The Rebel Housewife

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S
~ * ~ M E L I S S A - B. ~ * ~

Thank you all so much for your participation and enthusiasm for The Rebel Housewife Mother's Day/Joshilyn Jackson Book CONTEST! This has, by far, been our most popular give-away to date, with hundreds of rebels out there, eager to enjoy Joshilyn Jackson's books! I am pleased to announce the winner, drawn at random from all of the email entries:
Melissa B. of Marshall, MN
Congrats again, Melissa -- I hope you enjoy Joshilyn's southern flavor up there in Minnesota as much as I do here in Atlanta. (Although I'm a "yankee" in these parts, from the West Coast, and I LOVE Joshilyn's "dysfunctional redneck" (a genre all her own), as I've mentioned before -- you'll love her!)

The signed copies of Joshilyn Jackson's Gods In Alabama, Between, Georgia and The Girl Who Stopped Swimming are on their way to you!

For everybody else, do not despair! We will have more great book give-aways all summer on RebelHousewife.com. My friend at Hachette tells me she's got some fabulous Jane Porter books coming out to us next -- Jane's new book, MRS PERFECT, is a sequel to ODD MOM OUT, and then there's a new movie in production, starring Heather Locklear, based on Jane's earlier novel, FLIRTING WITH FORTY -- so we'll catch ourselves up on Jane Porter this summer, among other things, stay tuned--

The Rebel Housewife Mother's Day/Joshilyn Jackson Book CONTEST!
Deadline to enter is Midnight (Eastern Time) Sunday, May 4th.

Okay, I'm so relieved to be done with the telling of the Tenants in Foreclosure tale, as I'm sure you are, too. With the exception of (not yet) returned deposits, which I'm sure will all work out in the end, it's over and Life is Good in the new fabulous house. Of course, there are still boxes EVERYWHERE, but I managed to find a missing Social Studies Time Line Report for 5th grade Drama Queen AND a missing (expensive) Math textbook for 7th grade Puberty Angst Boy in the midst of the chaos last night, so we're getting there, on as As Needed basis.

I wanted to share the Tenants in Foreclosure story because it helps -- helps someone else who might find herself in the same situation; helps with general knowledge and understanding of a mysterious and frightening process; helps us all sometimes to know that nobody's life is perfect and stuff (good sh** and bad sh**) happens all the time -- that's The Adventure.

Speaking of the adventure, we are looking at ONLY THREE WEEKS OF SCHOOL left -- arrrgghhh!!
What are YOU doing this summer?

I have been working on summer plans, camps and programs to make it through with the three kids, who will be 13, 11 and 8 this summer. It is definitely getting easier than the old CAMP MOMMY days, but it takes a computerized planning & scheduling program, practically, to coordinate all the whos and whens, not to mention the registration paperwork, medical authorizations (which normally require a visit to the doctor), transportation, deposits and, of course, the how-are-we-going-to-pay-for-all-of-this?! And then even more intriguing: We're spending so much money sending kids to summer camps and programs, we don't have enough to go on a decent family vacation...one week in paradise with kids/nine weeks at home, or three or four weeks with the kids occupied and active, having fun/six weeks at home in-between?

I'm sorry I don't have an answer to any of those questions, I was just whining a little bit and throwing it out there for discussion -- 16 days and counting down!

Continued from Tenants in Foreclosure - Part 1 and Part 2:

Suddenly, we were essentially homeless squatters in a condo we had been paying rent on for almost two years...

On March 19th, we received notice from Fannie Mae (dated March 17th), indicating we were to vacate our leased condo immediately, no later than March 18th. This was the first official notice we received that the owner of our condo had not been paying the mortgage. The condo sold back to the bank at foreclosure on March 4th.

Thursday, March 20th began the most intensive, creative, exhaustive and desperate search I can imagine by Tenants in Foreclosure to find a soft place to land: We drove the streets, we called everybody we knew with any real estate connections, we considered anything and everything. By Sunday afternoon -- still nothing.

We had kind of a Plan B, worst-case scenario: The manager of our condo building (not our property manager) had an owner of another (smaller) unit For Sale, who was willing to let us move in temporarily, with three kids, the dog and all our stuff, until we could find something, which was a very kind and generous offer. Those men, both the manager and the owner of the other condo, will be blessed with good karma, I'm sure, for their willingness to help. Still, it was a less than ideal option, for lots of reasons.

Discouraged.

In times of stress, I tend to become very new-agey and spiritual as a way to cope. (That, and Xanax, and I usually break out in Shingles, too.) Thank god I had stumbled upon The Jack Rabbit Factor/Hidden Treasures and Oprah's worldwide webcast book study with Eckhart Tolle, author of A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. While I desperately journaled and scripted and breathed to clear my chattering, overactive, freaking-out mind to find peace in The Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle), my husband searched the Internet high and low, forwards and backwards, as only a truly amazing, wonderful computer-geek can...and he came up with something new, late in the afternoon on Sunday: A 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom "mid-century contemporary" house right in the neighborhood, in the school zone, in our price range (just a little over the upper limit)...with a pool?!?!

Long story short, by a miracle of God, desperate faith, the Internet and the Universe, literally at the Midnight Hour -- it was The Perfect House. I still can't believe it and I'm sitting here in it, telling you this tale just one month later.

Hubby found it listed For Sale/For Lease on a random website Sunday PM;
I called Monday AM;
We were in the house Monday at lunch
(hubby's birthday, by the way);
Verbal agreement Monday PM;
Signed the lease Tuesday AM;
Began The Move 6 days later, on April 1st.
(It took a full week to move less than three miles.)

