Upcoming Foreclosures

What is Texas Foreclosure process. Trying to help friend out of a jam.?

How long does it take to stop the foreclosure process in Texas,once a deal has been reached w/the mortgage co? We received notice back in February that our landlord was going into foreclosure on the house that we rent. It was posted for auction on the county website, etc...When we were finally able to get a hold of the landlord, she said that it was being taken care of and they had the money to pay it. She said they made a deal with Citimortgage to do 2 payments and that it just had to get final approval. After weeks of waiting, we get the call that the house wasn't being foreclosed on...it was approved. GREAT!....However, the next month we started getting letters again. Checked public records and the house was listed again for auction the following month. Landlord said it was just part of the process; the Mortgage company had to refile it?? This has happened every month and she just keeps saying that Citimortgage is so swamped, that they haven't been able to talk to anyone. I searched public records today and found Citi assigned a substitute trustee and the house is on the auction list for July 7th. I'm just wondering if she is being truthfull about this process or if she's full of s%*#.. Sorry this is so long, but any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

state statutes in texas foreclosure? what is the foreclosure process in texas

what is process of foreclosure in the state of Texas, and how long before you may be evicted?

In the state of Texas what is the legal process for giving notice of foreclosure?

What is the length and process of a foreclosure in Texas? How long would I have before they foreclose on my home in Texas. How much time would I have before I had to move out. I am going to be a month behind because my air conditioner went out. The only way I have to fix it is to use the mortgage payment. In my past experience they have sent me letters when I have been a month behind that they would foreclose in 20 days. How long is the whole precedure and when would I have to move out? It is possible I would have the extra money in about 3 months and could catch up. How can I find out what the policy of the lender is?

How many mortgage payments are people usually behind before the bank starts the foreclosure process? In Texas if that helps

How do I file a foreclosure on a property? I am a lien holder on a property and the person who is buying the property has not paid their taxes and is always late on the payments? Is there a form I can fill out to start the foreclosure process? I live in Harris County, Houston, Texas. Thank you.

On Foreclosure in texas? I got a letter in January 14,2009 saying I had till January 19th to get with the lender to pay up 6 months of mortgage pass dued or they were going to foreclose. I called the investor and told him I had $6000 to give him and I'd make arrangements on the other. He told me to keep my money and he was going to still proceed on the Foreclosure. Then I get 20 day to cure letter correction/amendent and telling me to ignore the 01/31/2009 letter (which I had not received yet) with one of the 10 acres on it, but doesn't describe which property it is in the letter. I have 3-10 acre tracks. So when I called the attorney, he said he was too busy and the letters tells me which property they are by 10.17, 10.18, 10.67 and I should know which one it is and he would call me back after 5 pm on 02/11/2009. Which he didn't. I stated I only have received one letter and said the others will come. I got the other ones, but they don't describe the property except by amount of acreage and the address. Is this the process on foreclosure. A letter from the lawyer in January and then another sent out January 31 and on Feb 3 a correction/amendant for one of the 10 acres. It doesn't make since and the investor calls before I can even receive the letters, because he doesn't want to pay anymore lawyer fees out. Please let me know how I can fix this problem. Are where I can get help.

what should i do about my texas foreclosure situation? possible title issues/wrong address on house!? ok, when i purchased the house it was from a home builder who needed to move as many houses as they possible could in 30 day! i know this because at the time i was working for the home builder. so of course everything was going great UNTIL the day of closing. my loan was completely different at closing, my title paperwork came back with an incorrect address on it (wrong city and zip, but lot block and section are correct). but i didnt question it because the house sat on the border of three different cities and i honestly wasnt quite sure which one it should have been in but figured the title company should have known. on top of that the address on the house was not the legal address of the house which was not discovered until after closing when we had to switch over our utilities! we had to go and physically show our closing papers to get service hooked up!!! to make a long story short. in 2008 we were with countrywide and were in the process of getting a loan modification but while going thru the process boa purchased cw. before the sale of cw & boa we got a letter from cw stating we got the loan modification then three months later got a letter from boa saying it was declined. a year later i was still having to fax, refax and refax to boa to get the modification. two years went by and i was still faxing!!!! and kept getting told they never got my paperwork or that we didnt qualify b/c we made too much money (which was not true they had our ppwk mixed up with someone else). finally we "qualified" to do a short sale, boa sent an appraiser out to the house, everything seemed like it was going somewhere and then bam, it was over. the only answer that we can get from them is "we cant stop the auction of your house b/c its too close to your sale date" but before we were able to push back the "auction" date when it was a week away. at this point the only thing that i can think of is maybe they are having problems with our paperwork and all the wrong addresses, especially the fact that the address listed on the house is not the legal address. could this be a reason to deny modification/short sale?!

