; speak with a qualified expert.
OPTION #3 to stop foreclosure in San Diego when you have equity, is to consider selling your house to stop the foreclosure sale. In most cases, you have up until 5 days before the foreclosure sale to cure the default and stop the process. It may not be your first choice, but if you’re not able to stop the public foreclosure auction any other way, it’s a choice you should really consider instead of losing the home to foreclosure. By selling what is still considered “pre-foreclosure”, you’ll be able to keep the foreclosure off your credit history and walk away with some money to show for your equity. If the auction date is getting very close, you need to find a cash buyer who can close with cash, and very quickly, that will essentially pay the entire loan in full.
A final option is to offer a “Deed-in-Lieu” of Foreclosure:
This means you transfer ownership of your property to the foreclosing lender in order to stop the foreclosure proceedings. It’s really a last resort to stop foreclosure in San Diego.
In ALL of these scenarios, I want to mention there are many foreclosure scams that target people whose home mortgages are in trouble. They may promise to take care of your problems or to obtain refinancing for you. Sometimes they ask you to stop making your mortgage payments or to make the payments to them. This is NOT advisable. PLEASE, please proceed with care in dealing with any individual or company claiming to be of help in this tough situation. Do. Your. Research. Please.
So those are some things that I wanted to throw out to you if you need help to avoid foreclosure in California. If you have gone through your options and you do want to consider selling your house fast, easy, and as-is, give us a call. We’ll see if we can be of help in your particular situation and talk to you about how our process works. We are very experienced in these matters and we can probably point you in the right direction. There is never any obligation to hear what we can do and there is certainly no obligation to get an offer from us. And if it something that works for you to stop foreclosure in San Diego, great. It can be stressful so we’d like to try and help and be a source of relief. We’re a local, family-run company in San Marcos, San Diego and at Trusted House Buyers, we hope we can be of help. If we can’t, we’ll be quick to let you know that as well.
Call our company today at 619-786-0973. My name is Brian and don’t hesitate to ask for me directly. Thanks for watching, good luck, and take care!