Who owns our house after bankruptcy?

Note that in a bankruptcy, you can never discharge a debt secured with collateral such as real property for instance. So even if you file bankruptcy, your debt and your lien remains the same, and you may either re-affirm the debt by continuing to pay the mortgage or go delinquent and relinquish the house. It is not uncommon for loan owners to sell the loan to other companies as it has happened in your own case,. In any case, your name is still on the deed and the lenders are still your lien holders, your filing bankruptcy has not changed the ownership, even though the owners of the loan may have changed. all you need do is continue paying your mortgage and you will be sure to keep the house for as long as you are fulfilling this obligation.

A discharge in bankruptcy means there no longer is personal liability on the mortgage. However, the lender retains the security interest in the property. This means that in order to keep the property the (discharged) loan must be fully paid per the contractual monthly payment. Although you are still the owner of the property ownership is subject to the secured interest of the lender until the security interest is paid.

A mortgage or deed of trust is a voluntary lien. Liens are not affected by Chapter 7. You do not owe the money personally anymore because of the bankruptcy discharge but the mortgage company can foreclose on your house to satisfy the balance of the loan. The house is security (collateral) for the loan. It is as if the house itself owed the money. The promissory note you signed when you got the loan is transferable and it was obviously transferred to another company that now owns it and can foreclose on your house. You legally still own the house (subject to the mortgage) so the bank has to foreclose and sell the house at at trustee's sale where the highest bidder gets to buy it and gets title to it. Most of the time the mortgage company buys the house since the debt is usually more than the value of the house. You do not need to sign the house over to the mortgage company. Just let them foreclose and sell it at a trustee's sale. The bank will probably end up being the buyer by offering the amount of the debt. You will then be asked to move and if you do not move you will have to be evicted just like tenants are evicted when they don't pay the rent. The buyer, most likely the bank, will probably offer you some money to leave quietly and fast. (Didn't your bankruptcy attorney explain all this to you?)

If a lien was not properly recorded, then you would own the home free and clear as your personal liability on the original mortgage note would be discharged.

The answer to your question is that you "own" your house after a bankruptcy, but I'm not sure you understand how liens work in bankruptcy.I doubt seriously that the prior mortgage co. "never filed a lien," but it bears checking out. It sounds like you haven't made any payments since 2009, so you're undoubtedly in default of the original mortgage, which has now been assigned.If there is, in fact, an active mortgage, the arrearage can be dealt with in a Ch 13. Feel free to call me at the office for a brief free phone consult if you have further questions.

I think you are confused. A mortgage IS a lien and it is not erased by bankruptcy. Your bankruptcy discharged the debt but did not erase any liens. Discuss this with the attorney who handled your bankruptcy.