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I'm looking for some advice. My soon to be ex-wife has been lying to
me about a number of issues, the biggest of which was that she was
making house payments in a house we moved out of over 2 years ago. We
were living in a home in IL, and I moved to accept a new job in MN,
she said she would stay behind to sell the house and then follow me.
After 8 months of 'not being able to sell the house' she followed me
here, telling me the house was occupied by renters but still for sale
(which it wasn't). I continued to trust that she was taking care of
business. She told me that the renters in it were essentially paying
rent equal to the house payment, but there were no renters. During
this time, we split up, and I moved out of our apartment in MN. For
the past 18 months, she continued to tell me the renters were living
there, keeping it up, paying rent, and the house was still for sale, I
shouldn't worry about it. However,I found out that in effect she just
abandoned it and and hid the fact that it has gone into foreclosure.
I found out by running my credit report last week only to discover she
has been hiding much more than this from me including nearly $15000 in
additional consumer debt and about $1200 in debt that had been turned
over to collection agencies. She was able to hide this fact by never
'forwarding' our postal mail, she took regular trips back to IL to
pick it up, and just cancelled the phone there, and we are listed as
'unable to be found' by many of these agencies.
She also lied to me about having filed our divorce papers, which I
recently discovered, so I filed my own last month. When we agreed to
split, I opened my own checking account but deposited money religously
in our joint account to help her cover the house payments (which she
wasn't making, but I didn't know that). Thank goodness, I have kept
all the receipts from these deposits.
As soon as I discovered this whole mess I immediately contacted my
divorce attorney who recommends a request for a temporary hearing. I
need to keep my legal bills to a minimum, though, since I have
discovered a lot of debt that I had no idea I was even responsible for
and want\need to pay it off. It seems my wife has creatively used my
social security number to obtain credit, and may have done so even as
recently as last month. My questions are as follows, and I would
appreciate any help that anyone can give me.
1. how can I find out the status of my foreclosure? Since she
hasn't paid the mortgage in over 9 months, I would assume it's fairly
well along. What will the bank be willing to tell me, if anything?
I have looked in the public records and see it wasn't sold, but how
can I tell if the bank has taken title over? Where does one look for
title transfer information?
2. did she have to forge my name on any of the paperwork for the
foreclosure? Is there any way I can prove this all happened without
my knowledge, or any value in proving it?
2. when a house goes into foreclosure, is it sold for market value or
just enough to cover the mortgage? Our mortgage is $120,000, she has
a $15000 lein on it (I know the amout is right but am confident she
lied to me about the circumstances behind it) and highly doubt the
taxes have been paid. Assuming a total debt on the property of about
$150000, if the fair market value of the place is $180,000 (which I
know it to be), does the bank sell it for $150, or $180? Or does
that depend on who owns the title?
3. how can I find out what else (if anything ) she has been lying to
me about? She claims our income tax returns have been legally done
and filed, telling me she just 'signed them for me' as many wives do
for their husbands. What can happen to me if she was lying about
that?
4. on my credit report, there are open accounts listed that I know I
never signed for. Do I have any recourse against this? Is it like
identity theft?
5. how much of this debt am I responsible for? Will these companies
be willing to work with me?
Looking back, I feel very foolish, angry and embarrassed about what
happened, but I can't change the past. I worked, deposited my checks
in our joint account, and trusted my wife to handle what she said she
was going to handle. I'll never make this mistake again, but now
worry what my low credit score will do to my future. I have been
turned down for a checking account, and my 6 year old car won't last
forever, I'm sure I won't qualify for a new loan. Is bankruptcy a
good option for me? I want to pay off the debt, but it's obviously
going to take a long time, and I assume by now there is absolutely
nothing I can do about the foreclosure.
I apologize for the long post and appreciate any advice you could give
me that would help me keep my legal bills at a minimum.
Tom
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In article <q29970hun4b4degpquh0b2qm2sh3b1us46@4ax.com>, Tom
<emsaccord@yahoo.com> wrote:
1. how can I find out the status of my foreclosure? Since she
hasn't paid the mortgage in over 9 months, I would assume it's fairly
well along. What will the bank be willing to tell me, if anything?
