Bankruptcy Has Been Discharged
Help. I am a Real Estate Investor and have come across an unknown territory. There is a home going to auction that I am interested in purchasing. I tracked down the owner to try and buy direct before auction. The owner informed me that he filed bankruptcy and included the house. He said the bankruptcy has been discharged. My question is - who owns the house now? Does he still hold title? Can he sell to me? Do I go to the mortgagor? Please help - I don't have much time - auction is Oct 7. :-?
Couple of questions first - is the auction a foreclosure? Meaning is the lender auctioning off the property on the courthouse steps in a nonjudicial state?
If that is the case, then the owner currently owns the house, but the lender or some other bidder will own it after October 7. In which case you have until then to strike your deal with the seller and could possibly short pay the lender for added bonuseseseses :-D [ Edited by razzio on Date 09/27/2004 ]
Razzio,
Yes, it is an auction on the court house steps. I am familiar with short sales and reaching the homeowner's before the auction and then working with their banks. But I didn't know if this guy could still sell the house to me (and then I go to the bank and try to get a short sale) if he already filed bankruptcy on it. So what you are telling me is that he still owns title to the property even though he included the house in the bankruptcy and the bankruptcy has been finalized. So, I would need to get his signature on a Authorization to Release Information, and draw up a purchase contract with him and then head to his bank to negotiate before the auction. Right? If this is the case what does the bankruptcy do for him? Just protect him from having to pay the debt and a Bankruptcy shows up on his credit report instead of a Foreclosure?
Thanks so much.