in chapter 13, house is close to foreclosure, sale fell through, now what?

[spincr4hire]

I have been in chapter 13 for 2.5 years. Tried to get my house payment lowered, I make too much money they said. Have not made a payment in 6 months. I have a 2nd mortgage also. House was sale pending and I was gonna break even on what I owed on it after I paid the realtor, closing costs, 1st and 2nd mortgages. Appraisal came back 14K under what the asking price was, even though I had an appraisal 5 years ago and it was 4K over what the asking price is. I'm in the negative big time. Should I try to do a short sale on the property or just hand the keys over to the bank? 1st mortgage is thru Chase, 2nd thru Citi. If I hand the keys over, when or will the banks come after me for repayment?

[LadyInTheRed]

It sounds like your Chap 13 plan did not include surrendering the property. If that is the case, you need to amend your plan to surrender so that the debt will be discharged and you won't be liable for a deficiency. Call your attorney.

[toojerm]

I'm in a very similar boat. My attorney suggested to just stop paying rather than amending the plan. I'm not deliquent, so Citi won't even discuss modification, and they said they won't deed in lieu while in an active bankruptcy. After many hours on the phone trying to get them to find some way to take the house back now, I told them I'm done talking with them period, and I'm turning off the utilities on the property. I'm done with citi. I'm tired of everyone conversation starting with "we can't help you, because your in BK" even though my mortgage payment is outside the bk. WA is a nonrecourse state, so really what is the advantage of amending the plan to surrender?

[lrprn]

I'm tired of everyone conversation starting with "we can't help you, because your in BK" even though my mortgage payment is outside the bk.

Even though you may be paying the mortgage to Citi yourself (that's what "outside the plan" means), the mortgage debt itself is still a part of your Ch 13 plan and bankruptcy. Some lenders are notoriously slow to amend anything. Sorry you ran into this buzzsaw.

....so really what is the advantage of amending the plan to surrender?

Amending your plan to surrender makes it crystal clear legally that you will no longer be responsible for the home financially when you default on the secured loan by stopping payments.

Do you really want to find yourself at the mercy of Citi after everything you've gone through with them already? They have a lot deeper pockets than you do to prolong legal actions around the home if they see a chance to recoup their losses if you just walk away without clearly divorcing yourself from the home legally through your bk. Why leave it to chance?

Talk it over with your lawyer to see what he/she advises you do in this situation. Even if you do decide to amend to surrender the house, chances are you will be able to live in the home for awhile rent-free, so don't assume you have to leave the house immediately after the plan is amended

[toojerm]

I moved 2 months ago to take a job in another state. That is why I'm trying to dump it, and it won't sell. The lawyer told me just to stop paying, and not even bother calling Citi.