How to rent house if planning on giving up on mortgage?

[roxy]

We are planning on filing 7 in about 3-4 months. We also want to get into a rental and get out of our ridiculously expensive mortage. Thinking about walking away from the house. We would like to get into a cheaper place and rent, but not sure how to explain our situation to the landlords we want to rent from. As of right now, we are not late on anything so our credit is pretty good, but won't be for long. We want to look for a rental now, but how to we explain what we are planning to do about our mortgage?

[maxwellv8670]

My fiance rents out his deceased parents house so I can give a little advice on this situation. In the past his main concerns with people have been 2 things: Are they going to take care of the place? And will they pay the rent on time? Money talks especially in this day and age. He likes to have the deposit and the 1st and last months rent. So if you can top that by having the first 3 months of rent and the deposit I feel certain there will little left to explain. That is if you are renting off of an individual. Just my opinion though.

For what it is worth he doesn't do credit checks either.

[fooked]

You might want to check with your attorney before doing this... without knowing any other information (primarily income), having a higher mortgage may be better than having a lower rent, at least in terms of qualifying for the means test... I don't know enough to give solid advice, but I would check into that...

generally, though, I would expect a higher security deposit to be required... hope that helps

[AngelinaCatHub]

If you are going to bk, I would first file before worrying about renting. Once you decide, remember, you are responsible for that house until it is sold or changed out of your name. You may as well live in it and save that money towards the three months rent in advance.

Don't worry about renting, not too many people check your credit and even so, it is not their business if you pay your rent. If you intend to rent with lease, they could not throw you out if you perform under terms.

There will be plenty of empty rentals, such as your own house soon. It is a buyers bargain housing market now and a huge amount of empties are all over. Check Craigs List you will see. 'Hub

[maxwellv8670]

If you are going to bk, I would first file before worrying about renting. Once you decide, remember, you are responsible for that house until it is sold or changed out of your name. You may as well live in it and save that money towards the three months rent in advance.

Don't worry about renting, not too many people check your credit and even so, it is not their business if you pay your rent. If you intend to rent with lease, they could not throw you out if you perform under terms.

There will be plenty of empty rentals, such as your own house soon. It is a buyers bargain housing market now and a huge amount of empties are all over. Check Craigs List you will see. 'Hub

Craigslist is exactly where my fiance places his ads for the rental house. Totally agree about the credit checks. My fiance doesn't do those. He just likes to know that you have a job and are bringing in a paycheck!

[goblue]

We are starting to look into rentals because we have 3 dogs ALONG with the fact that our credit stinks now. The 3 realtors we talked to all said the BK wouldn't be a problem...so many are in our position. Our biggest issue will be the dogs.

I'm just being upfront with the realtors so they get the reasons behind our BK from our mouths before they stumble upon it and make assumptions.

Oooh...I never thought to check out craigslist....that will be my next stop!

GOOD LUCK!

[NoMoreCards]

Many people have given up their homes during the BK process. However since you will still be responsible for the home until it changes hands, it makes sense to stay there. My ex has been in his home for 1 year so far, without making a single payment and his BK was discharged and over in May 09. To this day, he does not make house payments and is pocketing a large chunk of change.

When he does move, he will have a nice little nest egg to help him with his fresh start.

Consider all options, and don't leave the house too early and hurt yourself in the long run. Good planning, can make a huge difference in your financial fresh start.

All the best.

[1967]

That's great advice!

Mike

[roxy]

Wow, such great advice everyone. Totally makes sense to stay here as long as possible.

THANKS

[topekajack]

How long can one stay in their home once they file?

[Inthestorm]

Many people have given up their homes during the BK process. However since you will still be responsible for the home until it changes hands, it makes sense to stay there. My ex has been in his home for 1 year so far, without making a single payment and his BK was discharged and over in May 09. To this day, he does not make house payments and is pocketing a large chunk of change.

When he does move, he will have a nice little nest egg to help him with his fresh start.

Consider all options, and don't leave the house too early and hurt yourself in the long run. Good planning, can make a huge difference in your financial fresh start.

All the best.

I don't quite understand this...????

I've been away from the forum. DH saw two atty's in spring. I did not take off work to go with him, and that was a HUGE mistake. He didn't record the meeting and came back with a massive headache from information overload...and he simply can't remember everything that was said. Lawyer wants $200 per hour to come back and ask questions since he spent so much time with him! We decided to keep trying to dig out, but I have serious doubts. THE biggest issue is that this house has two mtgs. and is our biggest drain. We were told we could keep it, but with our state's (GA) puny exemptions, we fear losing what we want to keep, which is truck (almost paid for,) pets, including three "mutt" trail horses, and horse trailer in addition to business van and tools.

Although rent seems to be much lower than we pay in mtgs., around here there seems to be no rentals with acreage.

[supercrash]

How long can one stay in their home once they file?

I don't think it matters when you file.

What matters is when the bank holding the note on your house decides on eviction.

could be 10 months from when you stop paying.

[hopefulbk]

I'm just letting you know MY experience so you can take from it what you want...
I waited until after I filed to worry about this (knowing I could live in the house for months without a payment). No apartment complex would rent to me while the bk was in process. Their policy was to wait until the discharge and then see. The same goes for many landlords I contacted about houses. When I was asked about my current house, I said I needed to move closer to work and school (that was my excuse). I tried everything but nothing was working. I had to ask my parents to buy us a house Anyway, if it wasn't for them, I don't know what I would have done since I waited. Since everything is good for you right now, I would find a place and secure it BEFORE you go late on your mortgage and file.

Also, I had to account for my income and expenses so having a cheaper place to "rent" helped me account for my income. Without a rental taking a chunk of that, I'm sure I would have had to pay the trustee as I couldn't find anything else to use as an expense.

[hopefulbk]

How long can one stay in their home once they file?

Every company is different. I stopped paying in March, filed in Sept and the house is still there with no eviction notice. I did get a notice that they are proceeding with the foreclosure but no eviction yet..

[HakunaMatata]

How long can one stay in their home once they file?

BK and foreclosure are separate processes. BK intentions (surrender/reaffirm) can create feelings of overlap. In situations where a home owner opts to surrender his home, the BK removes his personal obligation to the mortgage. It does not remove him from the home. The lender will follow the foreclosure process (this process affects non-filers as well). Understanding State foreclosure laws will aid in determining a general foreclosure timeline.