Blevins obviously didn't have a very good lawyer. All her lawyer had to do was appeal the judges eviction order to the next highest court for review of the procedural process(in other words, did they dot all the i's & cross all the t's). He could've appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. My guess is that she didn't have enough money to do that or her lawyer was an idiot. The bottom line to all of this is that, until the State Legislators make the necessary changes to the HOA foreclosure laws, everyone better pay their dues. The Legislature needs to apply the same terms to HOA foreclosures that they do to tax foreclosures. With tax foreclosures, the home owner has up to two years to redeem their house. In the first year they have to pay the money paid by the buyer + 25% of that total & in the second year they have to pay the money paid by the buyer + 50% of the total. I think I heard on the news that the Legislature was looking to do just that. ------------------
The problem is that Blevins never answered the summons and didn't appear at the original foreclosure hearing. SHe refused to answer the door for the process server. The first time she dealt with the situation at all was when the Constables came knocking at her door to evict her. Regarding redemption, didn't the Legislature add a redemption period of 6 months in this past Legislative session? ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
What I'm wondering is how do you get a house for $5,000? Wow! If anyone knows what auctions to go to, please tell. Of course, I'm looking for a more legitimate one, not like this where Mrs. Blevins got wronged. But as for the new owner taking the $50K, I don't know what I'd do in his shoes. It's one thing to say yeah he should, but man, if you can get $300K for the house why not? Many of you would say because of principle, but what if this guy never had a home before, or what if he's donating the money to charity (though highly unlikely)? If I were him, I'd try to maximize profit while ensuring Mrs. Blevins gets the house back and then give her some of my profit. But I'm not him. ------------------ "I've been on a calendar, but I've never been on time." -Marilyn Monroe
The guy in question has many real estate holdings throughout the Houston area. He is essentially a real estate speculator. I can understand his desire to want to get what the house is worth, and I would be tempted to do the same. But I'm a pushover, and I couldn't stand to be on the receiving end of the bad press and bad karma. So, I wouldn't handle it the same way if I were in this guy's soes. As for the auction, it was a legitimate auction. On the first Tuesday of every month, the county auctions off foreclosed property. Since most are tax sale properties, the evicted owner does have a right to reclaim the property like was mentioned before in this thread. But some foreclosures are HOA foreclosures. The U.S. Customs Service also has a seized property auction in Houston from time to time (they had a big one a few weeks ago with cars and planes and other property. They had some really nice Porsches, but I don't know what they went for at auction). As far as I know, there is no redemption for people who have had their property seized. The problem is that deals such as the Blevins' home are not all that common. But if you're not doing anything on the first Tuesday of the month, it can be fun to go down to the courthouse and check out the auction (and you can check the public notices to see what properties will be up for auction to see if there is a property you might be interested in). ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
Thanks Mr. Paige. And are you talking about that new courthouse big white building on San Jac? I hadn't been back to Htown in a while let alone downtown. But I'll make note of it the next first Tuesday. ------------------ "I've been on a calendar, but I've never been on time." -Marilyn Monroe
What I'm wondering is how do you get a house for $5,000? Wow! If anyone knows what auctions to go to, please tell. That's what I'm wondering. Seems like a very easy way to make money. ------------------ http://www.swirve.com ... more fun than a barrel full of monkeys and midgets.
