Is this Legal?

[lostinflorida]

We are most likely going to be filing BK beginning of December. We live in Florida, have a home in Indiana that we thought we had sold on contract but buyer has failed to complete the terms of the contract (after 2 years, buyer hasn't gotten financing and paid us off) so the buyer is still in the house and still making their payment to us each month. Up to this point I have continued to keep the payments on the house on the 1st and 2nd mtgs current (automatic withdrawal).

However, our circumstances are about to change, we are going to enroll in commercial driving school which will take 8 weeks to complete so during that time the only income we will have is my unemployment checks of $250 a week. I am trying to figure out how we can manage during this time.

Is it illegal in any way if I stopped paying the mortgage payments even though the buyer of our home is still making his payments to us? If not, we could really use that money to get us through until we can get driving jobs.

I have informed the buyer of the house that we will be filing bankruptcy and that eventually he will be losing the house but he continues to pay us each month. I think he is in denial.

[HHM]

It's not illegal. Perhaps a bit unethical, but not illegal.

If I am a renter, I love it when the owner defaults because that means I can generally live in the house rent free...is the owner really going to evict me if they haven't paid the mortgage

As for your choice of getting a CDL, there is probably not a worst industry you could be entering right now.

[lostinflorida]

Well...

I have warned the buyer/renter what to expect, so if he chooses to keep paying, that is his business. As far as being unethical, do you mean to the mortgage company? At this point, we are behind on everything except the house and that is because I felt like I should keep paying it because I was receiving money on the house. I really do need that money to live on for the next 8 weeks while we go to school so that we can get a job and put an end to this nightmare!

I have been looking for a job since March and haven't found anything. I was in the title insurance business but the real estate market collapse forced our company to close it's doors. I made very good money at that job for 15 years and now can't get a job paying $8.00 an hour. Companies who don't pay much consider you to be overqualified and think you won't work for that amount and companies that pay well want so many qualification or degrees that I don't have that I can't get them either.

Not sure why you think getting a cdl at this time is a terrible move, but I feel comfortable with it myself. My two sons got theirs in Feb 2008 and have been making more money than me and my husband ever did. With the boys doing the job and all the research I have done, I'm not going into this blindly, know all the ups and downs and pros and cons. At this point, I just want a JOB!!

[Mi Bankruptcy]

I would send your renter a certified letter informing him that the house will likely go into foreclosure within the next 2- 3 months and he/she would like to keep the home they need to secure financing immediately to purchase the house or seek another place to rent. This will make it real for him/her. After that, I would use any money that is sent you to take care of your family.

I don't know how long it takes to go into foreclosure, I would try to give him/her that time line. As far as it being unethical, I don't think so.. You have done what you could to inform them. This is why you should send a certified letter to cover your butt. If you had not informed the individual I would think you were scum. Obviously this is not so.. Best of luck to you.

[HHM]

In your first post you did not mention that you told the renter, it would probably be unethical if you did not tell them, but if you inform the renters, then all is good. But if the renters are smart, they would stop sending you checks.

[lostinflorida]

Certified Letter

I sent them a certified letter back in July. The attorney who handled the original sale of the property to them advised me to do so. The buyers have already gone through a bankruptcy themselves in the past so they should be pretty aware of what is at stake.

Their bk is part of the problem with them not getting their financing done. He waited around the full two years that we gave them to refinance to get the ball rolling and now has found out that some of the debts they thought were listed in the bk were not and are still showing up. He's blaming it on the BK lawyer they used, but it seems to me that it is up to the individual to make certain that all debts are listed. Maybe I'm wrong since I haven't got that far yet.

[AngelinaCat]

I sent them a certified letter back in July. The attorney who handled the original sale of the property to them advised me to do so. The buyers have already gone through a bankruptcy themselves in the past so they should be pretty aware of what is at stake.

Their bk is part of the problem with them not getting their financing done. He waited around the full two years that we gave them to refinance to get the ball rolling and now has found out that some of the debts they thought were listed in the bk were not and are still showing up. He's blaming it on the BK lawyer they used, but it seems to me that it is up to the individual to make certain that all debts are listed. Maybe I'm wrong since I haven't got that far yet.

After all the mistakes and grief we have gone through thanks to OUR inept attorney, everyone is well advised to get as informed as possible about your BK case, because even though many are paying good money for proper expert advice, the ultimate responsibility lies with you, the client.

Good luck.

[lostinflorida]

Different Question

If my son pays for us to go to cdl school, would we have to count that money as income? He would be writing a check directly to the school and we would be paying him back after we started working.