Foreclosure in FLorida

[nazstar]

Ok. I have to call the attorney tomorrow but I figured I would post here anyways. Stopped paying our mortgage in November. Moved out in December to settle into a new place. Just got served that the mortgage company is foreclosing and we have 20 days to appear if we want the judge to hear our side of the story. We are filing for Chapter 7 and want to let the house go anyways. But, we are being advised by our lawyer to wait as long as possible to file as our 6 month lookback income is really high. We are a 1 income family now and in 5-6 months, we will be below the median income.

Question #1
How long do we have before the foreclosure is complete?

Question #2
We have a second mortgage. What happens to that?

Question #3
We owe WAY more on the house than it is worth. Do they have to go through the foreclosure process and THEN file to come after us for the deficit? How long does that take?

Question #4
Is this actually a good thing? I mean, at least now we are entering into the Chapter 7 as a no asset case, right? We don't own anything else of value.

[DivorceRuinedMe]

You should be filing Chapter 13 if you have a job and income.

There are plenty of people that have a job and income that file Chapter 7 so not sure why you would say this???

[HHM]

1. You are already out of the house, who cares when foreclosure is complete. But, FL foreclosures take approximately 180 days from start to finish.

2. Second mortgage is whipped away, but can probably come after you for a deficiency judgment. (not a big deal, it simply becomes an unsecured debt in your BK...and from what I have been hearing, mortgage companies are not really pursuing the issue anyway).

3. Again, in the big picture, it does not matter. The deficiency becomes unsecured debt.

4. Generally, if you can file chapter 7, that is better for your finances because it eliminates the unsecured debt and only takes 3-4 months to complete.

You should be fine.

[abe1001]

In my personal experience, I have had houses in foreclosure for as long as 9 months in Florida. I am in Palm Beach County, and the courts are just backed up.

Good luck.... You are not alone.