I was in the military, time to PCS. Market crashed and I was way underwater on the mortgage. No one was buying and I couldn't get renters. Really starting to stress because it was time to move!
Then, this investor approached me and said "no need to worry" I'll take care of this for you. He said he would work with my bank and negotiate a short sale. Yes it would be bad on my credit but not as bad as a foreclosure. So to represent me with the bank and be able to execute the short sale, he needed a power of attorney and a quit claim deed. I was very SKEPTICAL! He said he does this all the time and I could call any of his references. It was a long list and I chose 3. All 3 turned out to be military families and said they really like the service he provided. After checking things out we went ahead and did the power of attorney and Quit Claim Deed in my name and he used an alias (I found out about later).
So thinking everything was getting handled, we PCS'd and felt pretty good. Then about a year later the FBI knocked on my door. They walked into my dining room table opened a folder and asked if I recognized the document. Well yes, it was the POA and QC Deed. The FBI said thank you for identifying this document and they just left. Shortly after that the FBI called back and told me he also had the title in his name. He staged a fraudulent Quiet Title hearing and the judge awarded him the title. BUT I STILL OWED THE MORTGAGE. I never paid because nothing was in my name, so they tried to foreclose on me. But since all the documents were in a fake name, they couldn't complete the foreclosure process. So the property just sat for years with his ex-wife living there for free.
Then I starting meeting with lots of attorneys and military legal etc. They all said it would take 10-15K to sue him and try to get things all corrected. It may or may not work in my favor and I would be out a lot of money for trying. Then another attorney suggested I just file bankruptcy and rid myself of the whole the whole mess. So that's what I did. Filed Ch7 and walked away from the nightmare. I filed recently and I really want to buy a home soon using my VA eligibility. But since I have a bankruptcy, I'm back in the 12-24 month repair game. My credit was 710 before all this happened. The FBI has a victim specialist unit and they sent me a letter that asks all creditors to be empathetic to my situation and not to use my tarnished credit against me. I was a victim of fraud plain and simple. The guy ended up spening years in State prison and now he's in Federal prison for some more time (years I think).
So, can I get a VA loan if I explain this to the underwriter?
Thanks again for the advice.
