A recent study found that 47% of people stay in my home after foreclosure.
This may surprise you at first, but here’s why it shouldn’t… banks are not in the business of owning homes.
They are in the business of loaning out money, and they make more money doing that than anything else. So when they are forced to foreclose on a home, the bank has no other choice but to keep it until they can sell it. Even when they sell it, there’s no guarantee that they’ll get all of their money back (it depends on how much you owed).
But what the banks have found is that when a Kansas City foreclosed home goes vacant, there’s a much bigger probability the house will start to get problems – as opposed to if there was still someone living in it. There are circumstances when the bank will rather have you stay in my home after foreclosure, even when you aren’t making payments because it helps keep the house in order.
There’s been a lot of talk on the media about folk’s who live rent-free after their foreclosure – and even more stories about banks just “abandoning” a property…
Stories of people that avoid making mortgage payments for months at a time and even years.
Man, wouldn’t that be great! We could all live for free. (wink)
But hold on… it couldn’t be that simple, right?
Right!
No bank is going to neglect to collect the payments that are owed to them intentionally. There would have to be some major mistakes being made for that to happen. I mean you might get lucky, it’s definitely within the realm of possibilities and it has happened before. But it definitely isn’t legal, and it’s a strategy you should be going after because you can get into some serious trouble.
So then what is the reason that is all the foreclosed on homes that are still occupied? Well again, it’s important to note that the bank (or anyone for that matter) wants a house that is vacant, that only attracts crime, vandalism, and other kinds of unwanted behavior.
Having someone in the house will help a bank maintain its value (their investment), so it’s actually in their best interests to keep it occupied. Depending on what the policies are of your particular bank, they may either require you to leave – or say that you can stay.
There are some good, perfectly legal ways to remain in your house, even if it was foreclosed on.
How To Stay In My Home After Foreclosure In Kansas City
Again, all of these options are going to heavily depend on your own particular bank’s policies and regulations to see how successful you will be to stay in my home after foreclosure. It’s always a good idea to consult a real estate professional to help you along the way and find the best way for you to stay in my home after foreclosure.
1) Wait it out. In all honesty, this is will be your worst option, but it seems to be the most popular that people do. You definitely don’t need to run off and abandon your property at the first sign of distress, you want to do everything that you can to stay in the house as long as possible. But on the other hand, you don’t want it to get to the point where the sheriff has to go in and physically see to it that you get out. Keep communication with your bank to see how they can work with you.
2) Go to court. Though rare, there are cases where the judge grants a stay or delays an eviction. The best shot you have at winning a case like this when you (or your attorney) are able to prove the bank neglected some kind of legal step within the foreclosure process. Within the last few years, there’s been a lot of fraudulent activity coming from the banks that’s been unveiled – so you shouldn’t be surprised to see an increasing number of people going to court in order to stop a foreclosure. Fighting the bank will be extremely expensive, difficult, and time-consuming – that’s even if you have a strong case, honestly, the majority of people won’t stand a chance…
3) Propose a bonus to move-out. Banks understand that there is almost always a cost associated with removing the old owners – whether they do it via attorney fees and unlawful detainers of however else. So instead, how about saving everyone the headache, time and money and take that money for yourself? This is what’s known as “cash for keys”. It may sound kind of greedy, but you’d be surprised how many banks would gladly agree to this in order to reach an agreement.
4) Rent it back. As crazy as it sounds, some banks will agree to keep previous mortgagors as their tenants for a while. It’s definitely just a short-term solution since they’ll want you to agree to move out as soon as they find another buyer. There are some cases where we could buy the house and then rent it back to you but your house would have to fit our stricter criteria.
We’re happy that you read this article and are exploring your choices. We enjoy helping homeowners find creative solutions.
We can’t help everyone, but we might be able to help you. We buy houses in Kansas City from people who need to sell fast, to find out more…