Normally a lender/bank in order to compensate for the difference in the loan balance would go after you for a deficiency judgment.

There are two foreclosures primarily used in the United States

#1 Judicial

#2 Non-Judicial

Normally a deficiency judgment is allowed only if the lender use the judicial foreclosure procedure.

You should check the foreclosure procedure the lender/bank used in foreclosing on your home. This will determine if the lender will pursue you in trying to collect an additional amount of money from you.

The contractor probably does not even know who the lender or bank that hired him. Normally a local real estate agent representing the lender.bank would hire the contractor to repair any items that might need repaired in the house.

If the lender did decide to go after you through a court preceding it might be difficult for you as relatives of yours did the damage to the property, even if your former neighbor know that you did not personally commit the act.

I doubt the bank/lender will attempt to file any legal proceedings against you. They normally just write this damage off as a loss

For any legal or tax matters you should contact your attorney or tax consultant.

I hope this has been of some benefit to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

You won't get in trouble with criminal law, but you may have to defend yourself against a civil suit since the house was still in your name and you will be expected to replace the stolen items that were affixed to the house.

In Oregon, the Portland Orgonian Newspaper reports that the police are prosecuting people who strip houses when they are foreclosed. It doesn't take much damage to move the value of the damage into a felony charge.

Can you contact the trustee? I'm not a lawyer, and I don't really know, but I would think the trustee has to get her out of there. If she damages your property, I would expect her to be liable, but if she didn't have the money to keep the home, she probably doesn't have the money to pay you for anything.

I would call or visit your local police station and ask them how to best proceed. Ask them if you have to wait to kick her out. Then ask if you have to formally evict her of if they can just accompany you to the home to remove her since she’s actually trespassing.

Once she’s out (don’t you dare pay anyone for items you already bought), get a locksmith in there immediately to change the locks!

At any time in the past several months while the foreclosure was looming, you could have made an offer on the house. Why now all of a sudden?
After foreclosure you would by the house the same way any potential buyer would: you make an offer on the property and get a mortgage or pay cash.
If you go to the auction, bring a cashiers check for the required down payment and proof of pre approval for the mortgage amount.

If the house does not sell at auction, contact the bank, which will now own the house and make an offer.
If you don't know the lender or don't feel comfortable doing this on your own, find a Realtor who specializes in foreclosures to walk you through the process.
The time frame depends on how motivated the bank is.

On May 20, 2009, President Obama signed the "Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009." This legislation provided that leases would survive a foreclosure — this means a tenant living in a home which is foreclosed could stay until the end of the lease, and that month-to-month tenants would be entitled to 90 days' notice before they would have to move out.

I would suggest contacting a REALTOR in your area who is familiar with the foreclosure process by looking up your local real estate board, and giving them a call. Agents who have taken recent extensive training may have the SFR (Short-Sale, Foreclosure Resource) designation after their name, and you can ask them to provide you with a list of those agents.

The agent should be able to walk you through all of the necessary steps to becoming a home owner as well as navigate the complexities of dealing with the bank.

In most areas the foreclosure auction is a legal mechanism that puts the property into the name of the mortgage company that had the loan on it. It clears all other liens. So it may be that is what happens tomorrow.

Once the bank owns it- they will put it up for sale. They will probably also start the process to evict you.

You may be able to buy it from them during that period of time. If you know the bank- I would call them before they call you.

Why not buy it at auction. If not then contact lender and offer to buy. You still need to qualify for a mortgage

First of all my thoughts are with your friend during this difficult time. I'm sorry for her loss and I'm happy that she has friend like you to help her. I'm a real estate agent in Washington State. Pretty much all I do is short sales and foreclosures. The bad news is that Countrywide/BofA is one of the worst banks to work with. I have 2 options/ideas for her. 1. If she would like to stay in the house she should contact; Making Home Affordable. They have a website with the number to contact them. They are government run entity and put into place by the Obama administration. They will work with her and her bank to get a loan modification. They would most likely lower her interest rate. You have to have a hardship to qualify and obviously she does…. She also has to have a job. This is a good program and they have success with Countrywide/BofA. SHE SHOULD NOT PAY ANYONE to do her loan modification.
#2 If she does not want to stay in the house and is looking at a foreclosure then this is how it works; The worst case scenario is that once she is 3 months past due on her payments she will recieve a NOTICE of DEFAULT. The notice of Default will state the auction date on it. The auction date will be 3 months from the NOD date. So a total of 6 to 7 months. She will have until that date to live in the house. Now in WA you have 15 days after that auction to vacate. I do not know OREGON law on this. That is the worst case scenario. I also know that Countrywide is slow and she very well may not receive the NOD after her 3rd month of missed payments. I have a client who has not paid since Dec and still has not received their NOD. I would suggest that she stay in the house as long as possible. She HAS TO RECEIVE the NOTICE before they auction the house. Once she gets closer to the auction date I would suggest that she contact BofA and ask for "cash for keys". This is a program many banks offer to homeowners. They will actually pay the homeowner anywhere from $500. to $5,000. to hand over the keys on a certain date. This money is to be used to help them move. If at first she is told no, call back and talk to someone else. Talk to the loss mitigation dept. NOT THE COLLECTION DEPT. You will get no where in collections. You need foreclosure dept or loss mitigation dept. She needs to be persistent! She is fighting for her welfare.

I hope this was helpful and I wish her good thoughts and good luck.

I'm sorry to hear,

ususally it takes seven or eight months until eviction occurs.