Help Needed, Please!

[subiedude1212]

My wife and I are going through a situation with a Diamond Resorts timeshare in Florida. We bought it before having a child and a "real" mortgage. Life changed, and we just couldn't afford to keep paying for it. We stopped paying for it in Feb 2012, and they had been reporting it as 180 days past due month after month from June 2012 until July 2015. Why would it take them over 3 years to foreclose on it, is that even legal?

When I pulled up a credit report yesterday I saw they changed the status from 180 days past due to foreclosed in Aug. and Sep. 2015. I would like to think that since this was past due for so long that my credit would have had time to start it's recovery, but it seems it just got a whole lot worse as of August. I have no money to pay them (even though it's prolly too late because it's in foreclosure now), and I'm scared to even pick up the phone and call them directly.

I wrote a letter to Experian, luckily the only credit bureau that is reporting it, to dispute it, and I will see what happens there. I honestly have no idea what to do now. Is it worth my time to get a lawyer and attempt to get help, or even call a credit repair type place (which I'm not sure I trust that business)

 

[glmyers]

They are not required to foreclose, but merely had the option to do so when you defaulted. Your credit is "toast" for the foreseeable future and nothing can change that except the passage of many years. A free credit counselor may provide some suggestions, that foreclosure is going to stain your record for at least seven more years.

 

[Ty1on]

Your credit is "toast" for the foreseeable future and nothing can change that except the passage of many years..

Somewhat true, but not 100%. The OP can offer DRI a settlement amount to have the credit report amended to "Settled for less than owed," which is better than "Foreclosed." This offer can be made after the foreclosure has been completed. OP should not call DRI or respond to any mailed offers for such a settlement (or phone calls) unless they are ready to do it, as once an offer is made, there is a time limit on completing it.

If OP already has established a home with a mortgage, and doesn't mind subprime car loans for the next 7-10 years, then the settlement amount (20%-30% of amount owed including interest and penalties) is probably too much to be worthwhile. Of course, it isn't my place to advise on this, but if I couldn't pay a TS mortgage, a shiny new car wouldn't be on my front burner. If he were looking to buy a home, this is a valid avenue to get loan approval despite the credit blemish.

As you mentioned, lender is not obligated to foreclose on a property within a given time limit or at all, and the SOL clock starts ticking at the time the Foreclosed report is submitted.

 

[glmyers]

I did not mention any possibility of settlement because the post said, "I have no money to pay them" so it is not realistically an option. The time for action was three years ago when steps could have been taken to minimize the damage by limiting the time involved.

 

[VacationForever]

I wrote a letter to Experian, luckily the only credit bureau that is reporting it, to dispute it, and I will see what happens there. I honestly have no idea what to do now. Is it worth my time to get a lawyer and attempt to get help, or even call a credit repair type place (which I'm not sure I trust that business)

Why would you even dispute it with Experian when it is true that you stopped payment 3 years ago? If you have the money to hire a lawyer then you should pay them off. Yes, harsh words. I would say just let them foreclose it and ride out the bad credit reporting. The other alternative as suggested here is to contact them and settle for a small amount if you woulda like to pay them some money. Otherwise, just let it be.

 

[subiedude1212]

Thank y'all for the quick replies, it's much appreciated! I was luckily able to refinance my home a few months back before the timeshare went into foreclosure. I also don't see any vehicle purchases for the next at least 4-5 years.

I guess at this point I will not be needing to finance anything for a long while. Would you think there could be any attempt by them to come after any of my current assets in the form of any levies, liens, or garnishments? Or any other legal recourse for that matter?

 

[subiedude1212]

Why would you even dispute it with Experian when it is true that you stopped payment 3 years ago? If you have the money to hire a lawyer then you should pay them off. Yes, harsh words. I would say just let them foreclose it and ride out the bad credit reporting. The other alternative as suggested here is to contact them and settle for a small amount if you woulda like to pay them some money. Otherwise, just let it be.

The dispute was in hopes that they would be able to make it a closed account in 2012 to allow my credit to start mending then rather than now. As for hiring a lawyer, I wasn't aware DRI would accept a similar amount. It seemed a lawyer could be a cheaper alternative.

 

[Ty1on]

I did not mention any possibility of settlement because the post said, "I have no money to pay them" so it is not realistically an option. The time for action was three years ago when steps could have been taken to minimize the damage by limiting the time involved.