I have looked in the public records and see it wasn't sold, but how
can I tell if the bank has taken title over? Where does one look for
title transfer information?
Call your lender. They should have the most up to date information.
2. did she have to forge my name on any of the paperwork for the
foreclosure? Is there any way I can prove this all happened without
my knowledge, or any value in proving it?
There is no paperwork for foreclosure. It is as simple as you don't
pay, they take it away.
2. when a house goes into foreclosure, is it sold for market value or
just enough to cover the mortgage? Our mortgage is $120,000, she has
a $15000 lein on it (I know the amout is right but am confident she
lied to me about the circumstances behind it) and highly doubt the
taxes have been paid. Assuming a total debt on the property of about
$150000, if the fair market value of the place is $180,000 (which I
know it to be), does the bank sell it for $150, or $180? Or does
that depend on who owns the title?
The home is sold at a public auction. In general, if there isn't
much equity, the lender with the highest outstanding balance will
buy the house for the dollar amount of the mortgage. If there
is significant equity, you may get other bidders in there. If
it sells for more than the mortgage, you get the extra back, less
any expenses that were involved in selling the house. In general,
if there is going to be outside bidders, those bidders will do
everything they can to track you down and get a quit claim deed
from you to buy the house prior to the auction. Your wife may
have already sold the house out from under you without you knowing.
3. how can I find out what else (if anything ) she has been lying to
me about? She claims our income tax returns have been legally done
and filed, telling me she just 'signed them for me' as many wives do
for their husbands. What can happen to me if she was lying about
that?
You have little power to force her to tell you, and there are too
many things that she might have done for you to check them all. About
your best shot is to make full disclosure be part of the divorce
settlement.
4. on my credit report, there are open accounts listed that I know I
never signed for. Do I have any recourse against this? Is it like
identity theft?
You and your wife are a unit, one and the same under the law. What
she does and you do are considered to be the same. If she got credit,
and your name is on it, then you have this credit, too. There is
nothing to get recourse from.
5. how much of this debt am I responsible for? Will these companies
be willing to work with me?
Depends on which state you officially live in. If you are in a
community property state, then you are on the hook for 50%. Your
divorce settlement can stipulate that she pays off the debts, but
since you are legally still on the hook, you are still legally
responsible if she doesn't pay.
Looking back, I feel very foolish, angry and embarrassed about what
happened, but I can't change the past.
You should be. You burried your head in the sand, and didn't take
responsiblity for your family like a real man would. You wimped out,
and now you are paying the price for being a limp noodle. Yes, this
is harse, but you fully deserve it.
Is bankruptcy a good option for me?
Since you had no intention of taking out this credit, and you didn't
benefit from it, you filing bankruptcy really isn't going to hurt
anyone. She has already done the damage. Since you don't know what
all she did, nor do you know what is going to pop up in the future,
I think that is a good option. I would consult with your attorney,
but I think the best strategy is to wait until after your divorce
is final, and perhaps 3 more months has passed by to give time for
everything to come out of the wood work. Bankruptcy is going to
trash your credit record, but then again, you are already there, so
it isn't going to be that much worse, and it gets you off the hook for
her stuff.
-john-
--
====================================================================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
====================================================================
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I can help you on some of this...
I'm looking for some advice. My soon to be ex-wife has been lying to
me about a number of issues, the biggest of which was that she was
making house payments in a house we moved out of over 2 years ago. We
were living in a home in IL, and I moved to accept a new job in MN,
she said she would stay behind to sell the house and then follow me.
After 8 months of 'not being able to sell the house' she followed me
here, telling me the house was occupied by renters but still for sale
(which it wasn't). I continued to trust that she was taking care of
business. She told me that the renters in it were essentially paying
rent equal to the house payment, but there were no renters. During
this time, we split up, and I moved out of our apartment in MN. For
the past 18 months, she continued to tell me the renters were living
there, keeping it up, paying rent, and the house was still for sale, I
shouldn't worry about it. However,I found out that in effect she just
abandoned it and and hid the fact that it has gone into foreclosure.
