Help! I have a Zombie Deed and I don't know how to kill it!

[DonCram]

I will try to make this short and to the point...

my wife and I bought a house 6 years ago. About 1 year after buying, we ran into financial trouble and stopped making payments on the home. 1 year after that we were served notice of sheriff's sale on the property... so we moved out of the house. the house has been sitting empty for 4 years. the bank will not foreclose, and my wife and I recently filed for bankruptcy. this is when we found out that the title is still in our names! The debt will be discharged, however, we are still considered responsible for property taxes, insurance, and maintenance. of course we cannot sell the house because we don't have the deed... (the bank does).

Is there any way for us to either make the bank foreclose, or get the deed filed in our name so that we can sell it and forget about this nightmare once and for all?!

 

[Just Blue]

I will try to make this short and to the point...

my wife and I bought a house 6 years ago. About 1 year after buying, we ran into financial trouble and stopped making payments on the home. 1 year after that we were served notice of sheriff's sale on the property... so we moved out of the house. the house has been sitting empty for 4 years. the bank will not foreclose, and my wife and I recently filed for bankruptcy. this is when we found out that the title is still in our names! The debt will be discharged, however, we are still considered responsible for property taxes, insurance, and maintenance. of course we cannot sell the house because we don't have the deed... (the bank does).

Is there any way for us to either make the bank foreclose, or get the deed filed in our name so that we can sell it and forget about this nightmare once and for all?!

U.S. Law Only

 

[DonCram]

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Proserpina]

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

No, really - you need to list your US state.

 

[justalayman]

of course we cannot sell the house because we don't have the deed... (the bank does).

the bank does not have "the deed". at least, it doesn't have "your deed".


the deed is the document used to transfer interest in real property from one entity to another. A new deed is written for every transfer. If you had a deed of trust as opposed to a mortgage, the trustee holds title to the property but if is was an actual mortgage, you hold title to the property BUT given the BK and no reaffirmation, you actually hold no interest in the property (or as of the discharge of the BK anyway).




I suspect that since you have filed BK, the lender will take title to the home through the bk process. Have notices of your BK been sent out yet? If not, wait until they are and see where it goes.




so, as the other person was alluding to;

what state is this in because it makes a difference.

 

[FlyingRon]

The comment about US law is that you deleted the request for the name of your state.

You needed to have listed the taxes and other obligations on the house in your bankruptcy. The bank is not REQUIRED to foreclose on you.

 

[DonCram]

sorry, Indiana is the state that I am in.

also the bankruptcy is done we are just waiting on the discharge papers (should be here in the next two weeks). all financial debt for the house (including property taxes) was filed on. but my fear is that if the bank does not finish the foreclosure, we will be stuck with any future penalties for this property that we haven't lived in for over 4 years.

this was all through Bank Of America... (not sure if that makes a difference)

 

[justalayman]

also the bankruptcy is done we are just waiting on the discharge papers

the bank will not foreclose, and my wife and I recently filed for bankruptcy.

I just figured recently was more than several months ago but I guess its perspective.


so, what actions did the bank take during the BK? None?

What did the BK trustee say to the issue?

 

[LdiJ]

Have you all noticed that we are seeing a lot more of this sort of thing lately?

Its almost as if some mortgage companies would rather abandon their claims to properties rather than actively taking ownership.

 

[DonCram]

so, what actions did the bank take during the BK? None?

What did the BK trustee say to the issue?

There was no action taken by Bank of America during the BK process... (at least none that I have heard of so far)

the trustee (I am assuming that is like the judge or the person that oversees the BK hearing?) didn't get into details with us over each creditor, she mostly just asked us under oath if all the information that our lawyer had given her was the truth and then told us to have a nice day!...

our BK lawyer basically told us that our only hope was to keep bugging the bank until they foreclose on the house... this whole situation just seems so crazy to me!!!

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

It is more an issue that due to the overwhelming number of defaults and market saturation, they have gone into a defensive mode by putting these basic carrying costs onto the person who defaulted and are only assuming liability for the paperwork and loss on sale aspects.

Have you all noticed that we are seeing a lot more of this sort of thing lately?

Its almost as if some mortgage companies would rather abandon their claims to properties rather than actively taking ownership.

 

[Ohiogal]

I will try to make this short and to the point...

my wife and I bought a house 6 years ago. About 1 year after buying, we ran into financial trouble and stopped making payments on the home. 1 year after that we were served notice of sheriff's sale on the property... so we moved out of the house. the house has been sitting empty for 4 years. the bank will not foreclose, and my wife and I recently filed for bankruptcy. this is when we found out that the title is still in our names! The debt will be discharged, however, we are still considered responsible for property taxes, insurance, and maintenance. of course we cannot sell the house because we don't have the deed... (the bank does).

Is there any way for us to either make the bank foreclose, or get the deed filed in our name so that we can sell it and forget about this nightmare once and for all?!

Your post does not make sense. Without a foreclosure, how was your house set for sheriff sale?

 

[LdiJ]

Your post does not make sense. Without a foreclosure, how was your house set for sheriff sale?

Could have been for property taxes rather than the actual mortgage. The bank may have then covered the property taxes to preserve the asset, but still haven't foreclosed yet.

I am really seeing all kinds of weird stuff lately. I tend to hear about these things because they impact taxes. I still don't see where he ever told us what state he was in.

 

[ecmst12]

See post #7.

 

[LdiJ]

See post #7.

Ah...its MY state...yep, there are all kinds of weird things going on here. However, I can verify that normally a Sheriff's sale is for unpaid property taxes.