How long does a motion to relief from a automatic stay take in Colorado? Regarding a home in foreclosure.? I need to how long this process will take. My home is in foreclosure the sale date was May 13th. I filed for bankruptcy in Texas March 25th. The home is in Colorado. My daughter lives in the home. How long will this bankruptcy delay the sale.

my bank forclosed my home without notifying me? I was default on my payment and bank of america informed me that they would try to qualify me for a makinghomeaffordable program. They informed me that while we were being considered for a loan modification, that would stop the foreclosure process. They proceeded with the foreclosure and are now ordering an eviction notice. (Texas) Can I do anything about this situation?

How come mortgage lenders don't want foreclosure? I am refering to if the loan thats due is worth significantly less than the value of the property. So in that case, why would a lender not want to sell this property and gain all of the profits from the sale? Like in Texas, if the borrower misses 3 months of payments. Property is worth $300,000. Missed payments, plus the entire loan is $250,000. So why would a lender not want to either sell this property at a tax deed auction or sell it afterwards if their were no bidders? Since they would gain all the profits from the property either way. If they would not want to go through this foreclosure process given my example given, then would it be possible for me to buy their loan from the lender and have the property go into foreclosure so I can reap the profits? Tell me what I am not understanding please.

How can I save my house from foreclosure once the bank starts the process? We bought a house a couple years ago in Texas. We live in this house. We are self employed and the economy had hit us pretty hard. We have not made a house payment in five months. Money is starting to come in again and we can now afford the $1200 a month, but we can not afford the back debt. We called our mortgage company (Suntrust) and they told us we had to talk to a loss mitigation counselor. We received a letter stating the house will be sold on January 7th. The loss mitigation people are telling us we have to wait for them to call us before they can help. They say it takes up to 30 days to receive a phone call. Well, if we wait for them to call, the house will already be sold at auction. What can we do? They will not talk to us at all. We do have a HUD backed loan. We have called Hope Now and that did not seem to help. HUD has a wealth of information online about reinstatement, forbearance, and repayment plan options. We can not contact anyone to help us try to qualify for these options. If we can not reach loss mitigation, what are our other options? We received a couple letters from lawyers regarding bankruptcy. The letters mention chapter seven and eleven. If we can save our house with bankruptcy, what is the best way? Any ideas on how to get loss mitigation to grant us some extra time so we can work for them? Thank you for all your help.

Fannie Mae foreclosure purchase? I am in the process of purchasing a foreclosure home that is owned by Fannie Mae. They have an item listed in their addendum that states the following: "Grantee herein shall be prohibited from conveying captioned property to a bonafide purchaser for value for a sales price of greater than $150,000 for a period of 3 months from the date of this deed. Grantee shall also be prohibited from encumbering subject property with a security interest in the principal amount of greater that $150,000 for a period of 3 motnhs from the date of this deed. This restriction shall terminate immediately upon conveyance at any forclosure sale related to a mortgage or deed of trust. " Can anyone explain this to me and put this in plain english terms. The home is in Texas if that makes any difference. Is there anyway around this clause?

Texas HOA lawsuit lien question? My HOA is suing to foreclose on me for fees and missed payments. I argued to take the case to trial before a judge over my disagreement with the amount of superfluous fees they applied to the account. ($1000 fees & $400 missed payments). Now the lawyer says that if I don't agree to a payment plan, signed payable to them, that they'll just dismiss the case so they can file again in the new year and foreclose on the property faster according to new Texas HOA laws. (They allow a process similar to equity loan foreclosures he says.). This just seems weird that they can drop the case the judge ordered for them to bring to a final judgement where the judge can hear my defense- want to make payments addressed to HOA and exorbitant fees not defined in contract- and then just file again in the new year. Does this make sense or is it normal in lawyer land? Thanks LovesTheConstitution. Yeah, the other $2000 in fees can be included in the contract clause of related collection expenses, so all in all it's become $600 in missed dues and $3000 in fees. Making it worse is that our local postal carrier could really care less if people get certified letters or not, knocking and running like UPS drivers. So I didn't even know about the lien until a process server showed up. All in all I think this is what happens when for-profit companies are contracted to manage non-profit HOAs. Charging an arbitrary $20/month "Collection Program" fee, starting before the first payment was due is plain extortionist to me. I also wonder if the HOA followed constitutional law when they changed the CCR to go through a for-profit management company. To me this is the 99%. Banks and everyone else has been awesome working with me after the collapse of my small business in 2008, but HOA management companies have no problem pulling a GoldmanSachs/AIG. For 99% o For 99% of Americans, there's always one person around the corner waiting to rip you off. Oh well though, looks like I definitely need a lawyer now. Don't have enough vacation time to do this on my own. Thanks for the response.

