Finding a Rental Before Filing for Ch7 or Forclosure

[rosie]

I have turned in all my paperwork to my attorney for Chapter 7 in California. We have not filed yet. We are about 14 months in arrears on our mortgage and BofA sent a letter saying we do not qualify for a mod.

We are surrendering the house and my attorney says to just live there rent free until the forclosure is final, but that makes me really nervous.

I found a rental house where I can keep my large dogs and my horse. I told the landlord we would be losing the house and she didnt care. I do not want to walk away from this rental because it was the only one I could find that matched our criteria, with the horse and all. Even though I guess it will mean moving into the new place, but still being responsible for the house until it forecloses? We have not been given notice of foreclosure yet and its almost been 2 years since I made a mortgage payment. Wow, right.

I have not signed a lease agreement yet but will probably do so this week. We have not filed yet. Do I report my mortgage payment and my rental payment as expenses?

I am trying to get a hold of my attorney, just hoping someone might have some advice.

[justfiveofus]

We were in a fairly similar situation. If you're talking about for the monthly expenses, I believe it's just what you're paying when you file. So we put our rent but not our mortgage.

[reesemay]

if the atty says live there rent free....I would do just that.....it could take some time before the forclosure is complete...if you have an GOOD atty it can take a LONG time before you have to move....If the foreclosure process has not even started....check your local laws.everytime a motion is filed and/or the atty asks for proof it can take quite some time for the lender to return info, especially if the loan was tied to the securities game like most were, if assignments are not correct or if your loan was a MIERS loan ........MIERS CANNOT forclose on you..........check your local court land records and see if MIERS is anywhere in your paperwork........if so you can stay there a long time.......

Also check the websites for HAMP qualifications....you would be surprised what HAMP can qualify you for.... I learned after the fact that I did qualify for a MOD and was rejected too...no answer as to why, which they are required to give.......I had a lame no backbone atty that did nothing but get me deeper into trouble.....and never returned my calls...

I also saw on the news where a home owner went to the local newsteam and told her story...and told BofA that they were going to do it too......amazing their mod went thru...
HAMP will take your loan down to 2% and can also reduce principal....but you will have to force the issue if you want to stay...there are loan calculators out there on the web that can tell you how much your principal and interest is...you just plug in the numbers....if you can afford to rent you should be able to stay in your house via mod.......FORCE THE ISSUE GO TO THE LOCAL NEWS, READ WHAT HAMP CAN DO you can also do a shortsale or a deed in lieu....make the atty work for his money dont let the bank foreclose... make arrangements for something else other than foreclosure..........a shortsale is better...if you can still do it...

[rosie]

We have no hope of a sale, we are over 127,000 dollars underwater. I do not want to keep the house (its actually a townhouse) because the neighborhood is so bad now. We have a second, so the bank won't take a deed in lieu.

Our rent will be less than our mortgage, so I am worried if I have to just put the mortgage or the rent down, not both, how it will effect the means. If we have a mortgage and a lease, arent we technically responsible for both expenses?

[ryan]

....check your local laws.everytime a motion is filed and/or the atty asks for proof it can take quite some time for the lender to return info, especially if the loan was tied to the securities game like most were, if assignments are not correct or if your loan was a MIERS loan ........MIERS CANNOT forclose on you..........check your local court land records and see if MIERS is anywhere in your paperwork........if so you can stay there a long time.......

Just for the sake of accuracy, it is MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Service) and just because MERS is on your paperwork, does not mean you will be successful in defending the FC because of that. I know because I'm going thru it right now.

I only wish it were that easy.