Bankster's $30K Payoff Offer To Out-Of-State, Non-Owner Occupant On Proposed Short Sale Of Home In Foreclosure While Taking $1M Bath Draws Attention

In Tampa, Florida, FOX 13 reports:

• Homeowners who stop paying their mortgages typically get nothing when their delinquent home ultimately sells at a loss. But Chase Bank has quietly begun offering some of those homeowners tens of thousands of dollars at the closing table.



• Even house-flipping, home-gambling, recession-causing investors are eligible for a windfall. In what the bank has quietly dubbed an “Outreach Incentive,” customers who’ve stopped paying their mortgage can receive complete debt forgiveness plus a $10,000, $20,000 or $30,000 payout -- in cash. To get the money, the seller must arrange a ‘short’ sale,’ which is real estate lingo for selling a home at a price that is less than the mortgage balance.



• Chase has not publicized the payouts and declined to discuss specifics. After repeated requests, a spokesperson would only confirm its existence as an invitation-only program.

***

• George Lin is one of Chase’s chosen customers, an Arizona resident. According to court documents, Lin bought a Madeira Beach home in 2007 as an apparent investment. He paid $1.7 million, according to public records, and signed a Chase mortgage for $1.36 million. By 2009, Lin had stopped paying and Chase filed for foreclosure. In a standard filing, Chase said it was suing to take possession of the home, which it has yet to do.



• But now, in a stunning u-turn, Chase is offering Lin $30,000 cash if he can sell the home for roughly $420,000. A letter obtained by FOX 13 outlines the deal: Chase clears $350,000 on its $1.36 million loan; Lin walks away with $30,000. Repeated attempts to reach George Lin were unsuccessful. His realtor also did not respond to our inquiry.



• There is no evidence Lin ever lived in the American Legion Drive home. A recent appraisal noted that dead birds were strewn about the main floor, and that those aviary occupants had built a nest in a kitchen cabinet. Fixtures are missing, the pool is algae ridden, and the yard is overgrown, the property appraiser said.



• Chase, a bank taxpayers bailed out during the depth of the housing crisis, declined to explain how an investor who has shirked his obligation and has let his home fall into such disrepair could qualify for a $30,000 payout.



• Georges Lin’s Madeira Beach foreclosure is not his first in Florida. Bay County public records reveal a Panama City Beach house with a similar story. Lin paid $1.1 million for the house in 2007, but by 2009 was facing a foreclosure suit brought by HSBC bank. HSBC took the home in 2010, leaving George Lin nothing. That’s the way most foreclosure cases end -- with the delinquent owner empty-handed.



• Madeira Beach will be different, though: George Lin stands to gain $30,000 cash for a bad bet in which Chase will lose about a million dollars.(1)

For more, see Chase offers $30K to delinquent homeowners.

(1) The story is silent as to whether Chase is actually the beneficial owner of the mortgage (in which case, the bank itself is taking the financial bath), or whether it holds the mortgage or is otherwise involved merely as a trustee and/or servicer for some unwitting securitized mortgage investors who have no clue that they're the ones actually getting slammed for the $1 million.