Can I Refinance my Mobile Home Mortgage after almost 1 Year into my Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Case? I have managed to fall behind another 3 months, now the mortgage company (WAMU), I'm not going to mention them by name, are trying to take me back to court and have the Motion for Relief to Stay lifted so that they can go ahead with starting Foreclosure procedures. I hear, in Texas, the whole process is usually done in about 3 months. Most cases dont even make it to the Judiscial level!

What is a good bid on this property foreclosure? I found a mobile home in the BOON DOCKS (aka BFE) of Texas on 10 acres. It is a foreclosed home and has been on MLS for 10 months with NO bids at all. The property is $41,000. Is there a bid that is "too low"? I mean could I throw out $7500 or $10,000 cash or would that just be kicked to the curb? Nobody has bid on this property a single time and I tell you it's in the STYX. LOL. I'm not real familiar with the bid process, so I'm just curious. It's through the foreclosure site OCWEN. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, this is a bank owned home and they have had to pay property taxes on it for 2008 & 2009 because there are no back taxes. I just kind of wonder in this buyers market if you guys think they may be interested in "dumping" the house for a low ball bid.

Father died back in September and I have a question about his mortgage loan & personal question.....? My father died back in September and the bank called in the mortgage loan he had on the house because he owed way more on the note than what the house/property is worth.... One of my questions is my half sister who my father left half the house to is claiming her attorney told her that by law the bank has to keep the insurance my father originally had when he first took out the loan that would pay off the loan if he died even if he were to miss payments(which he did--my brother had to force him into bankruptcy about ten years ago to pay off what he was behind or else we would have lost the house)because he said that is the LAW ever since banks started doing home mortgage loans in the late 1940's/early 1950's. Then she said that her attorney said that since my dad was already a senior citizen when he took out the original loan with Washington Mutual, that his being a senior citizen also makes it LAW that the banks MUST carry the insurance to pay off the mortgage even if he misses payments. THen she comes up with another story that her attorney said that when Obama had the new mortgage laws put into place, he also made it law that banks that made mortgage loans to senior citizens MUST pay for the insurance that pays off the loan even if they have missed payments and even if they die during length of the loan note or if a loan mod is in the works or even if they die while house is in process of foreclosure and hasnt been yet sold. My brothther(the other person my dad left the house to)is done with the house and wants nothing more to do with the house and we are both in process of finding a new house to move into before the bank sends us the 30 days to vacate the house notice. My sister at first was going to move into another house with her boyfriend but now because of her attorney(who I think is giving her very bad advice and i think does not know anything about mortgage laws in Texas), she says she is not moving out because the house is paid off because(according to her attorney)and if the bank(CHASE now since WASHINGTON MUTUAL merged with them)does not have that "loan forgiveness" insurance(as I call it), then she is going to take the bank to court and sue them because her attorney said that when CHASE absorbed the note from WASHINGTON MUTUAL, by law that made it a new loan note and they had to pay for that "loan forgiveness" insurance to pay it off because he was a senior citizen. This is causing me a lot of stress to where I have not been able to sleep good in the past three months(I am lucky to get two hours of solid sleep a night), has caused me to develop depression and aches, pains, migraine headaches, and has caused me to get sick a lot(all due to the stress of her not wanting to move out and fight the bank because of the wrong advice her lawyer is giving her). She tried to get hold of my father's entire loan portfolio from CHASE to show to her attorney so he can file court papers to sue them for not giving my father "loan forgiveness" insurance. I talked with the landlord who me and my brother may get a house from(owner finance low down cuz our credit scores are not great)cuz he used to work in a bank doing home mortgage loans and he said there is no such law(and hever has been one)that banks MUST carry "loan forgiveness" insurance on a senior citizen's mortgage to pay it off when they die. He also said that when WAMU was still operating, they had the right to take away that "loan forgiveness" insurance because he missed 6 months of payments and when CHASE absorbed the note from WAMU's files, they took it as it stood with WAMU with no "loan forgiveness" insurance AND that CHASE was under no obligation to offer my father "loan forgiveness" insurance AND that absorbing the note did not turn it into a "new" note(as my sister's attorney claims)AND that when my dad went into bankruptcy to pay what he was behind with WAMU, the bankruptcy did NOT turn it into a new note(as my sister claims her attorney has also told her). I am so stressed out with her crap that I am seriously thinking of sueing her in court for mental distress and anguish as well as sue her attorney for the same as well. Can I do that because as said, this mess she and her attorney has caused has made me to get sick a lot, lose sleep, and develop depression. Can I also report her attorney to the Texas Bar Association and ask his license to practice law be taken away? Also, can I, as my father's LEGAL son(my dad only raised my half sister--ne NEVER adopted her)and co executor of the will(sister is other co exec)challenge the will in probate court and have her taken off as co exec and have her half of house taken away from her(father had depression and dementia at time new will was made which his military attorney was never informed of)so this mess can finaly end and I can move on? If anyone who knows If anyone who knows Texas State Mortgage Loan Law or is a real etate attorney in Texas reads this--PLEASE RESPOND and message me!!

