Who's kept their home in Ch 7?

[DEBTCHAINS]

I seem to read so many people not keeping their homes? I'm assuming this is because it had equity.

we just filed CH7, and my lawyer says we "should" keep the house. I realize no guarantees, but he's pretty certain. We're probably 50k or 60k upside down if you add up the first and second. No value. Even on a good appraisal it would be CLOSE to even, and I really doubt it. We did a home loan mod, we're set there. I was scared about a 7, but my lawyers thoughts are basically, "your lender isn't in the business to foreclose or take your home. You're making payments, they will want you there."

I guess I just feel lucky, if you can call it that in a CH 7, that we get to stay in our home. (debatable if it's the right decision!) My wife keeps telling me she's waiting for the other shoe to drop, that it just seems too easy.
Of course, I've done most of the consultations and paperwork, and after paying $3k isn't easy either. We're not in a market for a home or cars for some time, so I'm just not all that concerned. I just hope things go smoothly and we can start fresh.

[mama2three]

I think a lot of what you are reading about people not keeping their homes in a 7 is people who are choosing to give up their homes, not the Trustee taking them. Most states have a large enough homestead exeption that any equity is protected from the Trustee.

In most of the cases on here, it is not the Trustee taking the home. A lot of people are choosing to walk away due to negative equity in their houses, or moving out of state, or any other number of situations.

Our home is probably underwater by about $150,000, so we have made the decision to walk away, because there is no chance of ever regaining that amount of lost equity.

[BobMango]

I'm doing a ride-through on my house. No reaffirmation and GMAC is playing nice. I have about $10K equity left after the drop in real estate prices, so at best I'm underwater, but not planning on doing anything about it for 3-4 years so we'll see where it's at then.

[nerves]

We kept our home and reaffirmed for several reasons.
1) we have some equity.
2) I don't trust Citi Mortgage and what they may do if the housing market picks up
3) Our house payments are about half of what we can rent for in our area
4) We have four labs and finding a place that would allow them would be very difficult
5) We have a great neighborhood and our neighbors that know about our bk have been really supportive.

What is best for us may not be the best choice for others. But I feel a bit of peace knowing I still have my home, DH and four 4 legged babies now that the worst is hopefully over (discharged on 02/17). The next hurdle is DH finding employment. I make enough for us to get by and I feel fortunate for that.

[mom2three09]

We did but did NOT reaffirm (We're with BOA ---they don't reaffirm so even if we had wanted to we would not have been able to). We have equity in our home though so we plan to stay here until we're able to get approved for another house and then sell this one.

Honestly, I would not even consider reaffirming if you're upside down at all... you can likely stay in the home without reaffirming... that way if anything ever happens and you need to walk away you can.

[Michigan1951]

sounds similar...........

We kept our home and reaffirmed for several reasons.
1) we have some equity.
2) I don't trust Citi Mortgage and what they may do if the housing market picks up
3) Our house payments are about half of what we can rent for in our area
4) We have four labs and finding a place that would allow them would be very difficult
5) We have a great neighborhood and our neighbors that know about our bk have been really supportive.

What is best for us may not be the best choice for others. But I feel a bit of peace knowing I still have my home, DH and four 4 legged babies now that the worst is hopefully over (discharged on 02/17). The next hurdle is DH finding employment. I make enough for us to get by and I feel fortunate for that.

For us:
1) kept house w/no equity and upside down some
2) kept (2) 2008 vehicles (upside down)
3) kept recreational vehicle (2004) upside down
4) kept second mortgage
5) have four canines too
6) dumped the credit card debt once and for all

We felt that it would be to our benefit to kept the above since we were not behind on them, and it would be the same things we would have to rebuy anyways, and the interest rates on the above is way decent compared to what it might be now after discharge. Therfore, we are not in need of anything and we are going to sit tight and not take on more debt, especially credit cards. It is cash all the way now. Don't care about credit scores.
And with our circumstances and current income, the trustee was a gem.
Some have said that you should dumpt all debt and start over in bk if you have the chance. Not in all cases.

[Llelxon]

We kept our house because we are not planning on moving for atleast a couple years, love our house and have about 15K of equity even with the current market. We can afford it with no problems though after getting rid of our unsecured debt and our attorney signed the reaffirmation. Most will say not to reaffirm, but I want it reported on my credit and have a pretty stable career.

[albacore44]

Keeping. will need to settle with my 2nd after discharge (HSBC). My 1st (CITI) is about even with the value of my house. If i leave now, I would never be able to get into a neighborhood like this again. I'm 54 anyhow, and will probably be moving on in a few years. If I sell then and dont make any money, so be it, i still have my company pension to live on, and I may just buy a big Motorhome, cruise the country, and get the Hell away from California and it's high taxes.

[SleeplessMI]

Keeping my house and car in my Chapter 7 while dumping $77,000 worth of unsecured debt. I'm not underwater on the house and have enough income to pay the mortgages every month, so my attorney and I agreed it would be best to reaffirm so I can rebuild my credit and maintain a relationship with my lenders instead of riding through and being up in the air for as long as I own the house. This wouldn't be the best decision for everyone, but it was for me.

[Bob Walker]

Three years after our case closed, we are letting the house go either to Short Sale or Foreclosure. A tax debt, a student loan and our equity from our business failure didn't get discharged, so for us we stayed in the home as long as we could, but the crushing debt of what didn't get discharged is about to crush us. Best for us to walk away and rent.

[2muchinDebt]

We're keeping it..for now. We got a loan mod. We filed Ch 7, had our 341 yesterday. I say "for now" because we are upside down by 100k-125k. We didn't reaffirm. I want my daughter to finish school here. She has 4 yr of HS to go through. My youngest is in 1st grade and is more adaptable as to where she can go to school. Should DH lose his job or it looks like the housing won't recover to where it needs to be for us..we'd probably walk away then.

[LittleB72]

I am filing Ch. 7 alone.

Keeping house (not behind. Have a little equity).
Keeping car (not behind. Almost paid off).

Dumping all credit card debt.

[liz417]

Me too. Keeping home that is underwater appox. 60k. Also keeping two '08 vehicles, didn't reaffirm anything, so the option of "walking away" at a later time is there.

[blncd1]

Me too. Keeping home that is underwater appox. 60k. Also keeping two '08 vehicles, didn't reaffirm anything, so the option of "walking away" at a later time is there.

i am a bit confused. i would love to keep our house, i will give details and could you guys give me advice.
house value is about 875. 1st 575, 2nd 250, 3rd 50. all wells fargo.
how i see it if we keep current on 1st (cant afford 2/3 with all other stuff, taxes etc) 2nd and 3rd will probably come after us so it won't work?
we see our bk 7 attorney friday and i will ask, but would love to know opinions. do you think wf would settle on 2 and 3rd? just curious!

[LSUTiger32]

i am a bit confused. i would love to keep our house, i will give details and could you guys give me advice.
house value is about 875. 1st 575, 2nd 250, 3rd 50. all wells fargo.
how i see it if we keep current on 1st (cant afford 2/3 with all other stuff, taxes etc) 2nd and 3rd will probably come after us so it won't work?
we see our bk 7 attorney friday and i will ask, but would love to know opinions. do you think wf would settle on 2 and 3rd? just curious!

You could certainly talk to them and explain the situation. Maybe they would roll them all into one loan since they hold them all anyway and give you a payment around $600 on a loan mod. It's worth a shot.