Question: Last October my ex-wife and I finally sold our South Florida home in a short sale. Sun-Trust held our equity line and agreed to release the lien to accommodate the sale. The balance at the time was $83,000. They agreed with a payment of $10,000 to release the lien but would not release the deficiency. A year has since past and now I received notice that they are suing me for the balance of $73,000. Am I destined to file for bankruptcy?? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Greg E.
Answer: – When a bank says they’ll “release the lien”, they still retain the rights to file a judgment against the homeowner which is what happened in this case. Usually you can offer the banks a few thousand more to completely “satisfy” the loan which means they cannot come after you for the deficient amount. (Note to those who might be going through a short sale… make sure you or whomever is doing your short sale demands a satisfaction so the bank cannot came after you) Now your options are to work out a payment plan, settle with them, or file bankruptcy. Most choose the latter.
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