Surrendering Home in BK

[JusticeForAll]

So Minny, should I just let the account go into default and let them add it to the tax bill, which will be paid by the Lender before they can sell it?

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.........

[JusticeForAll]

I do have a girlfriend that has keys to my house, but she's a hairdresser, not a plumber!

There is no way she could do all this herself. I would either have to travel 800 miles round trip to do myself (well, my hubby), or hire a plumber.

In our district/state, houses in foreclosure are sold as is. I've already been to the bank's Trustee's website and read all the FAQ's and it specifically says that all houses are sold as is and that the buyer will NOT have the ability to see the inside of the house before they buy it.

So, lets say there are some leaks from freezing pipes (and or some household items left behind), the buyer can't hold me responsible because they are buying the house at auction "as-is", and from the Lender, not me.

But could the Lender hold me responsible? My guess is that the Lender will never know before the sale because in our state the Lender does not enter the property before the sale.

Plus, it clearly states on the Trustee's site that the BUYER will be responsible for evicting tenants, prior owners or squatters. That leads me to believe then Lender doesn't care if someone is living there or what the condition of the house is because they are selling it as is.

Any additional thoughts on this?

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.

[Minnymouth]

I would request the water be shut off, empty water heater and all lines...... no water coming in (shut off at the main road - meter), nothing to freeze......

Let the bill go to default (your choice)...... though you could have trouble getting water service again without a big deposit if you do default on the bill....

If you default, include the water bill in your bK....... it will always be "your bill" and could be sent to collections later if not included in the bk....

New homeowners are "not required" to pay for a former owners water bill no matter how much it is..... so whoever buys the place will not be picking up the tab.

[JusticeForAll]

Minny, in our district, the water company is the incorporated town I lived in. They don't send the bills to collection, they add them to the property tax bill.

They are not a private industry company, they are the town government.

Currently, the Lender is paying the tax bill. So the water bill will be added to the tax bill, and the tax bill will have to be up to date when the house is auctioned.

To be honest, I don't mind paying the bill! Our water is CHEAP! I mean like less than $30 per quarter. My problem is they REFUSE to shut it off until someone else buys the house. So my thinking about letting it go into default is the only way I can figure out how to get it out of my name!

[Minnymouth]

This is something your friend can do.....

All she has to do is call, have the water shut off............ turn on the cold and hot water till it runs no more out of any faucet..... then turn off the electric box to the water heater...... or have the electricity turned off before she call the water company.


Nothing difficult, very simple.............

[JusticeForAll]

I can have her go over and drain the water as you suggested. The electricity is already turned off!

All of the utilities have been off for months, just the water cuz they refused to shut it off.

I guess I'll have to argue with them to get it shut down, before she can do that. But they aren't very nice and have refused to shut the water off already. I don't know what I can do to force them to shut it down, other than defaulting on the payment.

This is something your friend can do.....

All she has to do is call, have the water shut off............ turn on the cold and hot water till it runs no more out of any faucet..... then turn off the electric box to the water heater...... or have the electricity turned off before she call the water company.


Nothing difficult, very simple.............

[JusticeForAll]

It's a BIG CATCH 22! LOL!

[Hot-Tod-E]

If I were you, I would just leave well enough alone, why jump through hoops? Let the mortgager worry about it.

[Minnymouth]

All utilities report too and are under the guidelines of the Public Service Commission.......
Call the water district, tell them you want the phone number for the Public Service Commission for their District...... (then watch them jump hoops)....

Send the water district a certified letter stating to turn the water off, send a copy to Public Service Commission stating that you are having problem getting your service disconnect and finaled out with this utility.....

This will take care of the problem.....

OR............ DEFAULT ...... LET THEM WORRY ABOUT IT....................

Be sure to include in bankruptcy petition.....

[JusticeForAll]

Thanks Minny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I appreciate the information! This is what I'll do. Then I'll take your advice about what to do after they turn the water off!

Thanks again for all the time you spent on this thread giving me advice, much appreciated!

All utilities report too and are under the guidelines of the Public Service Commission.......
Call the water district, tell them you want the phone number for the Public Service Commission for their District...... (then watch them jump hoops)....

Send the water district a certified letter stating to turn the water off, send a copy to Public Service Commission stating that you are having problem getting your service disconnect and finaled out with this utility.....

This will take care of the problem.....

OR............ DEFAULT ...... LET THEM WORRY ABOUT IT....................

Be sure to include in bankruptcy petition.....

[JusticeForAll]

Update (sort of)

Minny! I spoke with someone at the Public Service Commission! They were very interested in what I had to say!

They told me to call the Town Water Dept and request, once again, that the water service be terminated and that I had spoken with them. They said to get the names of people spoken to and if they refuse again to call back and they would handle it for me!



I'll call the minute they open today at 9am!

[Victoria36]

Be very careful if you are turning off your water when it comes to your water heater. If you have the electricity still on you can ruin your water heater. I am not sure how the gas water heaters work. I knew of one person who turned off the main water valve but knew he was okay with his gas water heater because he said it has an automatic shutoff valve in it to avoid that problem.