Surrendering Home in BK

[macsen]

I have a quick question for those of you who did such and moved before the mortgage company assumed possesion. When did you cut off the utilities to the home? I ask because I was set to do so just as if we were moving out of an apartment but my wife expressed concern that the mortgage company could somehow claim negligence in cutting off power just as winter sets in since no one will be assuming services and keeping it on until the auction.

I pointed out that basically we are abandoning all claims and responsibilities on the home in surrendering it in the BK but now she's got me worried too Any previous experiences would be appreciated.

[JusticeForAll]

I pointed out that basically we are abandoning all claims and responsibilities on the home in surrendering it in the BK but now she's got me worried too Any previous experiences would be appreciated.

Not exactly true, you are being relieved (abandoning) your mortgage. You are responsible for the house as long as it's in your name. i.e. if someone slips and falls, you could get sued.

I wouldn't worry about the utilities as much as I would the insurance. Make sure the house is insured until the day it comes out of your name. Do you have any money left in escrow to cover the insurance? If the Lender knows the house is unoccupied, they will insure it, but won't include any liability insurance for you.

Back on topic:

We turned off our utilities, however, we also turned off the main water valve coming in to the house. This way if the pipes freeze and burst, the house won't flood, but it's still not protected from the pipes freezing and breaking.

Don't know whether the Lender would even know about it. I don't think they ever enter the property prior to auction. They sell the house "as-is" most of the time and don't let potential buyers even see the inside. (At least that is how they do it our area).

If you are really worried about it, just turn off the main water valve and leave the electricity on and set the thermostat to like 45-50, this way nothing will freeze up and you won't have a huge bill. You should still have access to the property until the day the title comes out of your name (and possibly beyond, in our area it's up to the buyer to evict the owner, tenants or squatters), so you could go and check on it occasionally.

[Minnymouth]

If your surrendering your home in BK - then you are responsible for everything until its out of your name or the keys are back in the hands of the lender........

If the Trustee seizes your home to sell - then the Trustee is responsible for all insurance, etc.......

Have the water turned off at the main road, drain the lines and the water heater and leave a line open (sink)..... this should prevent any freezing of the lines. Since there is nothing to freeze, I would even have the electricity/phones/cable turned off also. Get the bills out of your name as soon as possible...... your not living there anymore. But do maintain insurance on the property until the lender assumes responsibility for the premises. (protect yourself).....

[JusticeForAll]

Hi Minny!

Good advice! Our water company refuses to turn the water off and take the bill out of our name until there is a new owner! Can you believe that???

How do you drain the lines? I turned off all of the utilities, except the water cuz they won't let me, but I did turn the water main valve off coming into the house and released the pressure by turning on a faucet. But I didn't leave it in an open position. Should I have?

[JusticeForAll]

By the way, the water company told me all I had to do was give them the Mortgage company's name to put it in (I told them the house was in foreclosure), but I'm afraid to do that because the house is still in my name and I'm afraid of the big bad lender maybe suing me for putting in their name.

In our state, unpaid water bills get tacked on to the tax bill if not paid within 120 days, so the lender is gonna end up paying the bill anyway, but I have no way of knowing who the new owner is unless I attend the auction which will be held 400 miles away, as I've relocated.

How in the world will I be able to get that water bill out of my name before the new owners move in and use the water on my account?

[BassBoy]

How do you drain the lines? I turned off all of the utilities, except the water cuz they won't let me, but I did turn the water main valve off coming into the house and released the pressure by turning on a faucet. But I didn't leave it in an open position. Should I have?

Not that it matters now because you've move 400 miles away.....but......you drain the water lines by opening the faucet at the lowest level of the house. Leaving the faucet open will keep any pressure out of the lines if there is a freeze, but I wouldn't be too concerned about that.

[JusticeForAll]

Thanks BassBoy!

I have a friend who lives only a few blocks from my home and has keys.

I should tell her to go over there and open the faucet in the kitchen? It's on the lower level of the house.

Also, the main valve that supplies water to the house is turned off, so when you open the faucet, no water comes out.

I'm so confused now!

[BassBoy]

Don't be confused. You just want to allow the pressure to be relieved. Turning off the main is fine and draining the pipes was good. You don't necessarily have to leave a faucet open. It's just good practice.

When you say the kitchen faucet is on the lower level, is this the lowest faucet? If you have a basement and there is a water supply down there, then that's the faucet you would want to leave open. For example, a washing machine supply or sanitary tub or even a bathroom.

[JusticeForAll]

Nope, no basement - concrete slab.

This is what we did. We turned off the main valve outside the house that supplies water to the house. We turned on the kitchen faucet to relieve the pressure. I heard it go psssssst for one second. Then I turned the kitchen faucet back off.

We did that so if the pipes freeze, the house wouldn't flood, but it was my understanding that water was probably still in the pipe and might freeze and could possibly still break the pipes.

By the time freezing temps come, the house will have be vacant for almost a year. Wonder if that makes a difference.

Also, I was just thinking about the conundrum regarding getting the water bill out of my name.

