Ever feel like you're beating your head against a wall sometimes?
I have some dear past clients that I've worked with a few times in the past. Lovely people, as nice as they can be. Hardworking, conscientious, the whole deal.
When they bought their current home two years ago, they decided to keep their previous home as a rental property in Charlotte NC. There wasn't a lot of equity in the house so they hoped to improve that situation over time while tenants made the payments.
Alas, they had bad tenants. Didn't make payments on time, when they actually made payments. Didn't treat the house so well and didn't vacate when they were supposed to vacate.
In the meantime, the husband lost his job. You know, bank downsizing. Took him a month, but he found something else. However, in that time, they fell behind on the mortgage payments since their income had been cut in half and the tenants had decided not to pay their rent.
I got the call to sell the house here in Charlotte NC. I advised the sellers to talk to the bank and let them know that we were trying to sell it, to forestall a little and just keep the lines of communication open. They said that they did so.
We went over to look at it when vacant, and it was completely trashed. Carpet was nasty, paint horrible, trim ripped off of doorframes and window frames. Took the sellers a couple of weeks to get it straightened out.
Then, the letter from the bank came with the auction date. So we took the sign and put it against the side of the house until we had word that it would be okay to sell it.
Much to my surprise, an investor saw the sign against the house and called for information. The man is legit, has cash, and wants the house.
But now we're under the gun for time. The redemption period is up on Friday at which point the bank takes over completely and there's nothing else we can do. So I've been leaving emails and telephone messages for the sellers to get me some contact information at the bank so we can let this buyer buy the house. They're not pushing the issue. Not standing on top of the bank for help. Leaving voicemails and waiting for return calls.
They want my help, but they aren't willing to take the time to get me the information I need in order to help. I do not stand to make any money here, I'm just trying to help save their credit from a complete foreclosure (the late payments will be bad enough). And they're not understanding how critical time is. Have they already given up and assuming that the house is gone?
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