Ok so you "ride through" with your house and then...

[readytofile]

10 years later you decide you want to move. Can you sell the house that technically you owe nothing on? Or you just walk away? Or can you not get a house after that for a few years?

In 10 years my children will all be adults and so what if I decide I want to up and move to another state or find a nicer home? What are my options?

[AngelinaCatHub]

Well technically you still owe on the house. You even owe on every mortgage or loan that you were discharged on. Being discharged is a legal means to "forgive" your debt legally and the creditor cannot force a payment. It does not mean you do not 'Owe" it.

On the house, yes you may sell it at any time. However you must of course, satisfy the mortgage. Ten years down the road, I am not sure you are still protected by the bk process. I've never thought of it and perhaps someone can help both of us on that. 'Hub

[readytofile]

Well technically you still owe on the house. You even owe on every mortgage or loan that you were discharged on. Being discharged is a legal means to "forgive" your debt legally and the creditor cannot force a payment. It does not mean you do not 'Owe" it.

On the house, yes you may sell it at any time. However you must of course, satisfy the mortgage. Ten years down the road, I am not sure you are still protected by the bk process. I've never thought of it and perhaps someone can help both of us on that. 'Hub

Ok that makes sense. We were just concerned that when we eventually DO have equity in the house that they'll say, "Oh sorry, you don't technically own this house anymore so see ya!"

[DebtEnder]

In my view you do not owe the debt, but the lien exist. It's just like with a car. I had 2 cars in my ch7 I did not reaffirm. One car only had a few more regular payments to finish paying it off. I got the title to it a few weeks ago. The other I negotiated with Carmax for a lump sum payoff. About 40% of what was still owed. I got the title to that one last week.

With the house it's the same way. If you want the title to the house you have to payoff the lien. So to sell the house you need to sell it for more/equal to what the lien is worth. You can then get a clean title and therefore sell the house and pocket anything left over after paying off the mortgage lien.

If you never refinanced the house or reaffirmed the debt then you never became personally liable to the debt so if you can't sell it for what you owe then wash your hands of it. Although after 10 years of payments I hope you got a little equity left in the house but who know in this day and age.

As far as getting a new house if your current on payments and do in fact get a buyer then I don't think you should have too much trouble. The issue becomes if you go rent free for awhile, foreclose, then look for a new house to buy. As most lenders now want proof of paying on housing expenses now to get a loan to avoid that little loophole.

I would make double sure you never refinanced the loan. Contacting your mortgage bank and asking for origination date of the loan and confirming that was before your BK would be the best bet.

[OhioFiler]

The bank retains the lien on the property but the property remains yours. You can sell it at any time but the bank will require the balance of the mortgage to release the lien. Same as it would be if you had never filed bankruptcy.

[readytofile]

The bank retains the lien on the property but the property remains yours. You can sell it at any time but the bank will require the balance of the mortgage to release the lien. Same as it would be if you had never filed bankruptcy.

Ok, well that sounds much better than what I was thinking

[HomeNow2]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, we are ready to file a chapter 7 in Illinois and WANT to include our primary house in it. Thinkging of doing a ride through since the house is so upside down in value $75K - $100K before realtor fees and such. So, if we give up the home in the BK7 in a ride through, then stop paying a fe months after discharge......we can sit there in Illinois about how long since that loan was modified in spring/summer 2010????

How will this affect us on the other end when we are ready to buy? Time frames?????? Anything we have not thought of?????? Thanks!

Waiting for your response!

[IBroke]

Ten years down the road, I am not sure you are still protected by the bk process. I've never thought of it and perhaps someone can help both of us on that.

If the mortgage wasn't reaffirmed, the personal liability doesn't "come back" at some point. A BK-discharge is not temporary, it's permanent (that's why its protection is called "permanent injunction").

Here's something I just found when browsing for the right legal phrases:

"When the debtor has fulfilled his or her post-petition obligations, the bankruptcy case is closed and a discharge order is issued, pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §524, discharging (wiping out) eligible debts as of the date of the bankruptcy filing. When the bankruptcy court enters the discharge order, the debtor is granted permanent, lifetime relief from bankruptcy creditors in what’s called a discharge injunction. Section 524′s discharge injunction forbids “the commencement or continuantion of an action, the employment of process, or an act, to collect, recover or offset any such debt as a personal liability of the debtor, whether or not such discharge of debt is waived.”
The discharge order automatically gives rise to a permanent statutory injunction prohibiting creditors from taking any action to collect a discharged debt. Since the purpose of filing bankruptcy is to obtain relief from the pressure of paying your overwhelming debts, the discharge injunction is your most important protection."