We were desperately (there's that word again, sorry!) afraid this was all too good to be true, but I did believe, and so far it has proved to be true: When the time comes, the Perfect House will appear. (So far, so good.)

But back on March 25th, the day we signed the lease and paid the new deposit with money we didn't have, our Tenants in Foreclosure nightmare was not yet over:

On March 25th, we came home to a "Tack and Mail" notice on our door, a SUMMONS to appear in court on/before April 1st or a Writ of Possession could be issued "instanter," which we took to mean the Sheriff could be at our door to evict us on April 2nd. I couldn't schedule the moving truck before Friday, April 5th because we still had to box and pack everything up.

Ugh. The nightmare continued--

I contacted the attorney listed on this new notice, verified the April 13th deadline. Apparently, this is just a part of the legal process to eviction. No action required on our part.

On March 27th, we received another notice on our door:

"[company] has been requested to determine the occupancy status and condition of the property.

You may be eligible to receive cash assistance for relocation expenses.

All occupants should immediately contact [company] to discuss the status of your occupancy and to report any hazardous conditions affecting the property.

CONTACT [company] IMMEDIATELY FOR FURTHER DETAILS..."

I contacted this new party and, lo and behold, they offered us "Cash for Keys" ($500) to vacate (surrender) the condo in good condition, "broom-swept."

Well...we already had the moving truck scheduled; $500 would cover less than half of our "relocation expenses"; and we had not heard a word from our landlord/property manager, although we had been keeping them informed every step of the way...okay.

In the end, after a nightmarish three-day move from condo to house, we went back and "broom-swept" the condo; we did not take anything that did not belong to us (i.e. washer/dryer, appliances, fixtures), not that we would have, anyway; and we met with the [company] guy to surrender the property.

Our horrible Tenants in Foreclosure nightmare was over.

Well, not quite yet, as far as the several thousand dollars we have on deposit with the property manager, which by Georgia Law, should be safely in an escrow account. We're about to move on to another Georgia Law which provides:

Under Georgia law (O.C.G.A. 44-7-35), a landlord who owns more than ten (10) units or uses a third party to manage the units can be liable for three times the amount of the improperly withheld deposit plus attorney fees.

Ick. We're really hoping it doesn't come to that.

Continued from Tenants in Foreclosure - Part 1:

Suddenly, we were essentially homeless squatters in a condo we had been paying rent on for almost two years...

Breathe.
Think happy thoughts.
How much time do we have?
Research: Tenants in Foreclosure

1) Everything depends on the foreclosure laws in the state where the property is located. There is generally not much mention of, and even less "protection" for, Tenants in Foreclosure. As I said, we were lucky we had two weeks heads up--

2) It seems fairly consistent that the lease, as a lien or encumbrance junior to the mortgage, automatically terminates upon foreclosure.

3) It is also fairly consistent that banks, lending institutions and, as we learned, government agencies (Fannie Mae) do not want to be landlords -- they like their foreclosed REO property vacant and ready to sell.

4) We were pretty sure we would have, by law, 30 days from official notice of the foreclosure; possibly 60 days, since we were on a long-term lease. (We were wrong.)

We ramped up our search for a new home, thinking we had until mid-April, at least, maybe thru May, which would be great, to get to the end of the school year. It was a challenge to find a rental, with three kids in school and a not-small dog. Early in March, people are thinking about Easter and Spring Break, not moving before school is out. Everything in the rental market (I checked MLS rentals and Craigslist.com, on the hour, every hour) was either less expensive and crappy (too small/bad area/primitive/"rustic") or way beyond our price range. We considered properties outside the school district, but we dreaded that kind of upheaval and change for our kids.

Our landlord, meanwhile, was still insisting everything was fine. The property manager started avoiding us by phone and stopped replying to email. On top of everything else, we started to worry about the several thousand dollars we had on deposit with the property manager (Security Deposit and Last Month's Rent), for good reason, as it turns out (as of April 27th), but we couldn't really worry about that yet, as our primary concern was finding a place to live.

Finally, on March 19th, we received our first "official notice," of a sort, addressed to the owners "and/or All Other Residents" (in bold on the envelope).

This turned out to be a DEMAND FOR PREMISES, dated March 17, 2008:

"Please be advised that I am attorney for Fannie Mae and as such, I am advising you that Fannie Mae, as the owner of the premises, desires that you immediately vacate the premises located at...

This property was the subject of foreclosure on March 4, 2008, by reason of which Fannie Mae became the owner thereof.

This is a formal demand for possession of the above-referenced premises. You are considered to be occupying the premises as a tenant at sufferance.

Should you fail and refuse to vacate the premises by March 18, 2008, Fannie Mae will file a dispossessory action against you."

Yes, I was freaking out: What happened to our 30 days from notice, much less 60 days?! According to this, we were supposed to be out of the condo as of the day before we received this first notice in the mail.

I called the Attorney for Fannie Mae. He wasn't a very nice guy. He said we needed to get out. I told him we were current on the rent and all obligations, that we were tenants here, with three children in school, that we had no place to go yet, and what about 30 days from this, our first official notice of the foreclosure? He said we would effectively have until April 13th to vacate -- not that they were giving us time, April 13th was simply the date before any further action could be taken, as a practical matter. He said there was no legal requirement of 30 days notice and that April 13th would actually be almost six weeks from the foreclosure sale -- yeah, the sale that our landlord assured us would never/didn't happen -- aaarrrggghhh!!!

My husband called and talked to the attorney later that day to see if we could rent back or negotiate additional time. No. Dispossessory action (i.e. EVICTION) would proceed--

Things were really getting interesting now...To Be Continued...

Tenants in Foreclosure - Part 3