As a Massachusetts title attorney with more than 40 years of experience, I frequently run into situations in the real estate area which I find worthy of reporting.

There follows one such situation, which, fortunately, would appear to be coming to a positive conclusion for my client. My client lived with her Aunt and parents in a home in suburban Boston. The home was owned by her Aunt. About two years ago, her Aunt lost her job and was unable to pay her mortgage or her property taxes. She informed the Lender about her problem, and asked for a Loan Modification to lower her monthly payment, which my client and her parents would help pay. Despite frequest requests, no Loan Modification was agreed upon, and the Lender foreclosed on the property.

This is where the story gets interesting. My client, her parents and her Aunt remained living in the home. About six months after the foreclosure, the Lender instituted eviction proceedings to remove the occupants from the home. This is when my client retained my firm to assist her.

We ascertained from my client that she and her parents had been able to save up a substantial amount of money by living in the home rent free for the past two years. We made the decision to contact the Lender’s lawyers to determine if they would consider our purchasing the home for its now fair market value and stop the eviction proceeding. After some negotiation, we have now entered into a purchase and sale agreement to purchase the home for its current fair market value, using as a downpayment the money my client saved during the pendency of the foreclosure and the eviction.

While this represents a positive result for my client,it also highlights the absolute lack or direction which most Lenders have when a Borower gets behind in his or her payments. The Lender accomplished absolutely nothing by not working with my client’s Aunt. When will calmer heads prevail in situations like this? I would be interested in hearing similar stories from any of you. This one “takes the cake” as far as I am concerned.