default

[Susan]

Help needed....my husband and I have consulted with our financial advisor and decided that we have no choice but to default on our manufactured home loan with Greentree. We have been trying to sell the home (Dutch, 1998-very nice), which is located in a leased community, for almost 2 years. We built our first "real" home over a year ago and have been paying both mortgages ever since. Come January, we will have exhausted all our savings and cannot ask any other family members to help us out with payments any longer. We have spent over $800 this past year on ads and have gone through three brokers, including the one on-site, who represents the park owners, who are also dealers. No one has been able to solifiy a buyer for us. We have marketed our assumable loan and cut the asking price several times. What's hurting us is about 20 other homes for sale in the community (over 400 homes) as well as many that have been reposessed already, which are selling for $35-$40k. We owe $58.

We were told that we would not have to pay taxes on the home, since the value of the home is still greater than the loan balance (paid $68k). We have also been informed how badly our credit will be hit by this measure, but we simply have no other alternative. We already had to secure a seconf mortgage on our new home about 6 months ago, just to consolidate some debt and open a little more cash flow every month to come up with more money to pay both mortgages. We are not candidates for bankruptcy. We have always had good credit until this nightmare-which is devistating to us.

Can you tell us what would happen once we called Greentree and announced our intent to default? How long before we are no longer held liable for the loan? How long are we held liable for the lot rent payment? Is there a time limit until Greentree could no longer come to us to pay the difference, if they sell it for less than the loan balance?

I know that there is usually a 90 day reinstatement period for foreclosures, but I am now sure how things work in this situation, with a manufactured home.

Please help....I cannot find any answers on any other websites...I even looked on the michigan state and legislature websites (that's where we live).

Thanks alot!
Susan

[rmurray]

Your liability for the loan will be on going...Greentree will take the home...sell it to the highest bidder...You will be responsible for the losses...they will have years to collect..they could and probably will take a judgement which would attach to your other home....Every state has different laws about how long a judgement is good for....You should talk to your park manager about the rent...you will be responsible until you notify Greentree and the management..It might be that he will have to notify them as well...Again every state has different laws about this...I would suggest you talk to a attorney in your area about local laws....If your adviser is an attorney..talk to him...Call Greentree and talk to the highest manager you can get to..tell them about the situation and ask for their ideas....


Sorry you got into this bind...Good Luck..

[Roy T. Bonney]

If you're going to file bankruptcy, you will need an attorney. I would suggest you get one now and explore your options.