341 and we get this so-called "diligent" trustee

[ValleYum]

IMHO, it just plain sucks.

[Resigned2BK]

Yup.

[Resigned2BK]

We had the realtor over yesterday. We spent days cleaning and decluttering and all she wanted to take a picture of was the outside, the kitchen, and the family room. Go figure. But we ruthlessly made sure she knew about the roof being in bad shape, the critters nesting in our attic going on several years now, and the faulty plumbing in one of the bathrooms. I look at it like if she knows, the trustee will have to know and if he doesn't let a buyer know, the buyer can sue him as he's officially the seller. Perhaps these trustees pulling this garbage can get sued several times when people buy these houses and find problems that might not be disclosed. One can only hope. ;-)

The realtor sounds like someone who almost exclusively does the bankruptcy sales. I had to ask her for her business card. You know how real estate agents are usually shoving you their card when you meet? Not this woman. Probably because she's facilitating people losing their homes prematurely. Anyway, she had a pretty hilarious blog entry ranting about common things people do that doesn't help their house sell. We have 3 out of 4 on her list. LOL! But she didn't seem fazed at the meeting that we have pets (apparently something she doesn't like), we have skeezy carpets, and we have children who aren't terrific about getting their dirty clothes into laundry hampers.

As for timelines, here's where it gets scary. She says in her experience (she has a team of 9 people working under her to keep these things rolling), these trustee sales tend to get a serious offer in 2-4 months. Then the bank takes about 1-2 months after to approve the sale. So we're looking at probably being out of this house this summer which is frightening as heck. After reading the one case here where it took 2 years even with the owner completely moved out of the house, this concept of it being 4-6 months is scary. She also said that she will let us know when it gets to the bank approval process as technically the trustee will only tell our lawyer when we have 10 days to get out of the house completely moved. 10 days????? So if we have a realtor who really doesn't like us, we'd suddenly get notified and have a week to attempt to secure a place, pack, and move. And given the bad credit due to bankruptcy being held indefinitely by this process, sounds like we'd be camping with the inlaws or just plain homeless for awhile. How on earth is it legal to just force someone out of a house with 10 days notice? So anyway, thankfully this woman sounds like she will try to keep us in the loop if we are to take her at her word on this stuff.

[freeatlast09]

Can I ask - is the TT listing the house for less than you owe - so his profit will come from a carve-out fee? ...or is he actually trying to sell for a profit? If he's selling for a profit, did you exempt any equity in the property. Please keep us posted and best wishes.

[Resigned2BK]

Can I ask - is the TT listing the house for less than you owe - so his profit will come from a carve-out fee? ...or is he actually trying to sell for a profit? If he's selling for a profit, did you exempt any equity in the property. Please keep us posted and best wishes.

We are absolutely certain he will do the carve out. The realtor told us she likes to initially post it at a little above market value just to satisfy the bank that they tried to get market value for it, then they lower the price every 2-3 weeks until it starts getting offers. Our place is worth around $225K market (in good repair), so she'll probably list at $230K but personally I don't think our house is a good deal until around $180K given that the trustee and realtor will be tacking on their fees on top of the list price. Our place is only a relatively decent deal at maybe $200K total just because it will be a little bit of a fixer upper.

We were not told anything of carve outs, I've just researched enough to see that on my own. I'm sure these folks really don't want people like us knowing how the sausage making process really works.

[freeatlast09]

Wow... this sounds like our case all over again. I wonder if BofA will try and request your current financials when they get an offer on the house like they did with us.

My apologies if you already posted this, but what do you currently owe on the mortgage? I'm curious how big of a loss the TT thinks BofA will take.

[keepsmiling]

I wouldn't work too hard at keeping it spiffy if I were you.
I wish we could tell these these bloodsucker Washington tt's to go
POUND SAND

seriously this needs to be on 60 minutes

[Resigned2BK]

Wow... this sounds like our case all over again. I wonder if BofA will try and request your current financials when they get an offer on the house like they did with us.

My apologies if you already posted this, but what do you currently owe on the mortgage? I'm curious how big of a loss the TT thinks BofA will take.

