What should I expect next?

[Shanfish]

My husband and I received our joint CH7 discharge on 5/26 and are letting our house go. We have not lived there in a few years and had been renting it out; the last tenant moved out March 20th. Less than a week after our 341, the Lender came and changed the locks so I assumed that meant they took ownership of the house...after receiving a quarterly water bill for the house last week I realized that's not true. I thought they would winterize the property since they locked it all up (with a bunch of property still in the attic we were using as storage), but it doesn't seem they did that either and are trying to submit a claim against my homeowner's for water damage. (without electric, the sump pump will not run and so I am guessing after winter the basement was wet since they didn't winterize). The lender (CCO Mortgage) filed before our dishcharge to lift the automatic stay so they could foreclose but it doesn't seem like anything has happened yet... Does all of this seem normal? What has happened doesn't seem to fit any of the 'normal' foreclosure timelines and I'm very confused as to what will happen next??

ETA: I am also wondering, do we still technically own the house or will the bank now maintain it? My homeowner's ins will not renew and I don't want to be responsible for lawn care or anything since I am about 30 min from the property. It would seem ridiculous to have to mow the lawn for fear of tickets when I can't even get in the garage.

[justbroke]

You own the home until it is foreclosed upon and the deed with the County Registrar (or City/Town recorder of deeds) has recorded the new deed in "the books".

Everything else is normal. The fact that they took "physical" possession (but not legal possession) by changing the locks, probably puts the ball in their court to have protected the property. You may want to contact your insurance company and let them know what's going on, but you'll probably be dropped immediately, since you are no longer occupying the property. (Insurance is a touchy subject when it comes to foreclosures, bankruptcy, and abandoning/surrendering the property.)

[Shanfish]

I did get a notice of non-renewal from our Homeowner's Insurance company. I'm not too concerned since from what I have been reading here, the bank will pick up their own insurance when our current policy runs out.

What I am worried about is the property maintenance and the fact that the lender tried to file a claim against our Homeowners for damage that occurred AFTER they padlocked the house... Should I contact the lender or the lender's attorney about this?

[justbroke]

What I am worried about is the property maintenance and the fact that the lender tried to file a claim against our Homeowners for damage that occurred AFTER they padlocked the house... Should I contact the lender or the lender's attorney about this?

Well, they can file a claim. It is your duty, in the terms of the Mortgage or Deed of Trust, to maintain the property. If you don't believe that they have those rights spelled-out in the Mortgage then you will have to read the Mortgage. If you were going to contact anyone, it would probably be your insurance company, not the lender's attorney. The lender requires insurance specifically to protect the collateral, and when there's damage, they expect it to be repaired.

Lenders are more on top of the ball these days with respect to claims on damaged properties. I do not know what their claim success rate is, but it must be enough that they can keep filing them.

[Pandora]

Ooh...this is a tough spot to be in; lender changed the locks so therefore - in theory at least - they are the responsible ones. Of course, legally, you're still on the deed but I'll bet ya dollars to donuts you can fight it from an upkeep standpoint. The lender will state you abandoned the property forcing them to take possession to ensure their asset is protected - and they'd be correct unless you did a deed in lieu. However given they changed the locks - it's their baby for upkeep. Did you tell them you left the property prior to having tenants? You say its been years since you've lived there - so how far behind were you in paying the mortgage (assuming you were collecting rents to do that...) As to the personal items you left, the bank owns them now, so hopefully it wasnt anything valuable. As to the insurance possibly being placed by the lender - make sure you find out how that will work as many times the lender will try to bill you for it. Generally what I've read on here is if that occurs, people just modify their BK claims and add it, however since your BK has already been discharged, I'm not sure if it can be added or not if they do so.

I'd talk to your attorney who dealt with your case and see exactly what was filed by the lender and when. If the stay wasnt lifted / no foreclosure and you were still collecting rents up until recently - then exactly how did the lender contact you regarding them taking physical possession of the house? There had to be some type of contact... since the house was occupied by tenants. ...???

[Shanfish]

My attorney insisted they can charge us for nothing related to the house since it is included in the BK. I don't know how much I believe him since he is in delinquent status with the Bar Assoc in NYS....

We moved out of the main unit of the property in February 2009 (it is a double). Our last Mortgage payment was in May 2010, we retained our Attorney in July 2010 and the last month we collected rent from either tenant was July 2010. I didn't want to get in a sticky situation with collecting the rent and felt obligated to give our tenants a break...if we weren't paying the mortgage, I couldn't see continuing to collect rent from them. We allowed them to save their money and move out as they wanted, or stay until the bank took ownership. The tenants in the main unit moved out in December 2010. The other tenant remained until 2 days before our 341 Meeting. We went to the property the day of our 341 to look it over, there was no water damage or mold. The upstairs apartment was filthy, but no cosmetic or structural damage through the entire house. It was not uncommon to get water in the basement in the Spring, even with our sump pump running. The electric was on through March 20th and I cannot imagine the basement flooded between then and a week later when the bank padlocked the property. The bank has made no contact with me to verify whether or not it was vacant; I had absolutely no notice they were going to do that. Thank goodness tenant 2 moved out when he did, or I am certain they would have locked him out! There is no lis pendens and I haven't received any paperwork indicating it will be foreclosed on, other than the banks request to lift the automatic stay. At that point, the house had already been locked up (by the bank) for 1.5 months.

I wanted to add, they locked the house but did not winterize it... really a stupid move in WNY, where winter doesn't end until May sometimes. I would have had no problem keeping up the property until they took over; I assumed once they locked you out, they were then taking care of it.

[Shanfish]

Well, they can file a claim. It is your duty, in the terms of the Mortgage or Deed of Trust, to maintain the property. If you don't believe that they have those rights spelled-out in the Mortgage then you will have to read the Mortgage. If you were going to contact anyone, it would probably be your insurance company, not the lender's attorney. The lender requires insurance specifically to protect the collateral, and when there's damage, they expect it to be repaired.

Lenders are more on top of the ball these days with respect to claims on damaged properties. I do not know what their claim success rate is, but it must be enough that they can keep filing them.

I did contact the insurance company and they said they will just deny their claim. The adjustor indicated it is common practice now for the banks to do this, since as you mentioned, most people just ignore it and the claim gets paid.

The issue I have is that the damage, if there is any, occurred AFTER they locked the house. I walked through the house on March 22nd, they locked it by the following Monday. On March 22nd there was no water damage or mold. Just because I don't live in a house, doesn't necessarily mean I abandoned it... I maintained it for 2 years after moving out of it!