Pottstown, PA asked in Bankruptcy for Pennsylvania

Q: our home was included in our bankruptcy we moved out but the township keeps saying we are responsible for the lawn care

they are threatening legal action, how can we be responsible when we don't own the house anymore. Also The bank was notified that we did move out

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1 Lawyer Answer
W. J. Winterstein Jr.
PREMIUM
W. J. Winterstein Jr.
Answered
  • Bankruptcy Lawyer
  • Boyertown, PA
  • Licensed in Pennsylvania

A: Just because you've moved out/abandoned the property doesn't automatically equate to someone else taking title to the property. The township, and other providers of utilities, hold the record title owner responsible for their respective charges. The bankruptcy, if it was a Ch. 7 case, discharges all debts you have accrued up to the date of your bankruptcy filing, but NOT future accruing debts (other than, e.g., a home mortgage or other debt evidenced by a promissory note). The difference is that your liability for, e.g., sewer rental doesn't accrue until the months after your bankruptcy filing, and sewer and water is a "rental" of the pipe space, not dependent on water flow.

Your Mortgage holder/bank would normally not delay in foreclosing on the property, scheduling a sheriff's sale and bidding in the property, and about two months later, taking a sheriff's deed to the property and recording that deed. At that point, the township, and utilities, would look to the bank for payment, and upkeep of the property. Many mortgage lenders are currently halting pending foreclosures, or delaying the start of new foreclosure cases, because of the virus pandemic.

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