Walking away, what are we responsible for?

[frankies_mom]

We are in a 13 and will be telling our attorney tomorrow to let our mortgage company have their relief of stay and go forward. We can't afford the payments and house is underwater anyway.

My questions are:

We both did a Ch 7 before the 13. What are we responsible for once we decide to leave? Do we need to keep homeowners insurance? Do we leave utilities on? If so on both, when can we terminate that stuff.

Also, if we stay in the house through foreclosure, do you think we might be available for any cash for keys program? We have Wells Fargo.

I just want to get our ducks in a row before leaving our house. We are only 2 months behind. We were going to leave the end of this month but now we feel like that is rushing it. Maybe we should save and obviously tie up any loose ends with our current place.

Any answers would be appreciated!! Thank you!!

[Billssuck]

We too are in an active ch13 and we are now 4 months late on our mortgage. We modified our ch13 to surrender the home due to my husband loosing his job (and later finding one making significantly less) and recalculated our DMI paying rent vs mortgage. We were able to adjust our expenses and our monthly payment to the trustee stayed the same.

As far as the house goes, we have heard NOTHING from our mortgage company (BOA). In the beginning, I was prepared to leave the house within 60-90 days like most websites I saw said we should be foreclosed in that time frame. Uh...no...so we're staying here trying to save money until we hear "something" from the mortgage company.

I've been advised to stay in the home as long as possible because insurance companies will often cancel your homeowners insurance if the house is vacant. Technically speaking, we aren't worried about insurance on the house because it is going back to the bank anyway but we need insurance on the house for liability reasons (if someone were to hurt themselves on the property and sue us).

So...for us...we're riding it out in the house as long as they let us stay here up until we have an auction date set or other action (i.e. short sale) that will make us go.

Good luck to you...!

[simplelaguna]

Hi there, I would stay in the house until a sale actually occurs, then cut the utilities and move out.... The foreclosure process is really slow and often takes more then a year... even if an auction date is set,,, it may be postponed multiple times. Each lender is a little different in how they operate. Keep the insurance on the house and the weeds trimmed because you are 100% liable for the home until title changes.... ie: cities will fine you for not maintaining the property and if anyone gets hurt on the property, they can sue you as the owner. Right now it is your house until a completed transfer, so live and use it like you own it because you do.

Also, I am not a fan of the short sale option,,,, banks like them because they are better for them.... Foreclosure can be a stressful / frustrating experience, because it seems like banks have all the power... but they make mistakes and when they do, you can use it to your benefit. So if you try to negotiate with your lender on anything (do it via writing and not phone and try to negotiate with a VP or higher, the CSRs are useless)... good luck with your house and dealing with your lender.

[parsoc48]

We too are in the same position; started to try for modifications a year ago, 3 different companies plus HUD counselor and no dice (HSBC), both gross and net income too high for their criteria. Not that they were willing to work with us, anyway! We're also $80+ underwater. Attorney advised against short sale or deed in lieu of, so we're just waiting it out...putting "mortgage" money in savings and hoping for a LONG process!
The local newspaper had an article about this, and said the backlog is still there, and lenders are slower to foreclose on homes that are occupied and being maintained. We hoped to ride it out until BK13 over with but $1500/mo for a house we can't sell is just not worth it. We'll also have to increase our tax withholding (thus decreasing DMI) because there will not be a mortgage deduction this year.
Good luck to all of you....

[gunner01]

We too are in the same position; started to try for modifications a year ago, 3 different companies plus HUD counselor and no dice (HSBC), both gross and net income too high for their criteria. Not that they were willing to work with us, anyway! We're also $80+ underwater. Attorney advised against short sale or deed in lieu of, so we're just waiting it out...putting "mortgage" money in savings and hoping for a LONG process!
The local newspaper had an article about this, and said the backlog is still there, and lenders are slower to foreclose on homes that are occupied and being maintained. We hoped to ride it out until BK13 over with but $1500/mo for a house we can't sell is just not worth it. We'll also have to increase our tax withholding (thus decreasing DMI) because there will not be a mortgage deduction this year.
Good luck to all of you....

We are underwater 205K and did not reaffirm with BOA. Why were you unable to get a loan modification? What were the terms your bank was offering? I have heard that BOA offers mostly interest rate as low as 2% for like 2 years then 3% the next...like a 3/2/1 buy down on rate.