Short Sale Approved in WA and further Tax Complications? I have bought a home in Seattle WA with all the dreams on September 2009 for $266,500 and we lived happily until March 2011 but due to job i had to move to Texas. And i have approached a Realtor to put the house on sale due to my financial situations and i no longer was able to pay my Mortgage. To my surprise the property value in my community took a dive and my house was only valued at 200000 and my Realtor suggested that i had only two option a. Short Sale and b. Foreclosure And since i don't want to walk out i made my mortgage payment for couple of months and opted for a short sale but unfortunately due to medical expenses i could not continue my mortgage payment and stopped paying my mortgage. And on the third month i got my short sale request approved with a buyer with more value than the buyer has offered and the buyer does not want to buy it so the House came to the market again. Fortunately i got another buyer and the bank approved the short sale after 6 months on November. Now the house is in the closing process and i was worried if i have to pay the tax on the balance amount of 60000$ for the Tax year 2011 since the bank waived the balance and approved the short sale. I know for sure i have to pay back the allowance amount of 8000$ i got from the Government but not sure about the amount that was waived by the bank. The approval letter i got from the bank states "Wells Fargo N.A Bank has approved the sale of the above referenced property This sale will result in a short payoff of the mortgage, and the mortgagors(s) acknowledge they waive any and all the rights to any escrow balance, insurance proceeds or refunds from prepaid expenses, Neither the mortgagors nor any other party may receive any sale proceeds or any funds as a result of this transaction except as noted in this demand statement. As agreed, when we receive the sale proceeds and all required documentation, we will notify the credit bureau to reflect 'Agreed settlement short of full payment' which would appear on the credit report within 60-90 days from the sale date and within 60 - 90 days from the date of notification and waive any deficiency rights if applicable" My Questions are: 1. What are the Tax Complications i would face after this Short Sale. 2. I have paid mortgages until July and spent all the money to maintain the house including HOA, Water, Electricity and GAS and cleaning and Maintaining lawns etc. Can i itemize in this year tax return? Please advise. 3. I also have 6800$ medical expenses for this year. 4. Since i have moved to Texas from WA i have spent almost 8000$ for the moving expenses. Appreciate your reply! Please advise. Please let me know if i will get relief from this act. H.R. 3648, the "Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007." The legislation is effective for discharges of indebtedness on or after January 1, 2007 and before January 1, 2010. The Federal Bailout Legislation H.R. 1424, passed on October 3, 2008, extended this relief through December 31, 2012. This house was my primary residence and i currently live in a rented apartment.

We rent and...The bank is kicking us out!!! Do we have 90 Day's? We have been renting from a property management company for 3 years now. We just found out today that our landlord had the home we live in up for auction. Nobody bought it, so it went into foreclosure, and now the bank owns it. Well. The bank told us today we need to leave. They said we had 3 choices. 1. We can sign a lease for a month and a half, after that we need to be gone, or 2.We can do a cash for keys program where if we movve out in the next week they'll give us $800. 3. An eviction process, that will take 6 weeks. I heard that we actually have 90 days until an officer comes to evict us? Can anyone help us with this. Do we REALLY have 90 days? I live in Ft. Worth Texas. How long do we really have if need be? Thank you in advance!