I found out by running my credit report last week only to discover she
has been hiding much more than this from me including nearly $15000 in
additional consumer debt and about $1200 in debt that had been turned
over to collection agencies. She was able to hide this fact by never
'forwarding' our postal mail, she took regular trips back to IL to
pick it up, and just cancelled the phone there, and we are listed as
'unable to be found' by many of these agencies.
She also lied to me about having filed our divorce papers, which I
recently discovered, so I filed my own last month. When we agreed to
split, I opened my own checking account but deposited money religously
in our joint account to help her cover the house payments (which she
wasn't making, but I didn't know that). Thank goodness, I have kept
all the receipts from these deposits.
1. how can I find out the status of my foreclosure? Since she
hasn't paid the mortgage in over 9 months, I would assume it's fairly
well along. What will the bank be willing to tell me, if anything?
I have looked in the public records and see it wasn't sold, but how
can I tell if the bank has taken title over? Where does one look for
title transfer information?
Call the bank. They will usually be more than happy to work something
out, whether you pay the total unpaid balance, add to next month's
payment a portion of the unpaid balance, anything to show you are
acting in good faith and working with them. They may have turned it
over to an attorney by now though so you may be dealing with a law
firm instead, but they will work with you as well. As for the title,
call your county recorder of deeds and do a title search. They will
have the necessary information.
2. did she have to forge my name on any of the paperwork for the
foreclosure? Is there any way I can prove this all happened without
my knowledge, or any value in proving it?
She didn't have to do anything for the house to go into foreclosure.
You don't pay your mortgage, foreclosure proceedings begin. Simple as
that.
3. when a house goes into foreclosure, is it sold for market value or
just enough to cover the mortgage? Our mortgage is $120,000, she has
a $15000 lein on it (I know the amout is right but am confident she
lied to me about the circumstances behind it) and highly doubt the
taxes have been paid. Assuming a total debt on the property of about
$150000, if the fair market value of the place is $180,000 (which I
know it to be), does the bank sell it for $150, or $180? Or does
that depend on who owns the title?
Well, the bank will try to sell the property for as much as possible
but they are not in the real estate business and will likely want to
unload it quickly. The bank will sell it for whatever they can get,
and I don't know that number. Nobody does. However, if the bank
sells it for more than what is owed on the property, the balance goes
to you and your wife, assuming the property is held in a tenancy by
the entirety (meaning held as a married couple). If the bank sells
for less than what is owed on it, they will come after both of you for
the balance. Whoever has the money to pay, will pay.
3. how can I find out what else (if anything ) she has been lying to
me about? She claims our income tax returns have been legally done
and filed, telling me she just 'signed them for me' as many wives do
for their husbands. What can happen to me if she was lying about
that?
Call the Internal Revenue Service at 800-829-1040, go through the
appropriate prompts and you will speak to someone who will ask for
your social security number. They will tell you if a revenue agent
has been assigned to you if you are way behind on your taxes, and the
number of the office where the revenue agent works. If such is the
case, get a tax attorney on the line with you because you don't want
to deal with a revenue agent alone. However, if your paychecks aren't
being heavily garnished by the IRS yet, then either your wife is
telling the truth or the levy/garnishment process hasn't begun yet.
4. on my credit report, there are open accounts listed that I know I
never signed for. Do I have any recourse against this? Is it like
identity theft?
Call the credit bureaus and explain. That's all I know on this
subject.
5. how much of this debt am I responsible for? Will these companies
be willing to work with me?
Most will. I can't answer the question as to how much you are
responsible for though, maybe someone else on this group knows.
Looking back, I feel very foolish, angry and embarrassed about what
happened, but I can't change the past. I worked, deposited my checks
in our joint account, and trusted my wife to handle what she said she
was going to handle. I'll never make this mistake again, but now
worry what my low credit score will do to my future. I have been
turned down for a checking account, and my 6 year old car won't last
forever, I'm sure I won't qualify for a new loan. Is bankruptcy a
good option for me?
