How complicated is it?

[dep05]

I was just wondering how complicated it is to just let your house go. Is it really as easy as that or is there alot of hassle involved? Our house was included in BK and not reaffirmed. We don't want to sell it cause it needs too much fixed and isn't worth what was owed on it. We are thinking of looking for an apartment. So, if we decide to let it foreclose, what all are we going to have to deal with? Do we need a lawyer for that? Are there any meetings we have to attend or papers we'd need to sign? Could we just move out and not look back?

[FilingOnMyOwn]

Foreclosure works like this: You stop paying, and then they take the house (eventually). As long as you are comfortable with losing it and the blemish it will leave on your credit report, then no worries. I'd stay there rent free for as long as I could.

[onepowerfullady]

I agree with Wenderful. We were going to just keep our house, hell we even employed the services of a loss mitigation service, but it seems that everyone was out for the money and not looking out for us. We then found out that we could just walk away and move on. The mortgage company wants to trip with us. I told them to take it all a shovel it up you know where.... We found us a rental house..one that is much nicer than our house and we are moving out of there at the end of this month. I am going to give the house a good cleaning, mow the lawn, and mail the keys to the mortgage company's attorney. So if you can...walk away before the foreclosure hits your credit report so that you can rent you another place to stay. Most rental places will not let you rent from them if that's on your report.

[BassBoy]

No hassles if you choose to walk away. We did the same as others have done in this thread. We filed in Oct.2005 and we stayed until Feb.2006....before anything began to happen with the foreclosure. Also, we found a house to rent that was nicer and bigger than our house. Although, we haven't had any action with the house. It's still sitting there empty, and nothing has happened with the foreclosure (it's been 10 months).

[debtisbad]

How long does it take to rent after a foreclosure hits your credit. For example, i filed bk and it should be dismissed hopefully in about 30 days. Lets say I live in the house 2 more years, but at that time cannot sell. Will I be able to rent an apt? I am just thinking that we are in such an overpriced market that housing will be flat for years to come. I am just really worried about being able to rent ever again!!!!

[SinkingFast]

We rented while our house was in Foreclosure. The Landlord is a REA so she understood and didn't care. I explained Hubby had lost his job, found a new job here, we'd had to move, and weren't able to sell the house. Of course, our house is/was outa state. If it was local, that might have made a difference.

Your big problem, for the next month or so at least, is gonna be that your BK is still open and active. Generally speaking, all Creditors know that you can add them and discharge the debt during an open and active BK. So, many Landlords will be reluctant to rent to you until your BK is Discharged.

You might want to start looking for places to move to. Chat with Landlords or apt complex offices. Find out their Credit criteria. You don't wanna be paying application fees only to get turned down. Maybe you can have a place all lined up once your BK is officially discharged. Then you can move on with your life.

Also,........... Since you discharged the debt for the mortgage, BK and Foreclosure are most likely gonna be viewed as one single incident in your Credit history rather than 2 seperate items.

[SinkingFast]

How long does it take to rent after a foreclosure hits your credit. For example, i filed bk and it should be dismissed hopefully in about 30 days. Lets say I live in the house 2 more years, but at that time cannot sell. Will I be able to rent an apt? I am just thinking that we are in such an overpriced market that housing will be flat for years to come. I am just really worried about being able to rent ever again!!!!

Didn't see this when I posted.

If you wait a couple of years to let the house go back, then BK and Foreclosure will be 2 seperate incidents in your Credit History.

Just be sure to get current payment histories from your Mortgage Lender when you get ready to start hunting for a place to rent. You Lender won't be reporting to the CRA's that you're paying your payments in a timely fashion. Then you'll have written proof for prospective Landlords that you do pay your payments on time.

[dep05]

Thanks all. I am feeling better about doing this now. I was just afraid it would be complicated and stressful and the whole bankrupcty was stressful enough!

I think we are planning to stay here and continue paying the mortgage a few months longer until we save some money and decide where we want to move. How long does it take for a foreclosure to hit the credit reports once you stop making payments? Would we be safe to stop paying a few months before we find an apartment so we can save some money?

[SinkingFast]

The Foreclosure Timeline really depends on the State you live in.

Missouri and a couple of others are known as "Quick Foreclosure States". Once you miss your 2nd payment, you get a Notice of Default and Acceleration. Then you have 30 days to Cure. Then the Foreclosure process begins. 30 days later, the house is Auctioned off. That's the process if you haven't filed BK. If you have filed BK, the Foreclosure process can start immediately after the 1st missed payment.

New York is a Judicial Foreclosure process State. Every Foreclosure goes thru the Court. Generally, a Foreclosure takes 18 months or so in NY State.

Really depends on what State you live in. If you have Judicial Only. Or if your State allows for Non Judicial Foreclosure thru a Right to Sale clause in your Mortgage Instrument.

[SinkingFast]

We actually drug our Foreclosure out a bit. Our house was in Missouri.

Notice of Default and Acceleration was sent 2/16/06. We had til 3/18/06 to Cure. We sent a Hardship Letter to the Lender and got a bit of a reprieve. House shoulda auctioned the middle of April but we got to the end of May.

We woulda had longer as we'd been approved for Forebearance. But when the guy called to tell us that, we'd just hired our attny. We thought we'd be filing BK soon so I told the guy we were letting the house go in BK.

That started up the whole Foreclosure process right where it had left off. The Lender hired a Law Firm to act as Trustee of the sale, they scheduled the sale date, and advertised the auction of our house in the paper.