Settlement is done after foreclosure. If they haven't foreclosed, they have no incentive to settle. It can be done now or 2 years from now. Three years ago, they would have been aggressively doing everything they could to coerce him to pay. There would have been no options except, "Pay what you owe!" See the thread about going through the foreclosure process in the Wyndham forum.

 

[Ty1on]

Would you think there could be any attempt by them to come after any of my current assets in the form of any levies, liens, or garnishments? Or any other legal recourse for that matter?

I can't speak with authority on DRI. I can tell you that a certain other major developer will not seek repayment via liens or garnishments. They foreclose and you are done, with the possible exception of a settlement to downgrade the credit hit.

My personal "feels" is that they will not, but again, that is not with authority.

 

[alexadeparis]

Lots of not so good advice on this thread. Why don't you contact them or their foreclosure attorney and ask for a deed in lieu of foreclosure in exchange for forgiveness of the rest of the debt. They may agree to that. Or not.

You will get a 1099 for the amount they write off and you will have to pay taxes on it, but that's better than still owing them money that they very well COULD garnish, levy, or otherwise get you for.

As for rebuilding your credit, time will correct that and chalk it up to a lesson learned. You could try to dispute it, but it doesn't sound like they reported any inaccurate info.

 

[Ty1on]

Lots of not so good advice on this thread. Why don't you contact them or their foreclosure attorney and ask for a deed in lieu of foreclosure in exchange for forgiveness of the rest of the debt. They may agree to that. Or not.

You will get a 1099 for the amount they write off and you will have to pay taxes on it, but that's better than still owing them money that they very well COULD garnish, levy, or otherwise get you for.

As for rebuilding your credit, time will correct that and chalk it up to a lesson learned. You could try to dispute it, but it doesn't sound like they reported any inaccurate info.

It's foreclosed. They have the deed. Why would they now take a deed in lieu?

You are correct that it is in their rights to go after garnishment, levy, etc., but I know as fact that one major company does not. As I stated, I can't say that about DRI with any authority.

 

[theo]

I will dare to state the as yet unspoken fact that few, if any, timeshare developers or "chains" would ever bother to initiate or pursue post-foreclosure actions such as liens, garnishments, etc., even though it is an available option for them to do so.

After all, just as soon as they have the deed or contract back under their wing, any developer or "chain" can (and will) simply turn right around and market and sell the very same nebulous "product" all over again to someone else, happily pocketing whatever money had been paid previously by the (now-foreclosed upon) preceding buyer.
It's a very straightforward cost / benefit matter and decision. For the developer it's merely "rinse, lather, repeat" after completing a foreclosure --- ad infinitum.

 

[VegasBella]

Thank y'all for the quick replies, it's much appreciated! I was luckily able to refinance my home a few months back before the timeshare went into foreclosure. I also don't see any vehicle purchases for the next at least 4-5 years.

I guess at this point I will not be needing to finance anything for a long while. Would you think there could be any attempt by them to come after any of my current assets in the form of any levies, liens, or garnishments? Or any other legal recourse for that matter?

Sounds like you're in a good position. Just don't let this credit blemish become an excuse to ignore your other obligations and make your credit worse.

If I were you I would submit a request every year to get that removed from your credit reports (all three) and if they don't remove it to add a note that the foreclosure was for a timeshare. It never hurts to try, even if they won't remove the item from your report for 7 years. But eventually they'll remove the item from your credit report and you'll be golden again.

 

[alexadeparis]

It's foreclosed. They have the deed. Why would they now take a deed in lieu?

You are correct that it is in their rights to go after garnishment, levy, etc., but I know as fact that one major company does not. As I stated, I can't say that about DRI with any authority.

It didn't seem clear to me whether the foreclosure was finished or not.

 

[glmyers]

It's foreclosed. They have the deed. Why would they now take a deed in lieu?

You are correct that it is in their rights to go after garnishment, levy, etc., but I know as fact that one major company does not. As I stated, I can't say that about DRI with any authority.

A deed in lieu is not possible after the foreclosure and even before it is not a simple process in Florida by any means.

Garnishment is not really an option to collect on the deficiency under Florida law given he has a family, but the loan documents could provide for other jurisdictions to be utilized.

Foreclosure and debt collection laws are very state specific.