Bankruptcy

There Must Be Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lender! How Do I Give Back My House Before or After my Bankruptcy in Arizona?

By Joseph McDaniel, Esq.

Well, it's a little like the Paul Simon song.

It's pretty easy. And there's no way to do it by the book, because there is no book.

But the easiest way to do it, once you've lived in the place for about ninety days without making payments, and the bank has started a trustee's sale, and you're about five days away from the drop dead date, is to give a call to the bank.

Because the bank knows how it wants to take possession of the bank, and you don't. And I don't.

And the banks are different; and their desires are different, and their preferences.

So it's like the easiest way to find out what the pretty blond wants for lunch: ask!

And confirm the instructions you got with an email and a registered letter, because, hey, why not?

Now, I'm also pretty risk-averse. So if the nice bank employee says, "Leave the keys on the table and leave the doors unlocked," I'd keep calling until I got different instructions.

Because I wouldn't want any bad guys squatting in the house, pooping in the corners, and smashing the toilet and bathtubs and sinks with sledges before they wrapped up their picnics. The bank would sue you, and never mind what they told you to do.

So I'd also want to take digital pics that showed when they were taken, and I'd take a lot of 'em. Heck, I'd take a video walking through the house pointing out that the place was clean and the garbage taken out.

And that the doors were locked behind me.

And none of that guarantees that the bank won't sue you; it just reduces the probability a good deal, you know?

NOTHING HERE CONSTITUTES LEGAL ADVICE RE A CHAPTER 7, CHAPTER 13, CHAPTER 11, OR CHAPTER 12. FIND AN ARIZONA BANKRUPTCY LAWYER WHO IS BOARD CERTIFIED IN BANKRUPTCY LAW, AV RATED, AVVO 10 RATED, ON SUPERLAWYERS, OR JUST VERY EXPERIENCED AND A FORMER CHAIR OF SOME BANKRUPTCY SECTION OR COMMITTEE. NOTHING HERE MAY BE USED AS LEGAL ADVICE IN CONNECTION WITH ANY BANKRUPTCY, WHETHER THAT BANKRUPTCY IS IN PHOENIX, GLENDALE, TEMPE, MESA, SCOTTSDALE, OR ANYWHERE ELSE.

Full post as published by Arizona Bankruptcy Attorney Blog on July 23, 2010 (boomark / email).