Mortgage default in Idaho-tax consequences,please? I just don't understand this whole process. So, we have defaulted (after trying in vain to get a payment arrangement,etc), the company would not send us deed in lieu of foreclosure papers.This all started with husband losing his job, and wife's hours getting cut. Now, I am told the mortgage company can write off the difference between what we owe, and the fair market value, but that we ALSO have to pay the difference as income on our taxes...would it not seem that one OR the other should be done, but not both? We now live in Texas, and currently owe the IRS and state of Idaho for taxes (income and state). Can this mortgage company also try to sue us or garnish our wages over this?? We lost everything we had, and now live week to week. Please no insulting answers.

karen tumulty should be nominated for the best jounalism 2008? How to Pick a Veep Jun. 23, 2008 | By KAREN TUMULTY ...to picking vice-presidential nominees...of Vice President should tell...three-star running mates. The right... 1591 words | view cover So who might be pizazz choices for this year's contenders? McCain might turn to his longtime hero Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. =========================================== One of the stranger ironies the Constitution has bestowed on American politics is this: some 50 million people just finished choosing the parties' two nominees in a grueling, yearlong primary campaign that cost millions of dollars and captivated the world. But when it comes to picking vice-presidential nominees, only two people on the planet get a vote: John McCain and Barack Obama. Between an explosion of democracy in the spring and an even bigger explosion of self-determination in the fall is a brief interlude of, well, something that Vladimir Putin could probably live with. Related Articles The Keys to McCain’s VP Pick When you are running for President, you can’t exactly just have a few friends over on the weekend, e... Wooing New Hampshire’s Undeclared The guy in the purple "I’m a health care voter" shirt stands up to ask a question at a John McCain t... Romney Frees McCain for New Fight When Mitt Romney stepped forward to announce his endorsement of former rival John McCain, the former... McCain: Frail with the Far Right John McCain emerged from Super Tuesday the undisputed heavyweight in the fight for the Republican pr... Everyone knows that the main qualification for the vice presidency is being ready, at a moment's notice, to step into the most powerful job in the world. But what qualifies you to do the job and what qualifies you to get the job may involve two completely different calculations. Both McCain and Obama have their selection committees already at work scouring candidates' financial and personal backgrounds, voting records and public statements. In a sudden setback that could slow the Democratic nominee's search, Obama lost his top Veep hunter, Jim Johnson, after the former Fannie Mae executive came under scrutiny for accepting preferential mortgages from a lender linked to the foreclosure crisis. Both camps will finish their work by early August, if not sooner. When they do, the choice of Vice President should tell us something — maybe a lot — about how McCain and Obama think and how they could run the government. There are a lot of ways to choose a Vice President, and each comes with risks. Here are five of the most reliable: 1. Play to Your Strength Perhaps the fastest way to send a message about who you are is to pick someone who appears to be ... just like you. In 1992, Bill Clinton picked another Southern baby boomer with a moderate record and a full head of hair. Then Clinton, Al Gore and their wives took a bus trip that looked like a rolling scene from The Big Chill. Picking Gore reinforced Clinton's claim to be part of a new generation of Democratic pols, liberated from the tired (and losing) politics of the past. If McCain were to take a similar approach, he might pick a No. 2 who has strong national-security credentials or another maverick who defies party labels — perhaps someone like independent Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman. By this standard, Obama might opt for a partner who is young and charismatic and also breaks a historic barrier of race or gender — perhaps Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius — or one who transcends partisan politics, like Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. 2. Look at the Map An old-fashioned road atlas is a good Michelin guide for three-star running mates. The right choice can add balance to a nominee whose roots may seem a tad too effete to go over well in the heartland — or add some coastal glitz to a rural candidate's prairie-flat steadiness. As it happens, the last two candidates to make their picks with geography clearly in mind — John Kennedy in 1960 and Michael Dukakis in 1988 — were both from Massachusetts. And they both picked Texas Senators — Lyndon Johnson and Lloyd Bentsen — for the second spot on their ticket. More narrowly, the map can help a nominee make a play for a state that is crucial in November, though that is never a sure bet. Kennedy, with Johnson as his running mate, squeezed by Nixon to win Texas with a margin of merely 46,000 votes, in what turned out to be one of the closest elections in American history. But Dukakis got swamped in the Lone Star State, where Bentsen's considerable popularity was no match for the thrill of having another Texan, George H.W. Bush, in the Oval Office. This year, given the closeness of the race and the importance of winning a few battleground states, McCain and Obama will keep at least one eye on the Electoral College map right through November. That means Obama will be considering choices like Ohio governor Ted Strickland (though Strickland says he would turn down the offer) or one of three possibilities from Virginia — Governor Tim Kaine, former governor Mark Warner or Senator Jim Webb. Or perhaps a Westerner like Montana governor Brian Schweitzer. McCain might get an Electoral College boost by picking Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, Pennsylvania's ex-governor Tom Ridge or former rival Mitt Romney, who has family roots in pivotal Michigan. 