I don't know which courthouse. I haven't actually been to the Harris County one, but apparently state law says the auctions have to be held at the county courthouse on the first tuesday of the month (so every county has their auction on the first tuesday at their courthouse). Arounf about the 15th of the month, http://www.publicans.com lists the properties up for auction. I believe their notices at the time give the exact address. I've been to the Dallas County auction myself. I just found it fun to go even though I didn't bid on anything (I'm easily entertained, though). ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
Kim, The Harris County auction is held at the "Family Law Center" @ 1115 Congress in downtown Houston. I've been there & you might want to prepare yourself for a culture shock. It's packed with several hundred people & is louder than Pappasito's during lunch. They have mortgage, tax, & HOA foreclosures going on at the same time all over the place. The Trustees(the people that auction off the properties) don't wear name tags, so you have to ask around. Look for the people holding clipboards, most of them are from the Foreclosure Listing Service & they can help you identify some of them. You can also get a list of properties at the auctions by going to http://www.foreclosehouston.com/ . Good luck. ------------------
Shanna, It's not that simple. For HOA foreclosures, the buyer is responsible for all liens on the house, like all mortgages, taxes, mechanics liens & any other claims to the title, so you have to do your research before hand or you could end up buying a house that you owe more than it's worth. As far as Blevin's house, I believe that I heard it was paid off or almost paid off(can someone enlighten me on that?). If there was a remaining debt or other lien on the house & the buyer paid it off, then he's into the house for more than the $5,000. Either he got one of the sweetest deals around or there was still quite a bit owed on it. Tax foreclosures on the other hand wipe out everything, unless one of the claimants wasn't notified of the pending foreclosure. You can verify that all claimants were notified by reading the reports from the court case. The only debt that school taxes won't wipe out is an IRS lien. The IRS lien is superior to everything. Imagine that. Mortgage foreclosures wipe out any junior claims to the title, except for tax liens & I believe mechanics liens(these are liens for work done on the house like new roofs, storm windows, etc.). You have to be very careful & determine whether or not it's the first or second lien. However, if you do your research before hand, you can make some really sweet deals. ------------------
Blevins' home was paid off, so it was a sweet deal, but like you said, most of the time, you won't see situations like that. ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
While I feel compassion for the lady, she ultimately has to accept responsibility for the situation getting to where it is now. You can't ignore a problem & hope that it goes away. The process server would've been a Deputy Constable, so she won't be able to explain that away to the judge & if she didn't even show up for the hearing, then she is telling the judge that she's not contesting the eviction. The laws are very clear on this matter & are set up to favor the home owner. She would've been better off filing for Bankruptcy or selling the house outright(if she couldn't afford the HOA dues). Her only chance of getting the house back, or at least the value of the house, is if the court rules in her favor on the HOA's right to foreclose. ------------------
Yeah, we went over the steps that led up to the eviction in an earlier thread. She's a little old lady who doesn't open the door for people, and the process servers were coming at like 7pm, so she didn't answer the door for them. The mail from the HOA asking for the money over the past two years was addressed to her late husband, so she says she thought it was junk mail and she threw it out without reading it. She claims there was never any notes put on her door, etc. There is some dispute as to why Blevins' check for $800 was not cashed. One source in the HOA says it was because they had already started legal proceedings and because it wasn't for the full amount of $814, they kept the proceedings going. Another person in the HOA said that the legal proceedings hadn't started at that point. But whatever the case, it appears that the HOA followed the law in their foreclosure action (putting aside the question about the bylaws and the $$$ of dues that started this thread). They don't appear to have acted ethically, though. Had Blevins' simply responded to any of the attempts to reach her (either the mailed letters from the HOA or the legal action), all of this could've been avoided. On the other hand, had this HOA been better neighbors, they probably could've gotten their money and not had to initiate a legal proceeding. How hard would it have been to walk to her house during the day or call her up on the telephone and explain the situation regarding her overdue dues? How hard would it have been to accept the $800 payment and then walk over and get $14 from her to make up the rest (or just let her owe it until the next payment is due)? But so far, I've not seen anything that leads me to believe their foreclosure action wasn't in compliance with the law (the question about the level of dues, though, may be a problem. But I don't know if that would be enough to reverse the foreclosure.) ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com [This message has been edited by mrpaige (edited June 06, 2001).]
