[gmadholmes]

I live in Texas and filed for a deed in lieu of foreclosure in 2009 and the property was presented on the courthouse steps. We paid taxes on forgiven debt in our 2009 taxes. And foreclosure showed on our credit report as expected. We heard nothing from anyone until this January, when we received a 1099 from a lender we had never heard of for another 10K in forgiven debt. I called the lender and they said they bought the note in 2012 and did not know the property was foreclosed. I went to the courthouse to find documentation and found documentation for the 2009 deed in lieu, but it had an expiration date stamp of 2011. I am very confused about how to determine our status with this property and what the statute of limitations might be (if there is one) for real estate transactions of this sort. Does anyone have information on this?

[AK lawyer]

I ... filed for a deed in lieu of foreclosure in 2009 and the property was presented on the courthouse steps. ...

You bought the property and were given the DIL, or you sold the property by the DIL? If it was then sold at the courthouse, this does not make any sense. Normally a DIL is done instead of a courhouse sale.

I... we received a 1099 from a lender we had never heard of for another 10K in forgiven debt. I called the lender and they said they bought the note in 2012 and did not know the property was foreclosed. ...

Again you need to clarify. You got a Form 1099 in 2009 and another one this year? If this lender didn't know about the foreclosure, there may have been defect in the foreclosure suit; either the lender wasn't properly notified or had not recorded it's mortgage. It was a different mortgage note than the one that was foreclosed in '09, right? Were you the borrower on this note?

I... I went to the courthouse to find documentation and found documentation for the 2009 deed in lieu, but it had an expiration date stamp of 2011. ...

This needs to be clarified also. What do you mean the deed expired?

[gmadholmes]

Thank you for getting back to me so soon. Here is what I think I can clarify:
We were the sellers/owners of the property and could not make the payments and had to let the property go into foreclosure because we could not short sell it. No one would buy it at any price. The first document that I found at the courthouse was a filing for a Deed In Lieu of Foreclosure. The only other document after that was a Substitute Trustees Deed, which states that the property was sold on the courthouse steps on March 13, 2009. On this document the parties involved in the sale were:
Current Mortgagee: IndyMac Federal Bank
Mortgage Servicer: IndyMac Federal Bank
Grantee/Buyer: IndyMac Federal Bank

Does this mean they were not able to sell it and it went on their bank inventory?
They turned around and sold the note to OneWest Bank on March 19, 2009. We did not hear a word nor ever receive any notices from OneWest. Then in January 2013 we received a 1099 from Ocwen Financial (who we had never heard of) for forgiveness of debt for $10K. They said they did not know the property had been through foreclosure. I have not heard back from them since I sent them a copy of the courthouse sale document. Ocwen also showed up on our credit report as 2 late mortgage payments in June 2011, but they said they only reported the purchase of the note under the value of the note, not late payments. We had no idea any of this was going on and thought once the property was sold we were done with it.

In 2009 we did pay taxes on a cancellation of debt but that was indeed a 2nd lien with a different mortgage company.

The stamp that I saw was the notary's stamp, which has an expiration date of June 2011. It just happens that that date coincides with the date that Ocwen said they bought the note, so I do not know if this stamp date is relevant or not to our case.

Thank you for helping us to clarify this.

[AK lawyer]

You signed the deed In lieu of foreclosure transferring title to IndyMac? Did you deliver this to IndyMac and did they accept it?

Assuming they did, the foreclosure sale should not have happened. If it was a trustee's deed, I assume the "mortgage" was actually a (non-judicial foreclosure) deed of trust.

Then the next problem I have is Indymac's selling of it's note to Onewest. The note should have been extinguished and cancelled, either at the time of the deed in lieu or at the time of the foreclosure. This for some reason didn't happen. You should explain these facts to Ocwen (a transferee of the note by Onewest, I assume), and demand that they straighten it out. It looks like maybe they are not trying to collect on the note, but only improperly sent you a 1099.

The expiration date of the notary's commission has no bearing on this.

The great majority of the practice of the lawfirm I work at is foreclosure. You might want to consult a similar lawfirm in your state.

[gmadholmes]

Thank you - I will indeed find a foreclosure lawyer here to help us straighten this out. There are too many loose ends. I very much appreciate your assistance and clarification on this.

You signed the deed In lieu of foreclosure transferring title to IndyMac? Did you deliver this to IndyMac and did they accept it?

Assuming they did, the foreclosure sale should not have happened. If it was a trustee's deed, I assume the "mortgage" was actually a (non-judicial foreclosure) deed of trust.

Then the next problem I have is Indymac's selling of it's note to Onewest. The note should have been extinguished and cancelled, either at the time of the deed in lieu or at the time of the foreclosure. This for some reason didn't happen. You should explain these facts to Ocwen (a transferee of the note by Onewest, I assume), and demand that they straighten it out. It looks like maybe they are not trying to collect on the note, but only improperly sent you a 1099.

The expiration date of the notary's commission has no bearing on this.

The great majority of the practice of the lawfirm I work at is foreclosure. You might want to consult a similar lawfirm in your state.