3. Shore Up Your Weak Side On the other hand, the nominee might need a partner who compensates for his vulnerabilities or perceived weaknesses. That was plainly what George W. Bush had in mind in 2000 when he picked Dick Cheney, a seasoned Washington insider with a long foreign policy résumé (who also happened to be heading up Bush's vice-presidential-selection process). And Gore knew that in picking Lieberman, who had been one of Bill Clinton's harshest Democratic critics during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, he was buying some distance from the incumbent Commander in Chief. In McCain's case, any doubts that voters have about electing a 72-year-old President might be allayed if he tapped someone far younger. And it wouldn't hurt, in a year when gasoline prices and financial jitters have moved past the Iraq war to the top of voter concerns, to look for a sidekick who is more comfortable than McCain is with economic policy. It may well turn out to be someone about whom the conservative base, which is a little leery of McCain, is more enthusiastic. Some possibilities the two might want to consider as hedges against their shortcomings: McCain could pick Romney or Pawlenty, both of whom have executive experience and relative youth, or perhaps an economic-policy expert like former Ohio Congressman Rob Portman, who served as both budget chief and trade representative for Bush. Obama, however, might want to address concerns about his youth and inexperience by picking a running mate who is older and has strong national-security credentials. He could turn to seasoned, silver-haired foreign policy experts like Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Joe Biden or former Senate Armed Services chairman Sam Nunn. Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell or former South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle would add some experience as well. 4. Hug Your Rival Even after a long, hard primary fight (and sometimes because of it), the ultimate winner almost always has to consider bringing the loser aboard the ticket. That's what Ronald Reagan did when he picked George H.W. Bush in 1980 and how John Kerry came to choose John Edwards in 2004. Sometimes party unity simply demands it. "We ended up with the obvious choice," says adviser Bob Shrum of Kerry's decision to tap Edwards. "People in the party overwhelmingly wanted him." Then again, a former adversary can have extra baggage. For one thing, there will be lingering tensions and suspicions that former rivals still harbor ambitions of their own. The other party is certain to dredge up every damaging sound bite — "Voodoo economics!" — that your former rival hurled in your direction back in February. These worries are usually overcome. Already it's hard to miss the steady thaw in McCain's once frosty relationship with Romney as the former Massachusetts governor throws himself — and his formidable fund-raising operation — into campaigning for the man who beat him. And Hillary Clinton's supporters — starting with her husband — are letting it be known that they expect Obama to give her serious consideration. 5. Hire Some Pizazz Some nominees find themselves in need of excitement. That explains why Walter Mondale tapped Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman on a national ticket, in 1984. "This is an exciting choice," he said at the time. Within weeks, Mondale did not see it that way. Given their difficult history of tangling over just about everything, hardly anyone would have expected Bob Dole to pick Jack Kemp as his running mate in 1996 — least of all Kemp. As little as three weeks before he was selected, recalls Dole's campaign manager, Scott Reed, Kemp was grumbling in GOP circles that he hadn't been given a speaking spot at the party's convention. So why did Dole pick him? "We were going for oxygen, heat and energy," Reed says. "We went through the traditional list, and we just weren't happy with what we were coming up with." Kemp later turned out to be far more complicated a partner than Dole or Reed had imagined. So who might be pizazz choices for this year's contenders? McCain might turn to his longtime hero Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Excitement is hardly what Obama needs, but he could pick a woman, such as Sebelius or Arizona governor Janet Napolitano, who might force McCain to spend more time in his otherwise safe home state. But if you venture too far out of the box, voters will scratch their heads sooner or later — and eventually you might too. George H.W. Bush seems to have entered his Veep wish list into one of those dating computers back in 1988. That year he stunned nearly all his advisers when he tapped someone whose Midwestern roots were an antidote to his privileged Kennebunkport background, who was young to his old, who could balance his moderation with a dose of conservatism, and came up with Dan Quayle. The ticket beat the Democrats that fall, but by 1992 even Bush was trying to nudge him off the ticket. The ploy failed. Which is a reminder that however you choose a running mate, another rule will always apply: hard as it is to find a good one, it is sometimes harder to get rid of a bad one.

