Abandoned home with lien holder in Texas

I have a home that the owner just moved out of here is Texas. She has informed Wells Fargo that she no longer wants the home and has verbally agreed to a voluntary repossession. I have a few questions

  1. How do I put pressure on Wells Fargo to sell it to me instead of moving it?

I would like to buy the home for “less” than her pay off. (2006 16x80 in good shape) She owes $14700. I think the home is worth $11500.

  1. How can I collect past due rent and fees from Wells Fargo before they come get it?

  2. What can I do to prevent them from moving the home and leaving a big mess, i.e. ruts in the yard, leaving trash, debris and the like?

Thank you

  1. Wells should know that it’ll cost $1,500 to move the home to a dealer’s lot (and $2,500 more to set it on another lot in another park if that is their plan[unlikely]). So there is your leverage. It seems you are probably close enough on price to get Wells to agree to a quick sale to you. (BTW - I’d value a home of that vintage [assuming good condition w. central heat/air and kitchen appliances] and already in my park at at least the payoff, probably more - and we own relatively ‘modest’ communities in Oklahoma. A home of that vintage in a park with $300/mo. - $400/mo. lot rent would be an absolute no-brainer to pay full asking to Wells. That said, it never hurts to negotiate…!)

  2. I don’t believe you can collect past rent due from anyone other than the resident. But you can collect rent from this day forward (or at least from the day 30 days after you send a certified letter to Wells). Ask your state’s Manufactured Housing Association what your state’s laws are. It might be a good idea to retain an attorney just this once to be sure you fully understand the procedural ins-and-outs and to file the correct form(s). Then you can do it on your own if/when this happens again.

  3. Again, ask your state’s MHA, but Wells’ mover would be responsible for leaving the lot clean in most cases.

To your continued success,

-jl-