When can I leave my home. Surrender early?

[grifterbank]

I am new to this forum and know NOTHING about bankruptcy so please bear with me and I would love it if someone could answer my question!

My husband and I are meeting with an attorney this week to hopefully file for Chapter 7. We will have to surrender our home. So my question is, how early can we leave our home? We want to find a new place to live immediately. Do we have to wait until the bankruptcy is over/discharged before we can leave the property? Can we leave as soon as it is filed? Since we have no intention and in no way can afford to stay we would like to leave ASAP. With a baby on the way soon, I feel frantic about getting settled in a different place to live. If Chapter 7 doesn't work we will have to foreclose, so I guess my question applies to that scenario as well. So in other words, will leaving our home now and going and renting a house in anyway affect our ability to file and eventually be discharged?

Any info you could provide would be SO helpful!

[Flamingo]

Your attorney will be able to answer a lot of your questions. Also, have you done a search on here and read all the stickys as to foreclosures? There is a ton of information on this forum that can help you. Best of luck to you.

[stephenm]

As Flamingo says "Talk with your attorney" but even though you are surrendering your home, the mortgage company must still foreclose, or you might even be able to give them the keys and deed back.

As someone in Chapter 7 who is surrendering my home, I haven't moved nor am I until foreclosed on. I'm torn at times of wanting to just move but I'm also able to save over $900 a month by not moving.

As for the foreclosure, it depends on your state laws and then on the mortgage company. In GA, it takes only 4 weeks once the mortgage starts the process before they foreclose. In some states, it can be over 6 months once the mortgage company starts the process.

Notice I said "Once the mortgage company starts the process." Because of the way they keep their books, some companies are waiting months to even start the process. At my 341, the trustee said Countrywide hadn't responded to my notice and wanted to make sure I told them. My lawyer has has a client that has been waiting over a year.

I'm single so I have a bunch of stuff packed and can get the rest of my stuff packed in two weeks, for you it is different but don't rush into moving if you can build a cash reserve. Also, if you move, I think you are liable for any fines or fee's that come about from HOA/City (like not mowing the lawn or the house gets broken into and you are fined).

Oh, and yes it can affect you. If your mortgage is $1000 and you rent for $800, for the means test, I think they'd use the $800. For somethings, you actually want to spend MORE money before you file and there are somethings you can spend money on that are ok and others that will send up red flags.

Talk with several lawyers if you are in the planning stages and you should be fine. Don't go filing on your first meeting unless there is some HUGE reason you must. It took me over a year to file so I could get everything in order.
Stephen

[TEW]

I am new to this forum and know NOTHING about bankruptcy so please bear with me and I would love it if someone could answer my question!

My husband and I are meeting with an attorney this week to hopefully file for Chapter 7. We will have to surrender our home. So my question is, how early can we leave our home? We want to find a new place to live immediately. Do we have to wait until the bankruptcy is over/discharged before we can leave the property? Can we leave as soon as it is filed? Since we have no intention and in no way can afford to stay we would like to leave ASAP. With a baby on the way soon, I feel frantic about getting settled in a different place to live. If Chapter 7 doesn't work we will have to foreclose, so I guess my question applies to that scenario as well. So in other words, will leaving our home now and going and renting a house in anyway affect our ability to file and eventually be discharged?

Any info you could provide would be SO helpful!

[grifterbank]

Thanks to everyone who responded.

My husband and I do NOT want to stay here and save money. We have to settle in a new place ASAP since we have a 2.5 year old and a baby due fairly soon. I refuse to go through the stress of a move heavily pregnant and put my young daughter through a move and a new baby all at once. Saving money would be nice, but it is not our priority. Finding a place to settle is. We will talk to our attorney on Thursday and see what he advises us to do. My husband emailed him today with the same question and based on his reply, it sounds like we could move once filed? I have no idea how long it takes to be officially "filed." We have found a rental that we don't want to lose and we are anxious to move on.

To answer your questions, we have missed no payments. My in-laws have been helping us make ends meet in order to miss no payments. So yes, at this point, we are current and are making/have made all payments. But, this can't go on this way and we need out. The stress is huge and our house IS the main problem. Other debt has accrued because of all the money going to the house payment so other expenses have been on a credit card or personal loan.

