Giving up home and moving out before the bank takes it

[hhyakfish]

Hi All,

Unfortunately, we have decided to give up our home and file for Chapter 7. We are not currently late on the property. We have also looked around for apartments. My question is, if we move out shortly after filing BK, but before the bank tells us to move out, do we still have to maintain the upkeep of the property, like keeping it looking nice from the outside? It's part of our HOA agreement that we maintain our property, but since we've moved out, does it matter? Our lawyer said that we could possibly live there for another 6 months until the bank takes it away, but just in case we wanted to move out earlier. Thanks.

[losingit]

We have not filed yet but we did let our house go- we put it on the market but until it sells or the bank takes it, we are responsible for its upkeep. Our house is in maine and they told us to submit a letter stating that the house is unoccupied but is kept up. Winterized, secure, etc. Otherwise they would send someone in and they would charge us for it. Which I guess doesn't matter now.... also, we had to keep homeowners insurance on it, and if we didn't get our own, the mortgage company would provide it to us and we would have to pay for it. We have citimortgage, for the record... we stopped paying last June and it still has not been auctioned off.

I think now we are off the hook with the upkeep because the mortgage company went in and changed the locks (we have not resided in the home since Dec 2008). They do, however, call daily to see why we haven't paid them.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Hi All,

Unfortunately, we have decided to give up our home and file for Chapter 7. We are not currently late on the property. We have also looked around for apartments. My question is, if we move out shortly after filing BK, but before the bank tells us to move out, do we still have to maintain the upkeep of the property, like keeping it looking nice from the outside? It's part of our HOA agreement that we maintain our property, but since we've moved out, does it matter? Our lawyer said that we could possibly live there for another 6 months until the bank takes it away, but just in case we wanted to move out earlier. Thanks.

Until your name is off that Deed, you own and are responsible for that house. In my opinion, you would be better off to live off them for a length of time and save the money of mortgage, but do not stop the insurance. Once you file, anything after that you would be responsible for. If you leave your house, your insurance could become void as the house is unoccupied. Check your policy. i would rethink this. 'Hub

[CCsAreEvil]

Speaking of insurance, I still have mine included in the monthly mortgage payments. Did you guys call the mortgage bank and tell them to stop including it again? This would be in anticipation of possibly stopping payments in the future (on discharged secured loans) and to keep living in a property as long as possible. Would want to still make the insurance payments, though.