Don't do bankruptcy if you don't have to because you sure as hell
won't be able to get a new car loan after declaring it. Work through
this with your attorney, contact the credit agencies and creditors to
explain what is going on. Good luck.
---Chris J.
Disclaimer: No attorney-client relationship exists here and this
posting consists of only general legal advice.
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Tom wrote:
[claims wife lied to him and mismanaged joint assets including a house]
While I can appreciate that you want to keep your attorney bills low, the
amounts of money being discussed here should lead you to chat these points
up with your lawyer. I'd think an hour or two of his time would be well
worth the money you spend compared to how much exposure you have here. That
said, I'll lightly go over some points, but my discussion is not legal
advice nor should it take the place of that talk you need to have with your
attorney.
1. how can I find out the status of my foreclosure? Since she
hasn't paid the mortgage in over 9 months, I would assume it's fairly
well along. What will the bank be willing to tell me, if anything?
I have looked in the public records and see it wasn't sold, but how
can I tell if the bank has taken title over? Where does one look for
title transfer information?
Since you are named on the mortgage or other note (trust deed?) the bank
should have no issues discussing the status of the house and any
foreclosures directly with you.
2. did she have to forge my name on any of the paperwork for the
foreclosure? Is there any way I can prove this all happened without
my knowledge, or any value in proving it?
If she took the house into a voluntary foreclosure she may have faked your
name which should have some weight with the bank in pausing the procedure,
but even so, you'll need to pony up the money to take the house from default
into a paid up condition. So unless you have the money to make the loan
current (and maybe pay some fees), there is little benefit to pursuing this.
The State may have a legal case against your wife for forgery, but that'd be
somewhat a rare prosecution and it'd be up to the DA or AG's office
(depending on jurisdiction).
If the failure to pay was the reason for the foreclosure, then she didn't
need to forge anything.
2. when a house goes into foreclosure, is it sold for market value or
just enough to cover the mortgage? Our mortgage is $120,000, she has
a $15000 lein on it (I know the amout is right but am confident she
lied to me about the circumstances behind it) and highly doubt the
taxes have been paid. Assuming a total debt on the property of about
$150000, if the fair market value of the place is $180,000 (which I
know it to be), does the bank sell it for $150, or $180? Or does
that depend on who owns the title?
The bank will need to recover all liens against the house during the
foreclosure sale so it can pass title. It has no obligation to try to get
the most out of the sale. This is the reason some folks buy at foreclosure
sales - the prices are often below market.
3. how can I find out what else (if anything ) she has been lying to
me about? She claims our income tax returns have been legally done
and filed, telling me she just 'signed them for me' as many wives do
for their husbands. What can happen to me if she was lying about
that?
I was unaware that many wives sign the 1040's. You can request copies of
your tax returns from the IRS. Contact your attorney or the IRS directly for
procedures. As to lying in other specific areas relevent to your marriage,
that's where your attorney will earn his fees.
4. on my credit report, there are open accounts listed that I know I
never signed for. Do I have any recourse against this? Is it like
identity theft?
It depends on the laws of the state where such occured. I"m not familiar
with the state you mention. You can contact a credit bureau to find out what
you have open.
5. how much of this debt am I responsible for? Will these companies
be willing to work with me?
Debtor companies will almost always work with you because they want to get
paid, not to write debt off. How much debt you're responsible for will
depend upon your state laws and the partculars of your divorce decree.
Looking back, I feel very foolish, angry and embarrassed about what
happened, but I can't change the past. I worked, deposited my checks
in our joint account, and trusted my wife to handle what she said she
was going to handle. I'll never make this mistake again, but now
worry what my low credit score will do to my future.
You're walking down a path many husbands before you have trod. As the saying
goes, if you ever want to get married again, instead find a woman who hates
you, then give her all your money and your house too. That saves time and
wear on all.
-paul
ianal
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