We haven't lived there for quite a while, but the water company, which is actually the incorporated town we were living in, charges a minimum amount per quarter. So, if they've billed me, and they probably have (but I don't know because I have forwarding address in with the post office under my married name and the water bill is in my maiden name, hence no forwarding), if the bill isn't paid, they'd disconnect the service anyway, right?

So maybe the billing will stop by default (literally). LOL

[BassBoy]

Since you did "drain" the lines, the only way the house could flood is if there pressure coming in. Well, since you turned off the main, there is no pressure, however if there is a freeze, a solder joint may fail and there will be a drip. If that happens, who cares, the house will be sold AS-IS at auction.

I don't know what the water company will do about your bill. Each state may be different. Where I live, it's added to the property taxes and that's taken care of with the Sheriff's Sale....from what I've been told by the water company and the sewer company.....so......I haven't received a bill since I told them we were leaving and to shut the water off (at the street).

[JusticeForAll]

Yes, that is what I thought too, but I did want to make sure the house didn't flood while it was still in my name. Wasn't sure if the Lendor could sue me for it, but the house is still insured anyway.

And yes, that's how they do it in our state too, if you don't pay the water bill, it gets added to the tax bill.

I don't think there is any way to turn the water off at the street level. Our home was 50+ years old. There is something in the front yard that they read, it's a meter I think. But when I called them, they told me there was no way to shut off the service.

Anyway, thanks so much BassBoy, looks like I'm covered

Since you did "drain" the lines, the only way the house could flood is if there pressure coming in. Well, since you turned off the main, there is no pressure, however if there is a freeze, a solder joint may fail and there will be a drip. If that happens, who cares, the house will be sold AS-IS at auction.

I don't know what the water company will do about your bill. Each state may be different. Where I live, it's added to the property taxes and that's taken care of with the Sheriff's Sale....from what I've been told by the water company and the sewer company.....so......I haven't received a bill since I told them we were leaving and to shut the water off (at the street).

[Minnymouth]

Send the water district a "disconnect notice" to have your water disconnect (certified letter)....... they cannot leave it in your name because they want too or until someone else moves in....... its against the law..... The moment you request it disconnect (as with any utility) they are requried by law to disconnect and send you a final bill. They are required to turn the meter off and take a final reading...... yours.....

If you have not drained the lines, send someone to drain the water heater and open the lines and empty them after the water is turned off. Be sure to turn the water heater off at the electric box..... (Best way to empty lines is to turn an outside spigot on and turn on all faucets till they stop.....

Once the lines are drained I would also turn off all electric at the box - main power..... and call and have the electric/phones disconnected also..... No sense paying unnecessary bills.....

As long as the lins are drained their is no danger to the water lines freezing.....

You sure don't want to pay extra water bills/electric bills on a home your not living in and that will be sitting empty till further notice......


If you are still living in the home - THEN you will still have to maintain all utilities till you move out.....

[Minnymouth]

Justice for all,

That meter box is how the water company controls your water...... if you don't pay your bill - they'll sure turn it off out at the meter box - BELIEVE ME...... I work for a water district.........

[SinkingFast]

We went thru this last winter. We had to shut off the utilities to our house at the end of January. We just couldn't keep paying the bills any longer.

We did the same as you JFA. When we left, several neighbors and friends had keys to the house. They kept an eye on things for us. The neighbor down the street was constantly stopping in to turn off lights Realtors had left on when showing the house.

As BassBoy and Minny said, if you drain the lines at the lowest point, that should help. And leaving the faucets open will allow for expansion if the pipes do happen to freeze.

In our case, the water company did shut off the water at the meter. Our water heater was the lowest point in our plumbing as it was down in the basement. The drain for the water heater was below the incoming water line too.

One of our neighbors is an independent contractor. He said if the mortgage Lender was "winterizing" the house, they would have blown antifreeze into the lines. He didn't have the equipment to do that, and we didn't have the money to pay for it either. He went in, threw the breaker for the hot water heater so it wouldn't power up without water in it, and opened the drain for the hot water heater with the taps upstairs open. Pretty well drained all the water out of the lines.

He also flushed all the toilets and plungered the bowls. That way, there wouldn't be any standing water in the tanks or the bowls. And that left as little water as possible in the traps too.

We musta done alright. When we had the utilities turned back on for our buyer's inspections in June, nothing leaked.

[davids]

faucets...

I have a quick question for those of you who did such and moved before the mortgage company assumed possesion. When did you cut off the utilities to the home? I ask because I was set to do so just as if we were moving out of an apartment but my wife expressed concern that the mortgage company could somehow claim negligence in cutting off power just as winter sets in since no one will be assuming services and keeping it on until the auction.

I pointed out that basically we are abandoning all claims and responsibilities on the home in surrendering it in the BK but now she's got me worried too Any previous experiences would be appreciated.

1: Water at the shutoff values can easily be frozen,
if water is not in motion...and according to your temp,
water starts to freeze at 32 degrees F.

If it does get colder then that;

2: Turn all the water on, and let a faucet stream, since
you are not using water on a regular basis' then it will
not cost much to allow it to stream so it will not freeze...

3: added step, make sure all your water cutoff/cuton points are well
insulated, and covered that will help out alot too.