Stop Foreclosure Answer

I don’t know if you saw or heard about the councilman in Detroit.

On the Internet in late April there was a news item about him. It said that in December of last year the councilman, Kwame Kenyatta, and his wife moved out of their home and sent the keys for it to their mortgage company.

The councilman said that they bought their home for $225,000. The value had dropped to $100,000. The monthly payment had been $2,600. It was going to increase by about $1,000 a month. Their mortgage payments had been made on time. They were not late. They were not in foreclosure and they did not qualify for any relief programs that their mortgage company was offering.

The news reports had two other comments. The first was that Kwame had considered running for mayor of Detroit. The second was that he had been a strong advocate of ways to improve areas of Detroit where there were large numbers of foreclosed homes.

Let’s look at this a little more closely. Here is a couple who are not behind on their mortgage payments. All of their payments had been made on time.

Their main concern seems to have been that the value of their home dropped from $225,000 to $100,000. Their second concern was that their mortgage payment was going to increase from $2,500 to $3,500.

So they send keys for their home to their mortgage company. It looks like they signed away their rights to their home to their mortgage company. The only advantage to doing this is that their credit rating would not have been hurt as much as it would if they lost the home through foreclosure.

They may have lost heart. They may have believed that their situation was hopeless. They may have felt that the only choice they had was what they did.

Did the Kenyattas do all they could to save their home? It does not look like that.

It does not look like they contacted their mortgage company and explained their situation to them. It is very possible that the mortgage company would have considered modifying their mortgage to keep their mortgage payments fixed at what they had been paying and cancelling the increase of $1,000 a month.

There are two reasons the mortgage company may have done this. The first is that there are so many foreclosures in Detroit. Mortgage companies just don’t want to own any more homes there. The second is that they were current on their mortgage payment. No mortgage company would want a homeowner signing over another home to them especially when the homeowner was not behind on their payments. I believe that the mortgage company would have given special consideration to Kwame and his wife.

It does not look like the Kenyattas consulted a lawyer or an expert in loan modifications to find out what steps they could take to save their home. A lawyer or an expert in loan modifications may have been able to help them.

It looks like they acted on their own. They didn’t see any way to resolve the situation in their favor. So they decided that sending the keys to their home to the mortgage company and moving out was the only option for them.

The drop in the value of their home was a concern. However, that is due to the current economic situation in Detroit. Detroit has had its ups and downs just like most major cities in the United States. In good times the value of their home would have come back.

The action Kwame and his wife took just about ruined any chance he had to win any election for mayor of Detroit. While he proclaimed to be a strong advocate of ways to improve those areas of Detroit affected by large numbers of foreclosed homes, he turned and ran when it came to his own home.

Other people facing foreclosure will be discouraged by hearing of his story. In their own mid they are thinking that if a city councilman decides to give his home to his mortgage company even when he is current on his mortgage payments, there is no chance for us to save our homes when we are 3 months behind on our payments.

If you are facing foreclosure or fear that you will be in the future, take charge of the process. Do all you can to protect your family and to save your home. I highly recommend that you consult a lawyer or an expert who specializes in foreclosures. They will be able to review all of your options with you.

Much Success,

Mark Elkins