What to do with keys and utilities?

[Proxy]

The date of sale is sept 2,2009. It was actually pretty quick, stopped payment feb 1st to first and second mortgages, NOD in May now the pending sale. I am in Norcal, quick for CA timeline which i am glad cos I want Foreclosure to be over and done with.I leave the country aug 26th .

1)I am not paying home insurance (expires this month August) I don't have the money and date of sale is near ,is that ok?Flood insurance expires Dec 2009, not paying that either. I am taking a risk but hey i haven't got the money.

2)What about the keys? No need to send to first mortgage (Wells) right? They can hire locksmith once house is auctioned off or sold to highest bidder?

3) What about electricty ,water ,gas, garbage ? Do I cut off all utilities? Someone told me that unless title changes, I still have to pay the garbage, water etc.(electricity too since that runs the drip system) I dont have money to spare and would sooner not have to pay ANY utilities. My credit is shot already and I am wondering if i should file BK Ch 7 next July 2010 when i get back for a few months from overseas. With all unpaid utitilies especially!!

4) I will have mail forwarded to a PO BOX in another city in CA 2 hrs away and friend will check the box. Do I have to call the 1st and 2nd to tell them my new address??

5) What other advice can anyone give me given the info I have stated. I am leaving the country and need to know how to line my ducks in a row
for this foreclosure process to go smoothly when i am out of the country!!

All help is much appreciated

[Proxy]

Anyone has any input??

I really need some help, is there anyone out there who can help ??

[StartingOver08]

Call your loan servicer (Chase/EMC/Wells Fargo etc) and tell them you are leaving the house. Make sure they notify the property preservation department. The servicer will send someone out to change the locks. Turn off your power and other utilities before you leave the country. You should be good to go.

[Proxy]

Call your loan servicer (Chase/EMC/Wells Fargo etc) and tell them you are leaving the house. Make sure they notify the property preservation department. The servicer will send someone out to change the locks. Turn off your power and other utilities before you leave the country. You should be good to go.

Thank you so much for the input!

I will call the first Mortage folks, Wells , do i have to call the second mortage folks(equity line) Citibank too?

[StartingOver08]

No, you do not have to call the second mortgage servicer. The first 'wins' in the case of foreclosure. If you want, you can notify Citibank. If you feel better you can send a letter to each servicer.

[hnhlvr]

Hi,
We walked from our home. We shut off electricity and garbage service (not required to keep active). In our county, we still had to pay water as long as were were the legal owners, but there was a lock box put on it, so we were paying $12 per month and there was a limit set of water permitted (so say a squater attempted to move in, the water would be limited and I wouldn't be billed).

I just kept the keys and after the sherriff sale happened, someone came and changed the locks. Before the sale, someone (the trustee?) had come out and changed one of the locks but we could still access the interior by the main door. The house didn't sell at auction and now is on the market and the price keeps getting lowered every other month.

[Proxy]

Hi,
We walked from our home. We shut off electricity and garbage service (not required to keep active). In our county, we still had to pay water as long as were were the legal owners, but there was a lock box put on it, so we were paying $12 per month and there was a limit set of water permitted (so say a squater attempted to move in, the water would be limited and I wouldn't be billed).

I just kept the keys and after the sherriff sale happened, someone came and changed the locks. Before the sale, someone (the trustee?) had come out and changed one of the locks but we could still access the interior by the main door. The house didn't sell at auction and now is on the market and the price keeps getting lowered every other month.

I was told to keep the water on (so drip system won't let the grass die) but to get drip system going, one has to have electricity, so I will still have to pay electricty and water too?

Wow, before the sale, they changed the locks?? Whew , that is scary...i still have till sept 2 for trustee sale and i leave aug 26th, hope they won;t change the lock on me before i leave!!

A few people stopped by to take pix of the house and someone knocked on my door , a man with a clipboard, but i didn';t answer the door and just saw him leave in his car from upstairs window.

[Proxy]

No, you do not have to call the second mortgage servicer. The first 'wins' in the case of foreclosure. If you want, you can notify Citibank. If you feel better you can send a letter to each servicer.

Should I write and give them my PO Box number ?? (I got that one in another city today, a city about 2 hrs away so my friend can check my mail for me.)

Thanks Hnhlvr and StartingOver for your tips!

[Doghouse]

Yikes, did somebody say change the locks? Aren't they supposed to notify the occupants, even after the sheriff's sale, before changing locks? It is possible to have tenants that are unaware of a foreclosure sale. My house is up for sale tomorrow, Tue Aug 18th, and I am nowhere near ready to move out. Have not even begun to look for a place or pack yet. I am pretty sure the place will not be sold (bank foreclosing on the line of credit default) so it reverts back to bank owned.

Do I contact the bank then after the sheriff's sale or wait till someone contacts me? Certainly don't want to come home one day and find the locks changed. I will attend the auction in the morning to see what actually happens to the house.

[hnhlvr]

I was told to keep the water on (so drip system won't let the grass die) but to get drip system going, one has to have electricity, so I will still have to pay electricty and water too?

Okay, this is a bit blunt but, oh well for the grass. Seriously, you're walking, it's not your responsibility any longer. And, keep in mind, after the sherriff sale occurs and if the house doesn't sell, it could sit there for a month or even a year before someone buys it and by then the grass won't be in the best of health.

You're walking and walking means MOVING ON! When someone does buy the home, they'll restore the grass and house to livable order!

They changed *one* of the locks. I could still get in via the front door. The lock they changed was side door which entered into the garage. Someone kicked it in, put a new lock on and stuck a key box on the door handle.

It was 20 or 30 days before the remaining locks (front & back door) were changed. We had a certain amount of time to vacate (if we had still lived there).

[hnhlvr]

Yikes, did somebody say change the locks? Aren't they supposed to notify the occupants, even after the sheriff's sale, before changing locks? It is possible to have tenants that are unaware of a foreclosure sale. My house is up for sale tomorrow, Tue Aug 18th, and I am nowhere near ready to move out. Have not even begun to look for a place or pack yet. I am pretty sure the place will not be sold (bank foreclosing on the line of credit default) so it reverts back to bank owned.

Do I contact the bank then after the sheriff's sale or wait till someone contacts me? Certainly don't want to come home one day and find the locks changed. I will attend the auction in the morning to see what actually happens to the house.

You have a certain number of days to vacate. Only one of the locks on my house was changed before it went up for sale. Someone came in and checked the water and put little stickers all over everything saying they had done something - winterized or similar nonsense - up on the bathroom mirrors & toilets. Weird!