Can You Stop an Eviction from an Inherited Home After Foreclosure

[jefft92264]

My question involves real estate located in the State My question involves real estate located in the State of: California

This is a complicated issue but I'm giving the basics... i need some advice or guidance... or a miracle.

I moved in to my partner's house with him in 2012 and he drew up a simple lease agreement which was used as proof of income while going through a loan modification which was approved. We did not get a domestic partners declaration because we were waiting for the upcoming supreme court decision so we could officially and traditionally be married. Sadly, in August 2014 he got sick and was in and out of the hospital fighting cancer. I cared for him up to his final days when i brought him home where he wanted to be along with hospice care and he passed 2 days later on December 7, 2014. Six months later same sex marriage was federally recognized.

Though I was willed his house, I did not file probate because of $300,000 in medical bills his insurance company declined to pay. I feared they would file a lien on the house instead of trying to resolve it. It took me almost 2 years to straighten that out but it hasten resolved.

I had called the mortgage company (anonymously) after my partner's death and asked a "what if" question as to how someone should handle this situation with them. They said (off the record) if I could afford to make the payments, just keep doing it and don't report the death to them otherwise, they would likely call in the loan. I also noticed this was the general consensus online as well. I made the next 16 payments until the middle of 2016 I missed one and everything came crashing down.

I tried calling everywhere for help and was told since i wasn't the homeowner they couldn't assist me. HUD, Save Your Home California, and so many other organizations shut the door on me. The foreclosure notices were posted and i tried calling but they wouldn't even talk to me at that point because i wasn't on the loan nor was i technically a spouse. The week of the auction i tried once again calling the mortgage company (Seterus) and also tried the trustee begging them not to go through with the sale. Surprisingly, both asked for copies of the death certificate and will. I finally felt things were going to turn around when i faxed them to both of them. Then moments later, i called them both and was told it was too late and they couldn't help me. The house sold at auction on November 2 at way below market value and the $200,000+ in equity my partner left me was gone.That same day i was visited by a rep from the new owners, an investment group and he tried getting me to agree on a move out date. I explained the story to them but it fell on deaf ears. 2 days later a 3 day notice which included a 30/60/90 notice built in was left. Then was the unlawful detainer which i replied to and we set a trial date of April 11. At the last minute the new owners requested a default judgment hearing to be held the DAY BEFORE the trial...never giving me my day in court. Unfortunately, at that hearing the judge granted it because i didn't have a presentable defense. Now i am waiting for the Sheriff to put the 5 day notice on my door. I have nowhere to go, the money i thought i'd have for my future is gone, I now have an eviction on my record so ill never find a place let alone one that will take me with my partner's 4 elderly dogs... 1 in which is blind and another deaf.

I have been told i can file an appeal with a request to stay but i better have a damn good reason for it. Ideally i'd like to sue the mortgage company and have the foreclosure reversed because they didn't stop the sale once i faxed them the will and death certificate. But they had no problem sending a tax form with my partners name AND my name proving they knew he passed away. But with the Sheriff showing up any day, i am scared I'm out of options.

I should also mention that from 2006 through just shortly before i met him in 2013, he had some sort of relationship with a real estate guy that would refinance his mortgage every couple months He bought this place for $138,000 in 1996. in 2016 the foreclosure amount t $498,000 and is now a 40 year loan, of which 37 years is still remaining. He had the house refinanced at least 20 times during those years and i just cant believe there isn't a mistake in there with the title or deed that could ultimately help me with this.

I really need help. This is such a Grey area for everyone i turn to. I'm not considered a tenant even though i had a signed lease agreement so tenant landlord law wasn't the right direction yet i wasn't technically the homeowner since the deed, loan and everything else was in his name so i couldn't get any assistance from any of the homeowner organizations. I didn't meet anyone's mold and i simply fell though the cracks.

The icing on the cake..... I have been HIV for over 12+ years and always remained undetectable and healthy. Well due to all this stress plus the fear of losing my home and what to do with his dogs my HIV has advanced to AIDS as my T-cell count is now under 100 and have been to the ER twice with the most recent over Christmas for 5 days. I'm fearful of my future.

if there is anyone who has experience with this kind of situation, id appreciate you advice or guidance...Maybe you know of an attorney who might be interested in this case. Anything... I'm so scared of losing my home and my future.... but i'm the saddest because i feel i let i my partner down for not handling this differently... but in the same breath i curse him for leaving this all on my lap to handle. It just makes me sick knowing this investment group took my $200,000 in equity just like that. I want to keep fighting, but at what cost? and could i win?

Thank you...of:

[Taxing Matters]

My condolences on the loss of your partner and I sympathize with your HIV struggles. But unfortunately you may not have a lot of options open to you at this point and an internet message board like this won’t be a good place to help you sort out what you can do. What I suggest you do is get copies of all the mortgage, deed, and lien documents filed with the office that records deeds in the county where the home is located along with the will and the information on the medical debts and other debts your partner owed and see a real estate attorney ASAP to see if there is any possible way you can delay the eviction and perhaps save the house. The problem is that you didn't do the domestic partnership (and you could still have gotten married later after the Supreme Court decision, had he lived, even had you done the domestic partnership). You are therefore legally a stranger to your partner and thus there is no law that prevents the lender from accelerating the loan now that your partner had passed. In order to transfer the home to you, you needed to go through probate and your partner’s debts would need to be addressed in that probate proceeding. Your attempt to stall on that to try to avoid the medical creditors claiming the estate assets may have ultimately hurt you here. In the end, if the medical bills and mortgage would take all the estate assets then you were going to lose the home sooner or later anyway. Now the foreclosure is already done, further limiting your options. If you don’t act now to finally see a lawyer and find out what options you might have you won’t be able to avoid the momentum of the process that is already steaming along to kick you out of the home. if you lack funds for an attorney then contact legal aid and see if it will help you. Contact the local bar association to see if you can find a lawyer that might be willing to help you with a low fee or for free as a pro bono client. See if friends/relatives might help you pay for a few hours of a lawyer’s time to review this.

[adjusterjack]

No, as a practical matter I think you can't win, despite the good advice above.

It's unfortunate but you and your partner made some serious financial errors from which there is no return. The house is gone, there's no getting it back, the lender did nothing wrong or illegal, there is nothing to sue anybody for.

[Taxing Matters]

The house is gone, there's no getting it back, the lender did nothing wrong or illegal, there is nothing to sue anybody for.

While there is certainly a good possibility that the lender did everything correctly, you cannot know that for sure when you don’t know what all the lender did. I’ve seen lenders make plenty of mistakes during my career, some of which I have been able to make great use of to the benefit of my client. So I do not assume, as you apparently do, that the lender got everything right. That’s why the OP needs to see an attorney. If there was some error or some fact that the OP did not mention that might help him out here he will need to act promptly to make use of it, and for that he’ll need a lawyer.