Thinking about not reaffirming home - changed mind

[RuthCB]

My husband and I filed Chapter 7 (no asset) August 9.

Up until today, we had planned to reaffirm our home. I am 61 and had planned on staying where we are. We have about $20,000 in equity in the home.
I lost my business of 34 years and that is the reason we filed.

My change of heart has to do with really thinking if we can afford the home.
After much thinking, yes, we can afford the mortgage payment, but not the upkeep. If any one minor thing happens, we wouldn't be able to fix it.
LOL - and I suspect some plumbing and slab problems.

I can easily tell my lawyer that we have changed our mind.

We are current to Sept 20th with our mortgage payments.

NOW to my questions.

Assuming all goes well with the bankruptcy ( we foresee no problems)
and we are discharged.

1. if I stop paying the mortgage payments how long could we expect to stay in the home before the mortgage company wants us out?
.. for us a few months with no mortgage payment could get us in a place where we could move easier.

2. If we decide to not ride through and want to move to a simpler life in an apartment, do apartment people ask about bankruptcy?

[keepmine]

To answer your first question-It depends on the law in your state. Your lender must follow the law when they begin the foreclosure process. You could have months or a year or more. Your bk lawyer should be able to give you a timeline.

Many large apt complexes pull credit reports and you may need to offer a higher deposit.

[RuthCB]

To answer your first question-It depends on the law in your state. Your lender must follow the law when they begin the foreclosure process. You could have months or a year or more. Your bk lawyer should be able to give you a timeline.

Many large apt complexes pull credit reports and you may need to offer a higher deposit.

Thank you for your quick reply.
If we could stay a few months, I'm sure we could save a deposit.

[neverlearn]

Ruth, A bit a what I just recently went thorugh on my condo. I had a 80/20 loan and the first loan was a I/O ARM. Back in Feb. '09 I stopped payment on both loans. Both loans owned by chase. Collection calls started about 30 days late once per day and by the 60 day late period I was getting a call every thirty minutes from 9:00am-8:00pm M-Sa. Since I had two loans they have two collection companies.

By Oct. '09 they decided to put me a trial payment plan on the first loan. I made four payments and then in March '10 they gave me a permanent loan mod on the first. They did charged off the second altogether.

I was posting on a Mortgage Mod Forum for months during my ordeal. I read tons of stories where owners stayed in their homes anywhere from 9-22 months without making payments before the bank took the property to auction.

Most banks are so busy with loan mods, foreclosures, pre-forclosures, short sales, auctions, etc its taking them longer and longer to take back their properties...