To keep or not keep Home in Chap 7 BK

[ronism]

od Morning,



I have a quesiton concerning VA Home Loan. Closed on my home in 2015. Received Escrow shortage first year of $57, fast forward, my mortgage lender send me an Escrow shortage this year (first year is just the land, this year they failed to include the increase for the actual home in the analysis, therefore I end up with $2149.22 Escrow shortage). I am in the middle of a Chapter 7 due to health issues I am no longer able to work. Was going to keep the home but would have to pay $2149.22. My original mort payments are $1007.15 monthly. If I pay the $2149.22 mort still goes up to $1153 per month. If I don't pay it goes up to $1342.23 per month.

Also currently have IRS installment for $125 per month for 2013, 2014 and 2015 taxes owed. Current balance is $8788. Will probably owe 2016 as well since I worked until Oct 2016, therefore I would need to pay any taxes down to below $10K to ensure no lien is placed on the ome.


Needless to say I'm waiting to file Chap 7 I'm in FL have lawyer. County appraiser valued the home $46K less than what I paid. Just not sure if I should keep the home or include in Chap 7. I know ultimately its my decision but would just like input.



I paid $193K for the home, it's a VA loan at 4%. If I include the home I'm moving out of state but will remain in home until right before foreclosure. If I don't include the home I will probably still move but rent out home as I tried to sell before and only got low offers.



My lawyer seem to think it's best if I include the home since I really don't want to be in FL and not sure I want rental property due to hurricanes.



Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[brokehmowner]

As you said, this is your decision to try and make. Can't help but notice you listed no reasons to keep the home. Have you tried for a modification before you actually file bankruptcy? If you get it done before filing bk you can then make a decision as to whether to keep it with a more affordable payment.

[leonel9]

From your post on another credit-related site, it appears you have decided to include the mortgage in bankruptcy. My suggestion was to look into options where you would not be responsible for the mortgage if you walked away from it at a later date, but would still be able able to rent it out if the payments were kept current.

I don't know enough about the value of the home, amount of equity (if any), and rent vs. mortgage payments to determine if renting it out makes any sense ... however, there's always the option of working with a property management company to handle the "issues."

Consider that you will likely not be able to get a mortgage for at least two years, and it may or may not be easy to find a great rental shortly after filing bankruptcy. If you were to decide to move back for whatever reason, you may want to keep that as an option.

With that in mind, I don't know if retain & pay is an option for the house in your jurisdiction.