Ok, so which one Clinton or Obama would fine parents who don't have healh care for their children? Read the transcript from tonite's debate and answer: CLINTON: It is not enough to say, "Let's come together." We know we're going to have to work hard to overcome the opposition of those who do not want the changes to get to universal health care. You know, when I proposed a universal health care plan, as did Senator Edwards, we took a big risk, because we know it's politically controversial to say we're going to cover everyone. And you chose not to do that. You chose to put forth a health care plan that will leave out at least 15 million people. That's a big difference. When I said we should put a moratorium on home foreclosures, basically your response was, well, that wouldn't work. And, you know, in the last week, even President Bush has said we have to do something like that. I just believe that we've got to look hard at the difficult challenges we face, especially after George Bush leaves the White House. CLINTON: The world will breathe a sigh of relief once he is gone. We all know that. (APPLAUSE) But then we've got to do the hard work of not just bringing the country together, but overcoming a lot of the entrenched opposition to the very ideas that both of us believe in, and for some of us have been fighting for, for a very long time. You know, when I took on... (APPLAUSE) When I took on universal health care back in '93 and '94, it was against a firestorm of special interest opposition. I was more than happy to do that, because I believe passionately in getting quality affordable health care to every American. I don't want to leave anybody out. I see the results of leaving people out. I am tired of health insurance companies deciding who will live or die in America. (APPLAUSE) BROWN: All right, Senator Clinton, thank you. Senator Obama, please respond. (APPLAUSE) OBAMA: Well, I think that Senator Clinton mentioned two specific issue areas where we've got some differences. I'm happy to debate those, which is what I think should be the focus of this campaign. We both want universal health care. When I released my plan a few months later, we were in a debate and Senator Clinton said we all want universal health care. Of course, I was down 20 points in the polls at the time, and so my plan was pretty good. It's not as good now, but my plan hasn't changed. The politics have changed a little bit. We both -- 95 percent of our plans are similar. We both want to set up a system in which any person is going to be able to get coverage that is as good as we have as members of Congress. And we are going to subsidize those who can't afford it. OBAMA: We're going to make sure that we reduce costs by emphasizing prevention. And I want to make sure that we're applying technology to improve quality, cut bureaucracy. Now, I also want to make sure that we're reducing costs for those who already have health insurance. So we put in place a catastrophic reinsurance plan that would reduce costs by $2,500 per family per year. So we've got a lot of similarities in our plan. We've got a philosophical difference, which we've debated repeatedly, and that is that Senator Clinton believes the only way to achieve universal health care is to force everybody to purchase it. And my belief is, the reason that people don't have it is not because they don't want it but because they can't afford it. And so I emphasize reducing costs. (APPLAUSE) And as has been noted by many observers, including Bill Clinton's former secretary of labor, my plan does more than anybody to reduce costs, and there is nobody out there who wants health insurance who can't have it. OBAMA: Now, there are legitimate arguments for why Senator Clinton and others have called for a mandate, and I'm happy to have that debate. But the notion that I am leaving 15 million people out somehow implies that we are different in our goals of providing coverage to all Americans, and that is simply not true. We think that there's going to be a different way of getting there. One last point I want to make on the health care front. I admire the fact that Senator Clinton tried to bring about health care reform back in 1993. She deserves credit for that. (APPLAUSE) But I said before, I think she did it in the wrong way, because it wasn't just the fact that the insurance companies, the drug companies were battling here, and no doubt they were. It was also that Senator Clinton and the administration went behind closed doors, excluded the participation even of Democratic members of Congress who had slightly different ideas than the ones that Senator Clinton had put forward. And, as a consequence, it was much more difficult to get Congress to cooperate. OBAMA: And I've said that I'm going to do things differently. I think we have to open up the process. Everybody has to have a seat at the table. And most importantly, the American people have to be involved and educated about how this change is going to be brought about. The point is this, you know, we can have great plans, but if we don't change how the politics is working in Washington, then neither of our plans are going to happen, and we're going to be four years from now debating once again how we're going to bring universal health care to this country. (APPLAUSE) BROWN: All right, we've got some time constraints here, so we've got to take another real quick break. Stay with us. We've got a lot more ahead. You can compare the candidates on the issues any time; just go to our Web site, Cnnpolitics.com. A lot more ahead here at the University of Texas. