Valley Home, CA Bankruptcy Law Firms & Lawyers

There is a special provision in the Bankruptcy Code about HOAs. The post-filing, pre-foreclosure dues are owed in spite of bankruptcy. That would pertain to a short sale as well.

This question cannot be answered without review of your credit (is this the only negative item, one of many), and the facts relating to the debt (do you owe it, is there legitimate dispute, how old is it), and possibly not exactly in any event (because scoring formulas are only generally known).

If you are referring to real property taxes then that is a secured debt. The County has a lien on the property for the taxes. They are not discharged in bankruptcy. There is no statute of limitations on secured debt. You have no personal liability for the property taxes but if not paid then eventually the County sells the property to pay the taxes owed. If you lose the property in foreclosure then you never have to pay those taxes. They become the obligation of the new owner. It is as if the property itself owed the taxes. This is called "in rem" liability which means it is the liability of the property itself as opposed to the personal liability of the owner of the property. The County does not care who pays but if no one pays then they sell the property and get their money.