We provide legal assistance to people in Hartford and New Haven who need information about keeping appliances during foreclosure proceedings. If you are facing a legal action against your home, we can help you understand your rights.
What Can I Keep During Foreclosure?
When your home is being foreclosed by the bank, and you’re moving out, you’re allowed to take your personal items, like clothes, desks, artwork and everything else that you purchased. These furnishing can go with you since you brought them to the home initially.
But what about appliances? Are they yours, or do they stay with the house?
This subject has a gray area. Typically, if they’re built into the home, you have to leave them where you found them but if they’re free-standing and you own them, you can take them along with you to your new home.
See Also
- Mortgage Loan Modification
- Foreclosure Mediation Process
- Waiting Time To Buy After Foreclosure
- Selling Your Home Before Foreclosure
For example, you can take a washer and dryer that you put in the garage, a TV that you put in the living room, and a microwave sitting on the kitchen counter. However, you can’t generally take out a dishwasher that is built into the cabinets, a garbage disposal system that is connected to the sink or a hard-wired home alarm or central air conditioning system.
The gray areas can be substantial. If the TV is built into the wall, does it have to stay? What if it’s just mounted on the wall, like a picture? Can you take a fridge that has cabinets custom-built around it, or does it then count as a built-in appliance, not a free-standing unit?
All homes have different types of appliances, so the answers may depend on the situation. Generally, you hear people say that you’re allowed to take things that aren’t nailed down, but it’s important to know what really qualifies. Be sure to ask the right questions and understand all of your legal rights when facing foreclosure. You may even find ways to prevent foreclosure so you don’t have to worry about what you can and cannot take.
Get In Touch With Us
If you’re facing foreclosure and would like more information on what you can keep and must leave behind, you can call us now at 860-563-3955 and we’ll definitely help you. You can also leave us an instant message on our consultation page.