What are my options?

[bakergrl]

Filed bankruptcy closed it a year ago, did not reaffirm 1st and 2nd mortgages but paying to stay.

The house is worth $90,000 less than what is owed on it but at the time of the BK it seemed like a good idea to just pay to stay here than to go through the hassle of moving into a rental. Now I can't find a job and hubby is on unemployment and we are struggling again to pay the bills. The mortgage company will not work with us much and basically spends their days telling how they can foreclose on us after 1 missed payment...blah, blah, blah.

That being said, I hate this house. It is too small for us now that we have a child that is getting older (we never thought we would be here this long) and it honestly just started to fall apart. It needs a new furnace; the bathtub leaked causing wall damage and possibly a roof leak. So I am stuck deciding if we want to put more money into a house we may lose or leaving. So I have some questions and I was wondering if you can help me with them.

1. What deed in lieu of foreclosure? Even though I do not care for the house if I have to keep it I will but it is so far under right now, can this help us later on?
2. If they do the deed in lieu of foreclosure do I have to reaffirm (I am assuming this is a yes).
3. If we walk away can they in any way sue us for these repairs?
4. If I walk in and hand them the keys do I have to keep homeowners insurance on the house (rolled into mortgage).
5. Do rentals let you stay for 2-3 years normally? I have never rented so I have no clue how this works.

Thanks!!

[shark66]

No need for a deed in lieu...just walk. You've got nothing to gain by doing a DIL.

No one can sue you for anything. Your debt was discharged in BK. They are getting the house "as-is".

They could sue you if you were to spill 20 gallons of paint all over the walls and carpets and similar stuff causing malicious damage (that they would still have to prove in court) but not over items needing repair.

Once you walk away, the bank will take over the insurance. This issue has been discussed a lot, do a little search on the forum and decide what you want to do.

Can't help with rental info, never rented myself.

Good luck.

[ryan]

RE RENTALS: it all depends how a long a lease you sign. Some private owners of sf homes will be happy to get you to sign a two-year lease...they don't have to worry about finding a tenant for quite a while then. Longer than that, and they may want a built in escalator on the rent amount, due to inflation/costs etc.