2nd home in foreclosure

[Birn]

I have a 2nd home that is scheduled for trustee sale in November. I filed Chapter 7 and was discharged in June. The home is vacant but there are some things I would like to take out of it before the bank forecloses. Things like ceiling fans, light fixtures, doors, plumbing fixtures, etc.

Is it OK for me to take those things out of the house? I feel it is still my house until it is sold at the trustee sale. Am I wrong?

Thanks

[fltoo]

You can take what you want, but, I never did understand the mentality of stripping a foreclosed house bare of fixtures or trashing it.

[HHM]

You can, but really, I agree with fltoo, to what end...doors...really

I can understand ceiling fans and custom light fixtures, but doors and plumbing, come on.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Usually, items you have named become a legal part of the house. Electrical cieling fans are part of the house, doors and stuff too. Appliences not built in can legaly be removed but let's say a cabinet built in above stove micro wave or dish washer that is built in is part of the house. Carpeting etc are improvements. If you have a fancy item that let's say is a family hierloom like a special light, that 'could' be an exception, but you would have to replace it with another working light. 'Hub

[b_girl]

We have a second house that will be going into foreclosure soon. We are planning on removing what we added, too, (primarily a Pella sliding door) because they were improvements recently added in hopes of increasing the chance of a sale. We will however be replacing it all with less expensive parts.

[Martha13]

I agree with what everyone else here has said, unless it's an improvement that you made/added, and that you can replace--I'd leave it behind. I also don't understand why people would trash their former homes..We had added nice ceiling fans in 3 of the rooms, and removed each of those to bring to our new home, but my husband replaced them with the original light fixtures that came with the house. I also went around the home and removed each and every nickel and/or wood outlet cover that I'd paid for and painstakingly installed, but didn't leave them just bare---I replaced each one with the plain white ones it came with. But that's just me, others might just say to heck with it, but I couldn't do it...

[Birn]

Thanks for the responses. I paid for the fixtures and put them in. I have another house where I will be installing these items. The fixtures that came with the house did not previously exist or did not work. I'll be returning the home to the bank in exactly the same condition as it was given to me.

[b_girl]

I know exactly where you are coming from...it is amazing what happens to a home during the course of a rental. When we took over our house, it had incomplete light fixtures as well as light damage...during the next four years, we were also gifted with numerous holes in the floor and walls, along with broken windows, stolen ceiling fans, etc. etc... We were in the process of replacing/repairing all, but when the house didn't sell, we stopped and left the place as we received it, missing fixtures and all.

[spell]

I disagree.

Schedule C of your petition will list off the total of your Exempt property. That's the stuff you get to keep. Your clothes, bank account, personal residence and car are probably all listed. That's why you got to keep those.

If you listed off the ceiling fans, light fixtures, doors and plumbing fixtures, feel free to waltz right in and pick them up... they're yours. If you did not list these, they are now an asset of the case. It would be considered theft to steal them at this point. You have as much right to that property as I do.

[b_girl]

Ah, but then you didn't invest money in the fixtures. Not faulting your opinion, just your analogy. As someone who has lost a ton of money already in this property (stolen or damaged goods as well as many missed rent payments) I'm seeking to not lose any more...especially since the new fixtures were added after I filed BK in an attempt to sell the house. I can ill afford to lose any more money.

[Birn]

I disagree.

Schedule C of your petition will list off the total of your Exempt property. That's the stuff you get to keep. Your clothes, bank account, personal residence and car are probably all listed. That's why you got to keep those.

If you listed off the ceiling fans, light fixtures, doors and plumbing fixtures, feel free to waltz right in and pick them up... they're yours. If you did not list these, they are now an asset of the case. It would be considered theft to steal them at this point. You have as much right to that property as I do.

The property is no longer an asset to my bankruptcy case. The trustee abandoned the property a couple of months ago. She told me it was mine to do what I wish until the bank decides to foreclose. The bank has failed to proceed with foreclosure.

So you're telling me that I can't do anything with this house? Please explain. Suppose I wanted to try and sell it...are you saying I have no right to do anything with this house? The way I see it, this house is still legally mine until the bank decides to come and get it.

[b_girl]

So you're telling me that I can't do anything with this house? Please explain. Suppose I wanted to try and sell it...are you saying I have no right to do anything with this house? The way I see it, this house is still legally mine until the bank decides to come and get it.

ITA. I don't agree with folks who trash their houses in spite, but if an owner wants to recoup improvements they themselves added, IMO they are free to do so.

[HHM]

How exactly do you recoup. If you remove all the interior doors, what exactly are you going to do with them. (especially if you move into a rental).

[Birn]

How exactly do you recoup. If you remove all the interior doors, what exactly are you going to do with them. (especially if you move into a rental).

I have my primary residence which was exempted. The doors and fixtures I'm taking out of the 2nd home are going to be used for another rental property that I own. This other rental was also abandoned by the trustee.

By no means am I taking things out of the 2nd home to "spite" anybody. The new doors, fixtures, and ceiling fans in the 2nd home will be used in my other rental for the benefit of my tenants and myself.

[Voice of Reason]

I say strip the house clean. Legally its still yours until the property is legally transfered to the new owner.