[venicehope]

Stop paying your mortgage & allowing your in laws to waste their funds on it also. Stop paying on the c. cards and loan unless you intend to reaffirm them i.e. a car loan. Make the move that suits your family best. I did the same (although it's been a year and the bank has yet to start any proceedings of foreclosure - I could have saved 30,000.00 -our rent was 2,500.00) we've already moved again into another home, another annual lease, rent is less, but it was tempting to go back to our original home for the sake of savings. Anyway, do what feels right, it felt right for us to move and we did. Your attorney will advise you properly, and direct you to prepare and protect any assets you can legally. Find the BEST attorney you can. Dig deep, and investigate well as to their experience, ask for referrals (if they'll give them....attorney client privilege?) Ask around, friends and family, forums, blogs etc. Good luck, & take care of yourself, going through a bankruptcy can take a toll on you emotionally and physically, and your health comes first. Utilize this forum, it is full of true life experiences and knowledge. Helpful caring people. I only wish I had had their support and knowledge during our process. We were discharged in 1/08, making the last of our buy back payments next month, then hopefully a closed case without complications.

[stephenm]

Your in-laws helping you will also count against on you the means test. Same may go with your credit cards.

I know it sucks and the stress level is something no one can understand unless they been in your shoes. My gf and I don't have to worry about having a baby since my stress level has been so high for over a year......err, sorry, said too much :-/

See several lawyers, and then get a good lawyer. Don't rush though my concern is you've already made up your mind. I think if you wait to file after birth (I know you don't want to) it helps on the means test also.

Stephen

[grifterbank]

Your in-laws helping you will also count against on you the means test. Same may go with your credit cards.

I know it sucks and the stress level is something no one can understand unless they been in your shoes. My gf and I don't have to worry about having a baby since my stress level has been so high for over a year......err, sorry, said too much :-/

See several lawyers, and then get a good lawyer. Don't rush though my concern is you've already made up your mind. I think if you wait to file after birth (I know you don't want to) it helps on the means test also.

Stephen

Yes, I spoke to someone on the phone today, thought he was an attorney, but turns out he wasn't. He said we don't qualify for Chapter 7. I guess we can do Chapter 13 which isn't very appealing at this point and I don't understand much about it. We'll meet with a different attorney tomorrow and ask if adding another person to the household could help us qualify for Chapter 7. I hate not knowing what to do and not understanding much of any of this...

[paintinrosesred]

Speak to another atty. You should get more then one opinion on your case. Best of luck.

[stephenm]

I don't mean to say I'm glad to hear that but really it is a good thing. You seem a little more open.

Check out http://www.legalconsumer.com/ That will give an idea of the means test and links to the federal guidelines. Use that as a start to educating yourself as to what your options are.

This group is great for support but remember no one is a lawyer (that I know of and if they were I don't think they would give legal advice) and every state and even district is different so what one person did might not help you. There is new case law that comes out all the time, some might help, some might hurt.

Also, it helps on the forum to let us know what is going on (debt/income/concerns). There might be several people who were in your shoes and got a chapter 7.

[grifterbank]

I don't mean to say I'm glad to hear that but really it is a good thing. You seem a little more open.

Check out http://www.legalconsumer.com/ That will give an idea of the means test and links to the federal guidelines. Use that as a start to educating yourself as to what your options are.

This group is great for support but remember no one is a lawyer (that I know of and if they were I don't think they would give legal advice) and every state and even district is different so what one person did might not help you. There is new case law that comes out all the time, some might help, some might hurt.

Also, it helps on the forum to let us know what is going on (debt/income/concerns). There might be several people who were in your shoes and got a chapter 7.

Thanks for your reply and the link. Yes, I was a little irritated today when I spoke with the person I thought was the attorney on the phone. All he asked me was what state I was in and how much my husband's annual gross income was. When I told him those two answers he said we don't qualify for chapter 7. Later, I read that there is more to the means test then those two questions.

As far as our situation goes, we are upside down in our house. To give a rough idea of how we have NO disposable income and can't make ends meet...our house payment (1st and 2nd mortgage combined) is $3842 per month. My husband's monthly income after taxes is $4100. That leaves us $258 dollars a month to cover utilities, living expenses and other debt. I don't see how chapter 7 couldn't work? We'll know tomorrow.