Tuesday, April 10, 2007

The Auction That Broke The Camel's Back (With ME As The Camel)

Before I start, could those of you who swear please shout as many expletives as possible on my behalf? Seriously. Go ahead. I'll wait.
...
Thanks.
Now, could those of you who pray please do so now, both for help from above for me and mine, as well as for the folks who just waxed potty-mouth at my behest?
...
Thanks again.
Now for the explanation.
Yesterday was supposed to be the foreclosure auction for our house. We were told, by our attorney, that because we filed our Chapter 7, that the foreclosure would be frozen until after our Meeting of Creditors (which is a fancy way of saying when we meet with the judge). We had lucked into a buyer for the house, accepted his offer, and were waiting to close until we met with the bankruptcy trustee, as it was necessary for him to sign off on the property. If all went according to plan and prayer, we would have been able to walk away with a little bit of money to start over in a new place. Which we desperately need to do. Sounds OK, right? Well, no.
It's so far from OK I can't even see OK from where I am standing.
My kids and I were home yesterday with a bit of a stomach virus, and I was waiting for my mom-in-law to drop by with a few essentials. I went to the living room to gather some items that needed to make their way to her house, and I noticed a big truck parked in front of my house. I should have known, should have FREAKING known that no good could come of this. I was totally right. The guy in the truck got out and took a picture of the house (complete with my resplendent self standing in the front window). He came to the door and gave me his card, he's an insurance agent who represents the guy who bought our house, and he was here to take photos of the insurance policy. Fine. But the guy he said he represented is NOT the guy we signed papers with. Which is what I told him, and he was appropriately confused. He left, and evidently called his client, who came by to find out what the h-e-double hockey sticks was going on. Turns out, he bought our house at auction that morning.
Please swear again for me. A lot.
I told him about the situation, he and his partner took in the info and left. When I finally got ahold of my attorney, I was told that yes, the house had been sold at auction and that they had spoken to our judge, who had told them the sale was valid. He didn't care about the property, it had no bearing on the case. And I damn near passed out. The phone call lasted awhile, as I was put on hold several time to discuss the situation with the dude that said he bought the house...let me sum it up:
My attorney pretty much told me that he didn't know what he could do outside of spending a bunch of money in a lawsuit. WHAT?! Who is the attorney here? Who has the education to know what to do? And never mind that, who has the phone numbers of the people to call to set this right? Answer? NOT ME. Granted, it was nearly five p.m. and everybody wanted to go home, and I was left with a pounding headache, nausea, and was coming dangerously close to stroking out from all the stress. So I asked the attorney for the number of the guy he had spoken to, who bought the house at auction. He pretty much said he couldn't advise me to call and speak to him, as it was a legal matter, but that it was definitely my choice. DUH. Clearly nobody else was going to nut up and speak for me. So I called the guy. And I essentially sobbed, pleaded, and begged him to back out of the deal. He seemed pretty cool, and pretty understanding, but I don't know if it was an act or if he really is willing to help us out. I have my suspicions...but I am praying that I'm wrong.
What the hell do I do now? I left a message for the attorney, which basically said I want to know who f-ed this up and how they were going to fix it. I haven't heard anything back. I am terrified to call my realtor, although I am fairly certain he's received a call already from these guys who were at the auction. I AM SO PISSED. I am right back at square one, with no money, no help and no flipping options. I seem to have no legal voice, although the attorney generously said he would look into the codes in the matter and see what he could find. But it was pretty clear he didn't want to deal with it because we don't have the money to pay him to do it. I am sick. I am tired. And I'm about ready to lose my fool mind. Indecision, ineptitude and complete lack of empathy are at the top of my shit list right now, and I aim to get some answers. The problem is that I'm not sure where to start. But I will call the realtor and tell him what happened, and a good friend suggested that I try to get the original buyer (OUR buyer) rallied and on our side. Or his own side, as it were. I need to call the second buyer again and reiterate how important this whole deal was to our family. People don't seem to understand how desperate we are. Or maybe they do, and they just don't give a double shit. Whatever it is, I'm DONE. My "positive" attitude has changed to one of kicking ass and taking names. As many names as possible. If anybody has advice, feel free to comment.
And if anybody has a clue when it will be our turn to get things right, please holler at me. I'm waiting...

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