Surrender please! take the house back! the discharged was ordered! When!

[Chowder]

I think it really depends on 1. what type of home you have 2. how much under water you are 3. what kind of loan it was 4. what kind of mood the lender is in.

I'm guessing the most important component is who the bank is. For one like BofA who assumed all the Countrywide deals, it's got to be overwhelming to have so many going or on the verge of going under.

[BrokeOR]

This may be off topic a bit, but why (if the banks don't want to take possession of the foreclosed properties) aren't they more proactive in loan modification/adjusting loan balances to current values/

[momisery]

I am not sure what makes the difference. We have a rental home in Ga, and we still own it but were discharged at the end of Dec. We have not paid since the tennats moved, we had already tried short sale and DIL with WF. WF gave us a run around and lost paperwork over and over and we finally ended up losing the tennat, returning their deposit and we were about broke after a year of paying the difference between the rent and the payment. Our home in MO we are living in rent free and we have not heard a peep about BOA wanting it back. We pay the insurance on it still, and we are keeping it up too. I am not sure of what will happen, but I have free rent until then so with hubby out of work forever now, this is a good thing for us.

[markinva]

Amy: My underwater house to be surrendered is in N VA too. I'm worried that I will be liable for Fx Co. taxes until the deed is transferred back to the bank (Chase) or someone else. Have/are you getting any mail from the county about property taxes due?

[tobee43]

Amy: My underwater house to be surrendered is in N VA too. I'm worried that I will be liable for Fx Co. taxes until the deed is transferred back to the bank (Chase) or someone else. Have/are you getting any mail from the county about property taxes due?

we have chase markinva and it's been close to 4 years now, you don't pay the taxes or insurance on a surrendered house, contrary to what is posted on many of the posts. i think many people have income properties with renters and are concerned about their status. or, those that don't pay and stay, what will happen if something does happen while your in the house.

chase put our house under an umbrella policy, however, that has nothing do with our personal liability issues when we were residing in the home without paying the bank. for us, the matter was moot, as our insurance was escrowed and paid in full for the year. actually, and i have mentioned this before our insurance company gave us a refund of approx $600 saying the banks going to add it to the foreclosure costs anyway, so we are giving the money back to you. which they did. also, the bank pays the taxes as they don't want to lose the house at a tax sale.

[ValleYum]

Amy: My underwater house to be surrendered is in N VA too. I'm worried that I will be liable for Fx Co. taxes until the deed is transferred back to the bank (Chase) or someone else. Have/are you getting any mail from the county about property taxes due?

Chase is the mortgage company on our house that we are trying to give back to them after failed modification attempts. We had an escrow account. Chase paid the property taxes on the house on time in both April and October. They paid our annual homeowners insurance premium in October as well. My escrow account did not have enough in it to pay either one. Hope you find your situation to be the same.

PS: You may not get an answer from Amy as this thread was last posted in on 01/20/2010 prior to your bumping it today. Amy does still post on here but you will find that many posters fade away from the forum after their discharge. Just an FYI.

[DeadManCrawling]

Much has been written on "why" banks do not want houses back quickly in foreclosure.

I will summarize:

The "bank" you receive your mortgage statement from is probably not the entity you owe money to. Most of them fill the role known as "servicer". They handle payments and pass them on to the investor(s) behind the scenes. Investors can be a single wealthy individual, a securitization trust (like a corporation, with shares owned by many), another bank, or any other number of entities.

In this instance, the "bank" you receive statements from can actually make MORE money the longer you are in foreclosure.

As a servicer, your "bank" collects extra fees from the other side, the investor or trust, for legal fees, collections, document copying, and so on. This adds up to a sizable amount with many properties involved.

Most large groups of mortgages exist as part of larger portfolios that contain hundreds or thousands of mortgages, sold in tranches. A tranche is a "slice" of the larger pie or portfolio. Each tranche is rated according to its credit-worthiness and expected level of risk. The top tier loans have the lowest risk and the lowest interest return for the investor or shareholder. The lowest has the greatest risk, and greatest return.

Now, even if the "bank" who sends you the mortgage statement WANTED to renegotiate or modify, they have to get permission from each and every entity that owns a piece of your tiny piece of the larger pie. Half the time, no one even knows WHO it is, and there are larger boards involved, and oftentimes previously enacted corporate or fund bylaws that have to be followed.

It is a giant mess, with the "bank" sitting in the middle, feeding at the trough. At the expense of both borrower and investor.

Another aspect: A "bank" can make as many modification agreements as they want to. They can take your money and STILL take the house, even after you have been "approved" and even after you have fulfilled your obligation. It all just means more money for them.

And: Many mortgages have "mortgage insurance". If you default, and no one involved can be proved to have committed a crime, the mortgage insurer will pay off the investor and the bank for the lost money.

Then they sell the house again and start over.

Cynical, but true. And there is absolutely nothing that will force the bank to take back the house. There are people who have tried many methods, and an occasional success, but it is near impossible.

The good news is that you don't need to worry about taxes. The banks all seem to have agreed that they will not lose a property due to taxes.

Not so with HOA fees and property insurance. You can (and often are) held responsible for those things. Post-discharge HOA fees can haunt you for years. Same if someone is injured on your property and obtains a judgment. Many people do not pay these, and are fine, but it IS a risk that has to be taken seriously.

Apologies for the length, but if you are interested in this, you can search the BK Forums and the web for much much more.

Best,

-dmc

[Amy26]

Amy: My underwater house to be surrendered is in N VA too. I'm worried that I will be liable for Fx Co. taxes until the deed is transferred back to the bank (Chase) or someone else. Have/are you getting any mail from the county about property taxes due?

Hello, it depends on how your loan is. My bank was paying my taxes in an escrow account so all the taxes got filtered through my loan and the bank. So, I did not have to pay any taxes on the home.

My friend who is also in northern va let a house go and she did not have an escrow account. She was paying the taxes herself and did get stuck with the taxes that accrued after the bankruptcy while she was waiting for the house to get foreclosed on.

[Amy26]

PS: You may not get an answer from Amy as this thread was last posted in on 01/20/2010 prior to your bumping it today. Amy does still post on here but you will find that many posters fade away from the forum after their discharge. Just an FYI.

Hey... I answer people when they ask me a question! ;) Hehe. Mostly because the forum sent me an email about it!

[ValleYum]

Hey... I answer people when they ask me a question! ;) Hehe. Mostly because the forum sent me an email about it!

I see you on here!! LOL I didn't know how your settings were for the forum though! (Now I do!!! hehe)

[Amy26]

Hehe I know, was just teasing. ;)