How many of you just stopping paying everything?

[ssmdem]

I have been looking at homes that we can rent and there are some but they are only $200 less than what we pay in our mortgage now. We live in a high cost of living area and it really sucks.

That right there is the big difference with ours. Our payment is $2800. I can rent something pretty close to the same quality for $1500. Pretty much a no-brainer with our situation. I can see your reasoning for staying.

[runnersdelig]

I feel you. Our mortgage payment is $2600 every month. We can't strip the 2nd unless the appraisal says the home is worth around $250K.

[ssmdem]

$18k. 9k of which were interest and fees they charged us.

Mine is about $25K. Lord knows what the balance will be when we get to that point!! We're two months behind as well, and as of now, they haven't increased the interest rate at all (9%) which I know they're obviously gonna. I just need to get to December -- which will be 7 months late at that point. I just don't want the added headache of a lawsuit on top of everything else.

[starr4law]

youngnbroke: you should be able to count the house payments into the means test as though you are making them as long as you are living in the home. Also, the arrearages factor in as well (as though you are going to catch it up). It is the amount of the arrearage divided by 60 that is also added to the means test. Just don't move prior to filing

[nervous1]

Your mortgage does not have to be current to file a Ch 7. Whether or not you keep paying on your mortgage is entirely up to you and is dependent on where you want to be in the future. Is your home WAY overmortgaged? Ch 7 would be a good opportunity to discharge any liability relating to the 2nd mortgage (if any).

It is vital that when you file your bankruptcy, that you do NOT sign a reaffirmation agreement regarding a mortgage - especially if you are unsure if you want to keep the home.

Also, keeping or losing the home is not a decision you need to make now or even before your Ch 7 is filed.

Good luck.

I'm a little confused on the "order" that I should proceed. It has become pretty clear to me that, even with filing BK, we just cannot afford this house unless something (employment / decrease in pmt. which probably won't happen) changes.

So, should I put the house on the market before filing BK? IF it happened to sell, how would any profit we make figure into the BK?

Keep living here w/o making payments and wait until BK is over to try to sell? (This is assuming that we find out that it would be protected by our homestead exemption.)

Surrender it in BK? Attorney said this would be the option if we don't plan on keeping the house since, if the TT thinks it's worth selling, we would receive the amount of our homestead exemption first. If he didn't take it, we could try to sell after BK was discharged.

[starr4law]

I think that the first thing is to find out if the home is protected. There are an awful lot of variables that could spin out of different scenarios, so it might be best just to take it one step at a time. How are homes valued in your district? Here, it is usually best to have an independent appraisal done to get the best (lowest) value since it factors in marketability as well.