We have the 1st and HELOC ARMs that Countrywide was infamous for doing back at the hayday of it all. 1st one is about $205K, HELOC is about $50K. We're assuming the trustee will scrap the HELOC to make this happen. Weird thing was the email coming from him via our lawyer said he was considering the value of the HELOC as well.

Keepsmiling -- yeah, I definitely want to have investigative reporters go all medieval on their butts when we are through. LOL. This is just plain wrong. It goes against my understanding of the whole reason we, the USA, have a bankruptcy code in the 1st place -- to give people the chance to get out from the weight of insurmountable debt and get a fresh start. Nothing about that concept should entail making the debtor have his/her life hijacked for years before things are resolved. If you can't sell a non-exempt real property quickly at a profit to spread out to creditors, then it should not be done at all.

[despritfreya]

I look at it like if she knows, the trustee will have to know and if he doesn't let warranty buyer know, the buyer can sue him as he's officially the seller. Perhaps these trustees pulling this garbage can get sued several times when people buy these houses and find problems that might not be disclosed. One can only hope.

Problem with this is that the Trustee typically sells property where is/as is, without any warranty. It’s up to the buyer to do his/her due diligence and obtain an inspection and other reports. In a sense, this is no different from an investor purchasing a property at a foreclosure sale.

these. . . sales tend to get a serious offer in 2-4 months. Then the bank takes about 1-2 months after to approve the sale.

Unfortunately, six months from listing to closing does not sound unreasonable. However, if there is no viable contract by the end of the 6th month I would be filing a Motion to Abandon and let the Trustee explain why he is holding up the closing of the case with his failed efforts to sell property that is burdensome to the estate. Might not get anywhere with it but I sure would file the Motion.

As far as I am concerned, you have no duty to assist the Trustee in his efforts, other than making the property available for viewing AT YOUR CONVENIENCE - no lock box as you do not need strangers going through your home. Further, do not go out of your way to clean the place. The property’s physical condition is not your problem, it is the Trustee’s - of course, you cannot take steps to damage the property but you certainly do not have to lift a finger to repair anything either.

Can’t wait for some greedy/scummy Trustee to try this garbage in my district. Oh wait, one idiot did try. . . converted to a 13 and when client stopped paying the mortgage, stay was lifted and property lost to a foreclosure then converted bact to a 7. 7 Trustee got NOTHING. That was about two years ago. Have not had something like this come up since - but I’ll bet it’s just a matter of time.

Des.

[justbroke]

I know how you feel Des. I would have loved for this to happen to me and I would spend all my waking hours challenging the Trustee's greed all the way through the BAP and District Court.

[ValleYum]

This is a good article about this by a Seattle law firm: http://www.lasher.com/news-detail/sh...-growing-trend

[freeatlast09]

This is a good article about this by a Seattle law firm: http://www.lasher.com/news-detail/sh...-growing-trend

Made popular in Washington and coming soon to a state near you.

[keepsmiling]

Mr. Smoot seems pretty unhappy about it. I wonder if he has the cojones to take on the tt's...

[Resigned2BK]

Of course, BofA just comes out with a new deal to help a million struggling homeowners mostly of Countrywide originated loans slash an average of $100K off the mortgage balance. If we only had to pay based on $155K, I think we could! Just so unfair.

[despritfreya]

I have to wonder if the way to stop this crap is to indicate that your intention is to "retain". Remember, a Statement of Intention is exactly that - what you intend to do. What you intend and what you actually do (walk away at some point) are two different things. Maybe a Trustee will leave the underwater property alone if the debtor "intends" to keep it.

In both cases that have been reported on this board the intention was to surrender. Freeatlast was out of the home. In OP’s case, at the 341 his attny said the debtors were not going to try to keep the home.

The problem I had with Freeatlast's situation was that the Trustee's realtor, 2 years later, wanted him/her to supply financials and actively participate in the short sale. A Trustee has the authority to sell property of the estate and does not need a debtor's "assistance" especially if the debtor has abandoned the property. Further, holding an estate open for such a long period of time on a whim that one can force a short sale is a violation of the Trustee’s number one duty, to quickly administer the estate. In the end, Freeatlast’s Trustee got off his power-trip and walked away.

Des.