Posted by rm on July 07, 2003 at 21:01:00:
I realize that they’re not excited about taking less than they’re owed. It’s just that this is the first one I’ve done with a company where the employees seem so disinterested in doing much of anything.
I realize that my perception may be wrong.
We’re actually looking at less than 80% of the balance.
Here’s an excerpt from their hardship letter:
We purchased this home at ******* in September of 2002. The coupon book we received at closing said that our payments were around $1200. This was the maximum that we could afford, and that?s the figure we planned our budget on. We soon learned that the mortgage company had miscalculated our taxes. So, our payments were now $1405. This extra $200 was enough to throw our finances off, and we struggled to meet this obligation, plus our other costs. We got behind in January. We arranged to catch up, and in April we were half way there. Then, we received notice that, because the assessor had raised our SEV to $100,200 our payment was now going to be $2,100/month.
There?s no way we could afford to make this payment. We?ve called the assessor?s office repeatedly and spoken to a number of people there. Their response is that while they were negligent, we have to wait until next year to appeal the taxes. Well, we don?t have that kind of time. Through all of this, we?ve fallen behind on our other debts. We?ve tried selling the home ourselves because we have no equity, and when the buyers find out what the taxes are, they run. We feel like we?ve been shafted from the start on this deal, from the lender?s mistake with the tax calculation, to the assessor?s ?too bad, so sad? attitude.
We?re being forced to file bankruptcy soon, because we don?t see any way out. We?ve met with an attorney, and plan to file very soon.