Wow! People never cease to amaze me. I bought a house at the Fort Bend County auction about a year ago, that only had $18,000 left on the mortgage. I ended up getting it for $47,000, but the market value was $90,000. Now, with all the home equity loans available, you would think that there is no way, someone that is gainfully employed with $72,000 worth of equity, would lose their home. As it turned out, the lady (who was a really nice person) had put off doing anything about it, until it was too late. The good part to this story is that she & her husband got the difference of what I paid for it less the $18,000 & incidental fees. They walked away with about $24,000. ------------------
Oh, and I don't think Blevins couldn't afford the dues. We are talking about only $14 here that she owed at the time they took her house away. Her contention is that she never knew they were attempting to take her house away or that she still owed them any pastdue money after giving them the $800 check. ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
The way the eviction proceedings work is: 1) The buyer has to give a 3 day notice to vacate. 2) After 3 days, the buyer files a writ of "Forcible Entry & Detainer". At this time the judge will issue the summons, informing the Mortgagor of the hearing date. 3) The Deputy Constable will attempt to serve the summons at various times for 2 weeks. If he is unable to serve the summons directly, he then goes back to the judge & the judge issues another order(not sure of the name of it) that the Constable is required by law to post on the front door or somewhere that it can't be missed on the house. 4) If the Mortgagor doesn't show up for the hearing, then the judge rules in favor of the plaintiff & issues the writ of eviction. The Constable will again go to the house & post the notice that she has 24 hours(it might be 48 hours) in which to vacate the premises or they will do it for them, which apparently happened here. The bottom line is that a notice was posted on her door by state law & I doubt that the Constable didn't do that. Now, if the HOA didn't return her check or notify her that it was insufficient, then she might have a loop hole. The HOA would've had to return the check via certified mail(in order to have proof on their part) or I could easily see her point of not knowing. If they didn't & this is presented before a jury, the HOA is toast. Another question is, why would she just throw out the mail addressed to her deceased husband without reading over it? That just doesn't make sense. I saw her on one of the newscasts a while back & she appears to be of sound mind. There is one lesson here to be learned by every married couple, always keep each other informed of the finances & legal obligations, because we never know when our number is up. ------------------
Just to be clear, her check didn't bounce or anything. The HOA never attempted to cash it for whatever reason. They say that they returned the check to her or notified her somehow. I believe they said they did so through certified mail. So, I think they're in the clear there. Who knows? Sometimes people do things that don't make sense to the rest of us. I remember that my gradmother used to get a lot of junk mail addressed to her deceased husband, but she also got a good deal of important things addressed to him, too. For a few years, I'd help her go through her mail and pay her bills (my gradmother was effectively blind, so she couldn't even read her bills, and her hands weren't steady enough to fill out her checks), and there were many times there were important letters addressed to her husband (my grandfather, who at that time had been dead for about 20 years). So, it doesn't make sense to me, either, but I am sure it made sense to Ms. Blevins. ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
Just to be clear, her check didn't bounce or anything. The HOA never attempted to cash it for whatever reason. They say that they returned the check to her or notified her somehow. I believe they said they did so through certified mail. So, I think they're in the clear there. Sorry, that came out wrong. I meant that it was an insufficient amount to pay the HOA debt. The reason they didn't cash the check was because it would indicate to the court that they were willing to accept partial payments until it was caught up. HOA's are in a tough spot in dealing with people that don't pay their annual fees. If they let it go, then they won't have the money to maintain the community, the neighborhood gets run down & home values drop. However, they do seem to have a lack of common sense & compassion at times. Another thought that just crossed my mind is, what about the contact that was made before the auction & eviction ever happened. In order for the HOA to foreclose, they had to go to court & have the judge rule on the motion to foreclose. Either the court or the HOA's attorney would've had to send her certified letters of the pending litigation. It just seems that she buried her head in the sand & never looked up. All over $14. That's truely a shame. ------------------ [This message has been edited by Hottoddie (edited June 06, 2001).]
I thought that was what you meant, but I wanted to clarify in case there was some confusion. ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
