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foreclosure dismissed...title rights?

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madeline.k

Junior Member
I am a young person handling my grandmother's estate, so forgive me if I misuse terms or sound ignorant -- this is all new to me.

My grandmother died five years ago and my mother inherited her home. At that time, the real estate market was bad, and because of a hecm reverse mortgage a lot of money was owed on the property. My mother talked with a real estate agent and she said we would just close out. According to my mother, all legal steps were taken to notify the bank of my grandmother's death and to release the property, but she has no documentation.

As of right now, these are the steps that have been taken by the bank: NFS has periodically checked the property since the time of my grandmother's death. The bank filed for foreclosure in 2015 but dismissed the case. (I called this bank and they say they no longer do reverse mortgages and to call x bank. X bank has no record of this reverse mortgage.) Another reverse mortgage company unrelated to to the two aforementioned banks has been paying the property taxes since my grandmother's death. This company has been reviewed as fraudulent by the BBB.

I spoke with the Washington assessor's office and they said the property is still under my grandmother's name and not under foreclosure. The market is much better now so there is most likely equity in the home. My question is this: does my mother still have title rights to sell the home? Does NFS have the legal right to enter the property if the home has not formally been foreclosed?
 


FlyingRon

Senior Member
The BBB is without meaning. Almost certainly the mortgage has been assigned to some other company. If the property was not foreclosed, it can be sold, but you'll need the mortgagee's assistance to release the encumberance (in exchanged for them getting their money).
 

madeline.k

Junior Member
The BBB is without meaning. Almost certainly the mortgage has been assigned to some other company. If the property was not foreclosed, it can be sold, but you'll need the mortgagee's assistance to release the encumberance (in exchanged for them getting their money).

Thank you. Are you saying we would have to pay them off before selling the house?
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
Thank you. Are you saying we would have to pay them off before selling the house?

Of course, typically it's handled at closing. The buyer (well most likely their lender) isn't going to release the funds with a lien in place. The bank with the lien, isn't going to release the lien unless they're paid off. The way this gets handled is that the person handling the escrow (a lawyer, a title company, a bank, whatever depending on what your local custom is) takes all the moneys and the paperwork as a neutral party and then portions out the money and files the papers.
 

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