What do we tell the bank,walking away from house

[momtoroxy]

Seems odd that the mortgage company wants your financial info AFTER your discharge! Wasn't the debt discharged in your ch 7?! I am concerned also because we could be in the same situation. We just had our 341 yesterday and will be hopefully discharged by Jan 17th. DH has been applying for other jobs in CA (we are now in NV)...keep us updated!

[frogger]

Until they actually repo this house, you still own it. Not my idea, only the law. You must protect that house as you are discharged and could be held responsible for damage by improper and reckless abandonment.

'Hub

I actually had this talk with my attorney yesterday about some property that I have.

Here's what I was told:

As long as you have possession, you must carry insurance and take care of the property. You can not just "abandon" the property. At the point in time you are going to abandon the property and cancel insurance and utilities, I must take the keys to a responsible party and give them to them.

In my case, it will be taking the keys to a couple of banks and giving them to my loan officer. They ain't going to be happy boys.....

[kimba251]

I don't know what to do because we are leaving this weekend. We can't afford the house and I don't want to stay to be kicked out. We found a place,jobs etc in another state and need to be there by Dec. 1st.

If we are in a non judicial state does foreclosure move much quicker?

THe mortgage compnay also offered us a deed in lieu which they wanted all knids of pay stubs, bank statements etc to review to see if they wanted to offet it to us.i don't know that I feel comfortable having to provide financial info to them after my Chpa 7 has been discharged. Is this even an option we should consider since we are discharged??

[AngelinaCat]

I agree with Flamingo. You need to call your insurance agent. The homeowners policy will become void once you move out. Even if you keep paying the premiums, once something happens and the insurance company finds out the house is vacant, then you will be toast.

You *might* be able to get a limited liability policy to protect yourself in the event some trespasser falls and hurts themselves on your property, but I doubt you will get coverage to protect the home--especially with a known issue of rain flooding the basement.

I'm not trying to scare you, but you need to talk these things over with your agent.

Good luck

[Flamingo]

Should I notify them we moved out? Should I notify insurance? I am not sure how to protect the house until an unknown foreclosure date. At what point exactly is my responsibility gone, date of foreclosure?

Thanks everyone for your help and experiences.

Kimba - as long as the property is in your name you can be held responsible. Call your insurance agent for guidance.

[kimba251]

Should I notify them we moved out? Should I notify insurance? I am not sure how to protect the house until an unknown foreclosure date. At what point exactly is my responsibility gone, date of foreclosure?

Thanks everyone for your help and experiences.

[JimKutkowski]

Until the house is foreclosed on you can be help responsible for damages as a result of neglect. If you already got a discharge in Chapter 7, your lender could chase you to the end of the Earth for those damages.

[Limitman]

Not sure how your insurance works but as far as I know she still has the same insurance on it as if we lived there, we do still live close by and she did tell them the house was vacant maybe also what helps is she was a long time customer. Good Luck, I'm in a 13 that will be confirmed hopefully in december.

[awayalways]

...Anyone have any personal experience to share about how walking away went fine ?

OP I have had several houses that I had to give back and this is what happened. On the first property my tennant left it in pretty good condition and it took 15 months to foreclose. The bank sent me a 1099 for the deficiency but I filed IRS form 982? and so I didnt have to pay any additional taxes on it. This was a mortgage foreclosure in Nov 2007 I think.

The second property foreclosed and the lender sued me for the deficiency and won a judgement but that was discharged when I filed bankruptcy. This was a mortgage foreclosure in May 2008 I think.

The third property was clean but I had to leave the upstairs unfinished. When it foreclosed, the 1st lender got all their money but the second mortgage was deficient and I discharged it in bankruptcy. This was a Deed in trust and lasted 11 months before foreclosure.

The forth property is still in pre-foreclosure going on 35 months now and I have it rented out. The bank would not work with me on deed-in-lieu, ect. So Im keeping it until they foreclose. This is a mortgaged property that I included in my bankruptcy and I stripped my name from the deed but DH coundn't and he is still receiving collection letters from the HOA on this property.

So I had lots of collection problems with all the properties but my BK7 took care of everything. And I was so excited when I was able to purchase a new house 10 months after all this with a loan from the USDA guaranteed mortgage program.

I hope it works out for all you guys too ;) aa

[keepmine]

I just don't see you having any responsibility for utility bills after you send a disconnect notice. Once the bank is informed you're out of there, they need to take steps to protect their property.
You'd be responsible for any HOA fees {if any} that accumulated post bk. But, I dodn't see how you're on the hook for routine normal maintenance.

[kimba251]

My insurance policy says it is basically void after 30 days vacant. I don't know how I will be able to keep it insured longer than end of Decmebr. It will be totally empty after this weekend and we will be in another state.

Do you have vacant insurance? How much does that go for if so?

[Limitman]

My girl friend and I moved out of her house almost 3 years ago and she filed CH 7 about 6 months ago. She was told to keep insurance and upkeep of the lawn until the bank actually repos it. She didnt make a payment for at least a year before they would even move for forclosure. Now she is still responsible for it I think until January when the bank takes it over. There has been a little damage due to pipes freezing so I'm not sure what if any charges she might incure due to that, most damage is just some pipes in basement need to be repaired (easy fixes) no water damage or anything and the rest of house is in good shape.

[gwar11d2]

I'm wondering about this too. I'm actually forfeiting the house and am no longer in it prior to my 341 on Friday. (Actually haven't lived in the house for about 3 years...was a pri-residence turned into non-paying-rental). I'm thinking after my case gets discharged I'm no longer responsible.

[kimba251]

So after one hour on the phone to calls outsourced to India and people who have no clue what they are talking about I am no further ahead. They told me since my bk has been discharged I have to pay Nov mortgage (yeah ok) and they would send me a packet for loan mod or deed in lieu. Once they review those they will tell me my options.

So I guess I will send a cert letter and move out. I am a little concerned about no insurance on the house though since mine will void out at 30 days and they won't do anything they said until at least 60 days or more.

Anyone have any personal experience to share about how walking away went fine ?

[kimba251]

As for damage and liability. THe back yard floods into the basement if it snows then rains when it is cold. If water goes into the basement after we move out (we will be states away after this weekend) is that our responsibilty? I don't think our insurance will cover it because it's water plus they will probably cancel our policy once we notify them we moved out. How does that work? SHould I tell mortgage company water could go into basement?

THis is part of why we have to leave to, we can't afford to build up the yard to fix that problem. We were never told the yard slants into bulkhead and have to pump out the water pool around the area all night long when it rains in winter to prevent the water from going in. (we learned the har way that happens when there was 6 inches of water in there our first year)