Re: FORECLOSURE LISTING SERVICE - Posted by Tom-FL
Posted by Tom-FL on September 22, 2004 at 19:16:42:
Methinks you’ve been hoodwinked.
How could they possibly have the information “well before they go into the papers or courthouse”?
In a mortgage state, the first publicly viewable indication that there is a problem is the filing of a foreclosure lawsuit at the courthouse.
If a service gets that info before it’s available in public record at the courthouse, then they must be getting it directly from the banks. If that is the case, then the banks are violating privacy laws and would no doubt be sued into oblivion before long.
Additionally, since most banks have some sort of federal charter, they probably wouldn’t be banks long if it was discovered they were selling customer’s private information to some company who in turn would sell it to any schmoe with a checkbook.
At very least, the FC would probably be tossed due to improper procedures and they would have to refile, and do it right.
They may know about late pays by scanning the credit reporting agencies for mortage late pays (maybe). Then again, late pays are not foreclosure, they are late pays. And it’s not a foreclosure till it’s a lawsuit and it’s not a lawsuit till it’s filed at the courthouse.
Trust Deed states have some similar legal mechanism of public notification. The banks are not going to tell anybody before this public notice is filed.
Now, to answer your actual question. Mid July is only two months ago. Around here, things are just getting heady. Some investors say the thing to do is get there first. Other say to wait till the sale is imminent. The logic being that the closer to sale, the more likely they are to wake up.
I think you should start after them early and make repeat contacts till one of two things happen. The first is they no longer own the house. This could be that it’s been taken back by lender, or they sold it privately. The second is that the case is dismissed, usually because they made a deal or cured the default. Don’t give up on these. Instead of mailing/phoning/knocking once a week or ten days, now you scale back to several times a year. Then you are pitching them when no one else is, and you may catch them before an action is filed.
Make no mistake. If they’ve been in FC before, the chances of them being in FC again are pretty high. Most forebearance deals are ill fated from the beginning. Really, if they couldn’t keep up with the $800 payment, how are they going to manage $1100 or $1200 till the arrearages are made up? The answer is, they’re not! So when you see a FC case dismissed, don’t be surprised when it gets refiled in less than a year. If you’ve taken time to “farm” them, then you will be the first one they call when reality hits.
The thing is that they should be well familiar with your marketing materials by now and you should stand out from the crowd. Keep your stuff consistant so they recognise it. They should feel like the “know” you.