Debt discharged now we want to move out

[BrokeJack]

We had our debt officially discharged on 8/14/09. Our house was included in the bankruptcy so now the foreclosure can proceed, again. We want to move out and stop paying for utilities, HOA, etc, but we're not sure what our obligations would still be in regards to that and when those obligations would legally not be ours, anymore. When would GMAC take back ownership of the house so that we are not responsible for it, anymore? Or do we have to wait until the house is sold in a public auction?

The motion for relief of stay was filed by GMAC on 8/3/09. I called Executive Trustee Service, who, does the admin work for GMAC, and they said that they still haven't receive the notice of discharge of debt. I believe that they told me that there was already a sale date of 8/25/09, but that they couldn't move forward on initiating that sale until they officially received notice of the discharge of debt. I'm confused on that.

I feel like we're in limbo here, but we want to move on. I know that, in theory, we could move out of the house and just pay the basic utilities to maintain the house; eg: electricity for the pool and water for the landscaping, but we would rather just stop paying everything, altogether if we could legally do that.

[Chowder]

From what I've read here, the only thing you might want to continue paying is insurance.

[aljohnson007]

In Florida, you could stop paying everything re the house EXCEPT HOA fees or any other charges that run with the title until the the ownership actually transfers out of your name. For that reason, banks here will forclose but not change the title to avoid paying HOA fees. One stratgegy I heard about recently was to file a quitclaim deed but am not certain if that works.

[Bell30656]

The last poster is correct. Insurance is not needed because you are not responsible for the home's debt any longer. However, the HOA fees in Florida can continue to be assessed and can will be a "new" debt.

[OhioFiler]

Well I certainly wouldn't be worried about running the pool filter or watering the lawn.

You should maintain the insurance for liability reasons until the title is transferred.

If there is a sale on August 25 the transfer should complete about 30 days after.

[BrokeJack]

The reason why I feel that I would need to maintain the pool and the lawn relates the HOA and their ability to levy fines which would hold the same weight as needing to pay the monthly fees although it has the potential to be much higher where a warning becomes a $50 fine and then a $200 fine and then a $500 fine, etc.