Bank United Offering Deficiency Waivers, Cash for Keys

Posted on January 11th, 2012 by Mark Stopa

I’m pleased to report that I received settlement offers from Bank United today in three different foreclosure cases.  Each offer entailed: (1) a deed in lieu of foreclosure; (2) a deficiency waiver, and (3) $3,000 cash for keys, given when the homeowner vacates the home and leaves it in broom-swept condition.  Perhaps better yet, each offer was totally unsolicited and did not require any financial disclosures.

Bank United is a small bank, so its cases constitute a small portion of my caseload and foreclosure cases in general.  However, this is another illustration that if you defend your foreclosure case, and force the bank to prove its entitlement to foreclosure, then the bank may get frustrated, give up, or simply decide it’s better to settle.

Also, I’ve been arguing for a long time that financial disclosures are not required for a deficiency waiver, and these settlement offers are another illustration of that.  Banks may want financial information, but they don’t need it.  Hence, if a bank is forcing you to provide financial information so it can “evaluate” whether to give you a deficiency waiver, you should think twice – it may well be evaluating your financial situation so it can better assess how to collect from you.

Mark Stopa

www.stayinmyhome.com

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