So here it is: the day we were supposed to close. Truth be told, we're both very sad. How did we get to the closing date without actually closing? Well, here's the saga:
In September the woman selling the house put it on the market. At that time, she filled out a disclosure form which, among other things, essentially said that the house was not part of a bankruptcy, foreclosure or other legal battle. In November or thereabouts she declares bankruptcy and the home, as an asset, is now an asset of the court. Early this year receives a notice that the house will be foreclosed upon if she does not sell it. She appeals to the judge (as it is her primary residence) and she gets a reprieve.
The company that holds her mortgage tells her that she has a period to sell the house. They even negotiate a price reduction to speed the sale. In this agreement (at this price) the mortgage will not be fully satisfied at sale (a short sale), but the mortgage company is willing to do this to get her out and close the otherwise unpaid account. She agrees to do this and the deadline for closing a sale is March 1st.
Anxious to plant ourselves, we go house shopping immediately after our house in VA sells. Mary and see the house on Feb. 1st or 2nd. We put in an offer on the 2nd and get it ratified on the 4th. Part of the contract is that we will close by March 13th (later than we would have liked) because our Realtor was advised but her Realtor that she would not be able to find a new home by the 28th (our proposed closing date). We are trying to do the Christian thing and giver her grace knowing only that she was having a hard time paying her bills as it is.
So two days ago we get a call from the lawyer handling our end of the closing. She tells us that all of this bankruptcy story and tells us that she cannot give our mortgage company the clean title they need to proceed with closing on the house because technically the house belongs to the court. She tells us that she need a letter from the judge releasing the house from court control so we can buy it. We then wait to hear how long that letter will take to procure.
Yesterday morning we get a call telling us that the letter can only be signed by the bankruptcy judge when they are in session in Charleston. The next time this happens is April 3rd. [If this had been done when we put in the offer, it would have been done by now]. Assuming that he can release the house (who knows what other parties will have right to it) to be sold, he may not do so immediately and even then we wouldn't be able to close for a few days.
This means that Mary, who travels to California on the 8th would have to sign over power of attorney to me with which I can close without her. That means that she wouldn't be in the house until April 16th at the earliest, if we can own it at all.
Having heard all of this, we went to the house yesterday to sense if it was really what we wanted to do. The representative from the owner's mortgage company had flown down from Massachusetts for the closing and met us at the house. We talked to him about the situation and he let us know that apparently there are no other creditors to be paid off in the bankruptcy and that the house, after a period of 20 days from now would default into their ownership. He understands our frustration and wants the deal to go through. He offered us $2000 in closing costs when we can buy the house. We obviously liked this, but just want the house.
He also mentioned that he may be able to get us into the house earlier (it is vacant now, to everyone's surprise; the owner didn't want to move out). We are meeting with our lawyer (hopefully today) to see if this is possible (basically to rent it from them until is is able to be sold then to buy it with first right of refusal).
We don't really know who owns the house. We know the owner has to sign offers on the house and the mortgage company works with her on that negotiation and will own it soon (maybe) and the court has to sign th right to sell over to someone...lots of confusion here.
Needless to say we are basically just say, frustrated...all kinds of emotions. This really just took all the wind out of my sails (both of us actually) because we've waited for this day for 6 weeks and it's going by with no house for us.
We are trusting the Lord to work His will in His time and to teach us His character through all of this. We do need your prayers for wisdom, patience, etc. We also need prayer for fellowship for us. We both need strength for work.
This is hard, but the Lord is faithful...so easy to type - so hard to believe and live. May this time be a testimony to others and ourselves. Thank you for your prayers and love. You should come and visit us...all of you :-).
I'm listening to Selah's Hiding place album and the song playing right now is "Through it all". Here are the lyrics.
Through It All
Words and music by Andrae Crouch
I've had many tears and sorrows
I've had questions for tomorrow
There've been times I didn't know right from wrong
But in every situation
God gave blessed consolation
That my trials only come to make me strong
I've been a lot of places
And I've seen so many faces
But there've been times I've felt so all alone
But in that lonely hour
In that precious, lonely hour
Jesus let me know I was His own
Through it all
Through it all
I've learned to trust in Jesus
I've learned to trust in God
Through it all
Through it all
I've learned to depend upon His Word
So I thank God for the mountains
And I thank Him for the valleys
I thank Him for the storms He's brought me through
Cause if I never had a problem
I wouldn't know that He could solve them
I wouldn't know what faith in His Word could do
Through it all
Through it all
I've learned to trust in Jesus
I've learned to trust in God
Through it all
Through it all
I've learned to depend upon His Word
Yes, I've learned to depend upon His Word
I've learned to depend upon His Word