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (APPLAUSE) BROWN: An enthusiastic crowd here at the University of Texas. Welcome back to the Texas Democratic debate. Let's get right to it. Jorge Ramos with the next question. RAMOS: Senator Clinton, yesterday you said, and I'm quoting, "One of us is ready to be commander in chief." Are you saying that Senator Obama is not ready and not qualified to be commander in chief? CLINTON: Well, I believe that I am ready and I am prepared. And I will leave that to the voters to decide. But I want to get back to health care, because I didn't get a chance to respond after Senator Obama finished. No, let me finish, Jorge... RAMOS: But I would like to come back... CLINTON: This is a significant difference. You know, Senator Obama has said it's a philosophical difference. I think it's a substantive difference. He has a mandate for parents to be sure to ensure their children. I agree with that. I just know that if we don't go and require everyone to have health insurance, the health insurance industry will still game the system. Everyone of us with insurance will pay the hidden tax of approximately $900 a year to make up for the lack of insurance. (APPLAUSE) And you know, in one of our earlier debates, John Edwards made a great point. It would be as though Social Security were voluntary. Medicare, one of the great accomplishments of President Johnson, was voluntary. (APPLAUSE) I do not believe that is going to work. So it's not just a philosophical difference. CLINTON: You look at what will work and what will not work. If you do not have a plan that starts out attempting to achieve universal health care, you will be nibbled to death, and we will be back here with more and more people uninsured and rising costs. (APPLAUSE) BROWN: All right. We appreciate that you want to make a point, Senator Obama. We have limited time, so I would like Jorge to move on to another subject or we're going to be out of time. (CROSSTALK) OBAMA: Well, I understand. But I think that Senator Clinton made a... (LAUGHTER) You know, she's making a point, and I think I should have the opportunity to respond very briefly. And I'll try to make... BROWN: Very briefly, absolutely. OBAMA: Number one, understand that when Senator Clinton says a mandate, it's not a mandate on government to provide health insurance, it's a mandate on individuals to purchase it. And Senator Clinton is right; we have to find out what works. OBAMA: Now, Massachusetts has a mandate right now. They have exempted 20 percent of the uninsured because they have concluded that that 20 percent can't afford it. In some cases, there are people who are paying fines and still can't afford it, so now they're worse off than they were. They don't have health insurance and they're paying a fine. (APPLAUSE) In order for you to force people to get health insurance, you've got to have a very harsh penalty, and Senator Clinton has said that we won't go after their wages. Now, this is a substantive difference. But understand that both of us seek to get universal health care. I have a substantive difference with Senator Clinton on how to get there. BROWN: All right, Senator Clinton? CLINTON: Wait a minute, no, this is too important. This is the number one issue that people talk to me about. You know, when a mother grabs my arm and says, "I can't get the operation my son needs because I don't have health insurance," it is personal for me. CLINTON: And I just fundamentally disagree. You know, Senator Obama's plan has a mandate on parents and a fine if parents do not... OBAMA: That's right. CLINTON: ... insure their children. OBAMA: That's right. CLINTON: Because he recognizes that unless we have some kind of restriction, we will not get there. OBAMA: There's a reason. CLINTON: He's also said that if people show up at a hospital sick, without health insurance, well, maybe at that point you can fine them. We would not have a social compact with Social Security and Medicare if everyone did not have to participate. I want a universal health care plan. (APPLAUSE) OBAMA: Now, that's -- that mother -- that mother who is desperate to get health care for her child, will be able to get that health care under my plan. Point number one. Point number two, the reason a mandate for children can be effective is we've got an ability to make affordable health care available to that child, right now. OBAMA: There are no excuses. If a parent is not providing health care for that child, it's because the parent's not being responsible, under my plan. And those children don't have a choice. But I think that adults are going to be able to see that they can afford it, under my plan; they will get it, under my plan. And it is true that, if it turns out that some are gaming the system, then we can impose, potentially, some penalties on them for gaming the system. But the notion that, somehow, I am interested in leaving out 15 million people, without health insurance, is simply not true. BROWN: All right. Jorge... CLINTON: We disagree on that.