Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Banks will not foreclose

Your bankruptcy filing probably put the kibosh on any foreclosure proceedings.....how long ago did you file? A lender cannot foreclose while the debtor is under the protection of a bankruptcy proceeding without going into court and obtaining relief from the automatic stay. While this isn't too difficult, expensive or time-consuming, it is certainly an obstacle and may account for the delays here.

Re: Banks will not foreclose

To add onto Mr. Whipple's response, I'm finding that banks are taking forever to foreclose on condominiums that are underwater. I can't fully explaint it, but they seem to take twice as long as traditional, SFR loans. Mr Whipple is correct in that the bank cannot foreclose until they obtain relief from the bankruptcy court. You should check to see if they have even filed the motion yet for relief. If they have not, the condo will remain yours, the HOA dues will continue to accrue in your name (though, through the bankruptcy you should be discharging any pre-petition dues). You cannot give the bank a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, as might have been my recommendation if you were not in bankruptcy - the condo is technically an asset of your bankruptcy estate, and must be formally abandoned by the Trustee before you can do anything with it. No sense pursuing that as it will just cost you money, and frankly the bank is not likely to take it back without the foreclosure. I fear you will have to just ride this one out.

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