DIL vs Foreclosure after Chapter 7 Discharge

[scooter6251]

Our BK7 was discharged in Florida in Jan 2011. Included was the mortgage on our house. We moved from FL in 2011 and rented the house for a few months. Now it is vacant. GMAC filed a LP in May 2012 but little has happened since. No trial date has been set for the foreclosure. I recently talked with GMAC's 'Preservation Dept' about their maintaining of the property and mentioned a DIL. I then got a call from them saying they might be interested and we did not have to fill out all the financials that were formerly required, even after BK discharge. They said as long as the title was clean, we have have almost nothing to do. They would handle everything. They said they would request a title search right away.

The obvious reason I am interested in the DIL is to get the house out of my name ASAP. This foreclosure thing could go on forever. Are there any pitfalls or things I need to watch for to protect myself? Do I need to worry about them trying to recover or report any loss on the house? My BK attorney no longer handles these cases, but you guys on here are better anyway.

[justbroke]

Since you have discharged the debt, there are no pitfalls and nothing to be looking for. If they do not request financials, that is even a better deal than dealing with a "useless" process (for a debtor that has discharged the underlying debt). Please let us know how smoothly, or not, that it goes.

[scooter6251]

Since you have discharged the debt, there are no pitfalls and nothing to be looking for. If they do not request financials, that is even a better deal than dealing with a "useless" process (for a debtor that has discharged the underlying debt). Please let us know how smoothly, or not, that it goes.

I will. I turned down a chance for a DIL over a year ago because of the absurd financials they required. Maybe it's changed since it's GMAC and they are pretty much gone and OCWEN is handling all their old loans.

[btbeme]

Like most large institutions, banks have separate departments (some of them are actually third-party vendors) that handle various components of their everyday business. That said, it is not uncommon for those departments to have lousy communication or understanding of what the others do and how it might affect their own department. A bankruptcy is a great example.

During and after a BK, your account is generally handled by the "BK Department" which many everyday drones working at other departments find to be a mysterious place. Simply stated, and as outlined above, you have no real responsibility financially toward your home once discharged in BK, so a Deed-in-Lieu should be a simple process that does not require financials, etc. Getting the DIL folks to understand that might need some prodding on your part, as the everyday drones working the phones may not understand, or slept through that hour of their training.

That is a major function of forums such as this - to help you be as informed as possible so you know how BK affects you and how it should work. If necessary, take your claim to the next higher level where you are more likely to find someone who understands.