can this be legal ???

[ruttie]

my mortgage has had a foreclosure/auction date set for 8-19-11 for the past 3 months. We have been in bk 7 since 4-8. we just received our discharge on 8-17-11. the lender never filed anything as a motion to lift the stay to continue with the foreclosure process. Yesterday afternoon, I get a knock on my door & the couple says that the just purchased my home at the auction and handed me a 5 day vacate demand letter. What the hell, I am still in shock as I am writing. I finally got ahold of my attorny & they said that since the discharge was 2 days ago, that the auction could still go through since the stay was now lifted. they are going to check with the real estate dept attorney in seeing if there is a required number of days that they may have had to wait, after the discharge to be able to proceed with the auction/foreclosure. any feedback would be greatly appreciated, just when you think it can't get worse, BAM!!!! if anyone knows anything about this process if it is legal, please let me know

[despritfreya]

Your attorney apparently is not well informed as it relates to when the lender can conduct a sale and when you have to vacate.

You filed bk with a trustee sale pending. The bk simply delayed the inevitable. The title company (trustee) postponed the sale from time-to-time until the stay was lifted. The discharge lifted the stay against YOU, not property of the estate (the house). That lifted upon either 1) the granting of a motion to lift the stay as to both the debtor and the estate, 2) the abandonment of the asset (house) by the Trustee or 3) the close of your case.

If the stay was lifted prior to August 19, 2011 the creditor was free to complete the trustee sale. Once completed it (or the investor who purchased the property) has the immediate right to kick you out. To do so, you must be give a 5 day notice to quit (this has happened). If you are not out in 5 days the new owner will then file a Forcible Detainer action in state court against you. Once a judgment is entered the sheriff will take steps to make sure you vacate. The process takes about 30 days after the suit is filed (assuming you do not file an answer to the complaint).

There is always a possibility that the trustee sale was not properly done and the "investors" who showed up at your door did not actually buy the property. Pull out your Notice of Trustee Sale. On it there will be a phone number for the "sales information line". Call the number. If the trustee was Tiffany & Bosco they have a really good web site where you can check the status of the Trustee Sale (http://www.tblaw.com/financial-service-sales). If it was Recontrust, the 800 number is located about 3/4 down the 1st page (800-281-8219). If it is any other trustee, the number or reference to the web site (such as “priority posting”) is someplace on the form. Call it. Make sure you know the Trustee Sale number (for Bosco I believe it is called a "File Number")

Lastly, if, in fact, an investor did properly buy the property there is nothing stopping you from calling that person and working out arrangements for time to move or even maybe, renting the property for a while. You simply do not know if the new owner is interested in you staying until you ask.

Des.

[ruttie]

so what you are saying is that, the discharge was only against my unsecured creditors and not the mortgage lender. there was never a motion filed with the bankruptcy from the lender, nothing was abandoned by the trustee and my case is not closed. We still have vacant land that is still be determined by the trustee as to if it has value or not, we were told that the discharge was only related to our personal unsecured creditors that the close of the case could take up to a yer, so would this sale be legit???

[despritfreya]

If the property is still property of the estate the Trustee Sale is not valid. Who is the trustee for the trustee sale?

Des.

[ruttie]

the trustee is integrated lender services
I received a 5 day demand letter written by the supposed buyer and signed by the buyer, what can I do now?

[bcohen]

Assuming that the house was sold, this would be a good time to work out a REASONABLE time frame for you to vacate with the new owners, as eviction moves fast in Arizona, and having that on your record--even due to foreclosure--will make it difficult to rent a place to live. I am sure that if you explain the situation to the new owners and offer to leave in 30 to 45 days with the house clean and in broom-swept condition, you can get that. And of course get it in writing. After all, it costs them money to evict you, and who's to say you don't trash the house before the sheriff comes to put you out?

[ruttie]

the bottom line is the house is still an asset to the bk trustee, the lender has not filed a motion to lift/and the house has not been abandoned by the trustee and the case is still open. we also have several parcels of vacant land, which our attorney stated that the trustee still has to determine value/abandon/or close the case before we will know about them. I do remember that the attorney did state that the discharge would only personally lift us from responsibility from the unsecured creditors. wouldn't this apply to the house as far as a foreclosure sale?

[despritfreya]

the trustee is integrated lender services
I received a 5 day demand letter written by the supposed buyer and signed by the buyer, what can I do now?

Integrated Lender Services works through Priority Posting or Reliable Posting and Publishing. You should be able to check the status of the Trustee Sale at

http://intlen.com/auctions.htm

Did you check PACER? Are you sure the lender did not file a MLS? Are you sure the Trustee did not issue a Notice of Abandonment? If you haven’t, check PACER - you never know. Maybe you did not get a copy of the MLS in the mail.

Check the status of the Trustee Sale and let me know what you find.

Des.

[DesdemonaB]

Silly question - but isn't this how folks get "cash for keys"?

I believe but isn't the 5 day notice is just a "hey we're the new owners" and we are asking you to leave our property, if you do not we will have to file a formal eviction notice with the courts/sheriff which should buy you some time. You allow them to start the formal eviction process then ask for example 3,000 to leave w/in 30 days and leaving the property intact.

I hear about it happening because the new owner doesn't want to spend $$ on court/lawyer/processing fees and they don't want the prior owner to trash the place which could cost them even more $$.

[bcohen]

I don't know about Cash for Keys, especially if the new owner is a private purchaser looking to live in the house, but you should certainly negotiate for a reasonable amount of time to vacate the house WITHOUT them filing any legal action that might damage your ability to rent. 30 to 45 days would be reasonable. And of course you should get this in writing. If the purchaser was a bank or institutional investor, THAT is when you can negotiate cash for keys.