SARASOTA COUNTY - The bank spent the last two years denying Deborah Johnson's efforts to save her Sarasota home from foreclosure, and then out of nowhere, last month, sent her an unbelievable offer.
If Johnson can find someone to buy the property for half of what is owed on the mortgage, JP Morgan Chase bank will not only forgive the remaining $100,000 or so of debt, but also send her away with $35,000 in her pocket.
The proposal was far better than a foreclosure, which would punish her credit score more severely, strand her without money for a new place to live, and expose her to collection efforts for the unpaid balance for the rest of her life.
"I thought it was a gimmick," Johnson said of the offer. So she called the phone number given, and yes, the offer is real and it surprises even veteran real estate experts.
Said one local real estate attorney: "It's a home run." And a real estate agent: "It's like hitting the lottery." Then an expert on Florida's housing market meltdown: "That's the damnest thing I've ever heard of."
Even Johnson's foreclosure defense attorney had to call Chase before she would believe the offer was not some sort of scam. Johnson's four-bedroom Lockwood Lakes home is now on the market for $118,000.
At least eight other homeowners in Sarasota and Manatee counties have received cash offers up to $35,000 from Chase in the last two months to encourage so-called "short sales," say attorneys who work with troubled homeowners.
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