I was a straw buyer and the investor bailed out on me - anyone can help - he chose the loan officer, the loan officer chose the attorney - I have been learning alot about this sour investing game since this went down - my question to anyone here is: is there anyway I can force this guy to hold up his end of the bargain as I can’t get in touch with him… he planned to fund the mortgage… since I decided not to do two of these deals with him they all got upset and decided to breach the “verbal” contract. I started learnign about the straw buyer deal the day after I closed on the first property - I told him I would pay a dime and if it forecloses then it will foreclose but god knows I don’t want that on my credit - I worked very hard to build it up just to get it destroyed by someone I trusted. I know you all are probably thinking I was stupid to do this- but to be hnest I thought it was something that all investors do and I thought I could trust the idea and person. I was also hungry to learn the investing tricks but seems as though my hunger has taught me a very expensive leasson - can anyne suggest any help?
THanks in advance as I so desperately need it. 
It looks to me like you own it lock stock and barrel.
If I were you I would find a way to never be late on that mortgage, and get that property sold, either by land contract, lease option, or find a good agent and get it listed. Where are you located?
Did you finance 100%?
I would need a little more detail to help you think outside of the box.
Can you get it rented?
"HE’ has nothing to do with this property now. It is up to you to find a way to borrow the money or labor to get it up to a rentable standard.
Make the payments until you can get it sold. You might be in a bad spot now, but somehow this will end up good if you just hang on.
Think about it this way. You are now an investor with the same troubles many of the investors on this forum have, which is, you have a place that needs work and don’t have the money to fix it.
You might have made a mistake but…you can turn this into something good. Are you the only one with keys? If not, change the locks, start reading everything you can about hard money loans, maybe find a partner that is willing to do the work if you can get it fixed up enough to increase the value. And then re evaluate.
I am sorry you are in this spot however don’t give up.
I think it might be wise for you to contact an attorney and ask him what the ramifications are for being a straw buyer. If you determine that the fraud penalty is to strong then he may just advise you to file bankruptcy. Which in my opinion as long as you have paid everything but the mortgage on time would only set you back about 3 years as far as your credit goes.
Or
You could work it out with another investor to negotiate a short sale for you and make sure there are no deficiency judgements agains you.
Either way you will be out from under this.
Good Luck to you.
ps
let me know how this turns out. Just shoot me an email in a few months. I would love to know that you are clear from this.
In order for someone to do a short sale for you, you will need to produce a paystub, bank statements, and a hardship letter.
You will also be asked to sign a borrowers auth and a few purchase agreements.
The investor can then begin negotiating with the bank.
What State do you live in? I may be able to referr you to someone who can help.
I don’t have any investors in GA, however maybe you have a good friend in Real Estate Investing who could do this for you?
Be careful who you choose. You don’t want this in the hands of someone that you can not trust.
Where in GA? I have an investor who might short sell it if you go into foreclosure. At least you can get out of it that way without too many bruses.
Georgia
Kacie,
Have you considered a rehab loan to get the property into a decent sellable shape. If you did it as a refi you would not have to make payments during the rehab period, during which time you could also be marketing or listing the house. This way you could get the house repaired, sell it for what is owed, and save your credit in the process. Also, because you are getting the ARV on the property your LTV will be lower and you should be able to get a low enough interest rate that you may consider keeping the property as a rental. Hope this helps.
What is the value of the property currently, and what is your loan to value?
With that information I am offically stumped. I would advertise for someone looking for a lease purchase. You can’t list it with a realtor because you will end up bringing a LARGE sum of money to closing.
Whew,
Have I heard some horror stories coming out of Georgia lately. It appears fraud and corruption are running rampant. I’ve even heard some lenders are requiring multiple appraisals as a fail-safe. Now, for a solution. Depending on how horrid shape the house is in, I may be able to come up with a plan for you, but only if you are willing to immediately and without question do exactly as instructed. There’s still some long term money to be made here, potentially. Most importantly, you don’t want a FC on your record nor have to pay taxes on a short sale.
Good luck,
Dave