Brandy, the Paranoid Mortgage Customer

[EricKei]

Just reinforce to her the fact that selling this place will result in her GETTING money, not owing more. That might light a fire under her. Hopefully

[Buzzard]

And after Brandy gets whatever she gets... and visits her local homebrew 'pharmacist' for a few days of fun, the sleep-deprived paranoia will come back around.
And she still has the Chair's phone number handy, for when she gets around to thinking that the house was TOTALLY stolen from her. (after all, any money she has would quickly convert to recreational chemicals ...which don't exactly last long)

[Ghel]

Yeah, we're worried what we're going to find when we visit the house today. We're not sure if the house is currently being heated, and it got down below 10°F last night (which is actually warm for this time of year). Frozen pipes, destroyed drywall, chemical spills, trash everywhere... those things are all possibilities.

Brandy will definitely never get another loan from us. It'll be many years until she can get a loan anywhere else, either. She has multiple 30-, 60-, and 90-day lates with us, and the last time I pulled her credit (so we could do an analysis to see whether we would be likely to get repaid), she had multiple lates on her other accounts, too. At least she won't have a foreclosure on her credit, assuming she actually signs the Deed in Lieu.


Adding on to this after BM and I visited Brandy's house.

Brandy's mom met us at the house and let us in. The house is in surprisingly good shape, all things considered. Mom has been keeping an eye on it - going over and making sure the heat's still working and flushing the toilets while she's there. That's a relief. There's a few places where Brandy had patched holes her dogs had made before she moved out, but those just need some paint. The new flooring and carpet is still in good shape. Most of her furniture is still there. It's cluttered and a bit messy, but not like I was expecting. Brandy's mom offered to remove the furniture so that we can try to sell the house. Once it's tidied up a bit, we can probably get more than enough to pay off her loan, legal fees, etc.

I gathered from what BM was saying that Brandy hasn't come in yet to sign the Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. Hopefully she doesn't back out.

[earl colby pottinger]

Bet Brandy will start screaming when she finds out what people will pay for her house.

She probably has not taken care of the house, so it is probably is very bad condition and that means it will be devalued compared to other houses in the same area.

Also, with any assets and her past history she can forget any future loans.

[Ghel]

News! Update!

The Chair spoke with Brandy today, and it sounds like she's willing to sign a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. Which means she signs the house over to the bank, and we don't have to go through foreclosure. The bank will sell the house, and the Chair agreed to give Brandy whatever's left after paying off the loan, paying realtor's fees, attorney's fees, and any other costs associated with selling the house (cleanup, etc.). The bank won't make any money on this deal, but we'll never have to deal with Brandy again, either. Seems like a win-win to me.

We're not sure of the status of the house. BM is going to Brandy's mom's tomorrow to pick up the key, then we'll both go over to Brandy's house to check on it and take pictures. If Brandy's things are still in the house (seems likely), we'll hire some locals to move it all to storage so we can get the place cleaned out to sell. I expect we'll do the normal notice: "You have 30 days to come get your stuff or we'll trash/sell it."

BM's going to work with a local realtor we often work with to sell the house. She said she had it sold 3 times this summer, but each time Brandy backed out. Hopefully, it goes quick.

If all goes smoothly, we should be nearing the end of this saga. I won't have a past due loan to deal with, and Brandy will have some money to do as she pleases.

[Buzzard]

Of course BM and Ted are happy. If you're calling her for money, she's not going to be popping up and pestering the Chair (or anyone else). That's part of the game a lot of the low-end junkies live by: See where you can get money for a fix while avoiding those you owe money to.

[Ghel]

The Chair has basically washed his hands of Brandy. He hasn't blocked her number, that I'm aware, but he said I'm to start calling her again. Yay. -_-

I called her yesterday morning. To my surprise, she actually answered. And she was rather pleasant. We went over how past due she is (3 months) and what her past due balance is.

Brandy: Oh! That much already!
Me: It adds up in a hurry. (when you don't pay it)
Brandy: <mumbles something>
Me: <pauses, trying to parse what she said>
Me: So, when do you think you'll be able to make another payment?
Brandy: When I get my COVID money.
Me: Your stimulus check? That's weird you haven't gotten it. Nearly everybody else got theirs on Monday.
Brandy: The website says (some error message-I don't remember).
Me: Huh. Well, you should check with your bank where the last stimulus was deposited. This one should be there, too.
Brandy: I'll have to call them. It's all a plot, you know.
Me: Um... I don't know about that, but as long as you send us some money soon, we'll be good.
Brandy: I'm not having my mail forwarded, so if they sent me anything, I won't get it.
Me: Ok.
Brandy: I'll have to call that b**** at the post office to get my mail.
Me: Ok, Brandy, you'll call us when you can make a payment, right?
Brandy: Yeah, sure.

A lot of the conversation was really disjointed. I probably have some of it in the wrong order. She was slurring her words and mumbling a lot, like she was drunk/stoned/hung over at 11:00 in the morning. I cut her off and changed the subject when she started on her conspiracy theories. I've dealt with that enough and I'm tired of it.

BM and Ted seem happy that I made any contact with Brandy, even if I didn't get a solid promise to pay.

[Monterey Jack]

"Best of seven...?"

"Damn right...!!!"

[Ironclad Alibi]

From a certain movie:

[Bill and Ted take up Death's challenges, with one game being Clue]

Ted: What's he doing?

Bill: I don't know.

Death: I believe Colonel Mustard did it in the study with a candlestick.

Bill: [Opens case envelope and shows card] Sorry, Death. You lose. [shows card] It was Professor Plum.

Death: I said "Plum".

Ted: [stands in protest] No way. You said "Mustard"! Can we go back now?

Death: Best 3 out of 5.

Ted: [angry] I don't believe this guy!

[taxguykarl]

Colonel Mustard in the Kitchen with the lead pipe.
Sorry I couldn't resist

[Kristev]

Let's be serious here. The Chair probably wouldn't get a clue if it was handed over to him by Professor Plum or any of the others.

[Buzzard]

Would it be bad form, or extreme style, to have a little notecard in an envelope, properly date-stamped, reading "This is why we don't give out personal phone numbers.", for when the Chair finally gets a clue?

[taxguykarl]

Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that phone call...

No kidding, since it was likely on his personal phone, it would not have been recorded for quality assurance and training

[EricKei]

Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that phone call...

[Ghel]

I'm not sure what the Chair has been saying to Brandy, but she sent us a payment. She's still 2 months behind, but it's something. Finally!

I hear that Brandy called the Chair's cell phone on Christmas Eve, as he was playing cards with his grown children and their spouses, while the grandkids were running around screaming in the background. [That they had a huge family gathering during Coronavirus is a separate rant that isn't really relevant here.] I don't know what was said. I can only imagine.