Chapter 7 Foreclosure stay and relief... Timelines and process question!

[calidebtor]

Pro Se Filer in california's eastern district.
7/28/10 Chapter 7 filed
9/3/10 341 Meeting
9/8/10 Trustee filed his report with the court stating that there is no property to be distributed from the estate and that he would like to be relieved of any further duties in my case.

Hello Everyone,
Im a new member but have been reading this forum for a while now. Ive read some other thread about Foreclosure stays and reliefs but I still have a few questions:

Filed Chp-7 a couple of days before Foreclosure Sale!
Bank(HSBC) never filed for any relief. Their agent is Quality Loan Services Corp.

Im wondering how long do I have before they have a right to go forward with the sale? I am relinquishing the house under chapter 7. The trustee has filed his report with the court already. Can the bank move on with foreclosure sale WITHOUT having filed relief from stay at this stage?

Another question is that I got a short sale offer on my house 3 weeks after I filed for BK. I submitted the offer to the bank and they asked me to get a letter from the Trustee to lift the stay order. I talked to the trustee and the trustee's office refused to write any letters, saying that its better for me to NOT do that. So my question is:

When does the stay on foreclosure expire IF the bank never moved the courts for relief? Is it when the trustee files his report(9/8/10) or when I get a discharge? Further, I have already submitted the short sale offer to the bank, but they have not done anything on it... so do they consider the short sale offer WHEN the stay expires/lifts or do I have to resubmit my offer? Are they required to consider the short sale offer or can they ignore it and move on with foreclosure?

Thanks

[tcreegan]

short sale

Hi calidebtor,

The trustee is right. You are on your way to a discharge, there is NO benefit for you to do a short sale. Heck, it might not even be beneficial to the lender. Signing papers post-BK is risky, depending on the wording, it could leave you liable for the debt. If you do the short sale, you really should have an experienced attorney go over the papers.

On other questions...

The bank does not have to do a short sale, they can proceed w/ the foreclosure, do nothing, whatever, it is their option.

The automatic stay sort of expires on discharge, secured creditors can take action to recover their collateral (ie: restart the foreclosure). The auto-stay becomes the discharge injunction which prevents any creditor from asking you for $$ on debts pre-filing, pretty much forever.

Hope this helps,

Tom in Colo

[calidebtor]

Thanks Tom!
So, to confirm, the Stay on foreclosure will be in effect till I get a discharge, correct? I dont have to worry about the bank proceeding with the foreclosure till then, unless they file a motion to lift stay?
Thanks.

[tcreegan]

So, to confirm, the Stay on foreclosure will be in effect till I get a discharge, correct?
I dont have to worry about the bank proceeding with the foreclosure till then, unless they file a motion to lift stay?

Yup and Yup

Tom in Colo