Saving Ch13 and delinquent mortgage.

[despritfreya]

So would you say that it is unlikely that the mortgage company would protest the discharge in any way?

The lender really does not care about the bk. It only cares about getting its payments - which it is.

Des.

[spidge]

Spidge,

Your attempt at a loan mod has no impact on your bk. Once you have completed all plan payments and any other non-monetary requirements such as sending tax returns to the trustee, you will be entitled to a discharge.

Edt to add: I suppose I should qualify this. Such has never happened in a case I handled but there is a possibility that a modified plan would be forced upon you due to an increased ability to pay (lower house payment ='s higher plan payment). Don't rock the boat as I think you are close to the end anyway??????? Just do what you need to do and follow the Plan without throwing red flags that you can now afford to pay more to your general creditors.

Des.

Thanks Des, the change in DMI is a concern. Will be patient then and keep the boat steady.

So would you say that it is unlikely that the mortgage company would protest the discharge in any way? They were paid the arrears from my original filing date in full at the beginning of the year.

[despritfreya]

Is it possible to obtain a discharge while in a trial period for a mortgage modification?

Spidge,

Your attempt at a loan mod has no impact on your bk. Once you have completed all plan payments and any other non-monetary requirements such as sending tax returns to the trustee, you will be entitled to a discharge.

Edt to add: I suppose I should qualify this. Such has never happened in a case I handled but there is a possibility that a modified plan would be forced upon you due to an increased ability to pay (lower house payment ='s higher plan payment). Don't rock the boat as I think you are close to the end anyway??????? Just do what you need to do and follow the Plan without throwing red flags that you can now afford to pay more to your general creditors.

Des.

[spidge]

Is it possible to obtain a discharge while in a trial period for a mortgage modification?

I ask because we could just about double our payment, but that would leave us finishing when the modification is still not completed and in place. I'm good either way but it sure would be stellar to finish even a few months early.

[Pandora]

Spidge - I'm glad things have changed! Praying all works out and everything goes the way you need it to

[spidge]

Wow Pandora. You sure had a nightmare lender. First off things did change as foreclosure proceedings must now be suspended while being considered for a mod. Its called dual tracking. The second point is that our loan servicer and investors have given us very reasonable treatment over the years. Our first mod took about 6 weeks and was a couple years before we filed BK, but after just one year I reconsidered as it was not a long term solution and we would be back in the debt mill again. So I called and was successful in obtaining another mod that was actually quite good in my opinion, but when I was injured I could not keep it or anything else current. This latest mod did take quite a bit longer but the results are stellar.

Thanks Pandora for taking the time to share your thoughts, experience, and suggestions. I to save everything. I have files that my wife questions the need for.

[Pandora]

The way the trial payments work is the mortgage co. Still shows you as behind on payments because they only credit your trial payment as a "partial payment" which is why if you don't get approved they can continue with foreclosure proceedings. All of that info doesn't get told to you until you get the actual peperwork saying you were either fully approved or denied for the mod, which isn't until after trial payments are done. It took us close to 8 months of "trial payments" and fighting tooth and nail to get our mod so be prepared just in case it goes longer than 3 months.

[Pandora]

Spidge just be sure to keep copies of Everything you send to them and when you do send, do it Certified Signature Required. We had a mod done and it was a nightmare (PNC bank) had to fight the entire time because they kept saying they didn't agree to this or that, that HAMP wasn't required (it isn't law BTW nor mandatory) and so so so many other problems. It took the first 3 years to even get the payments straight with much fighting, legal letters back and forth and threats of lawsuits and even going to the media.

Just keep everything they send you...record all names, bagde or employee numbers, supervisor names etc. You will need them sometime down the road, trust me. Make sure you read all fine print because if the underwriter does not approve you even while in trial the process of foreclosure doesnt stop....that's something they don't divulge. Maybe this changed but I know it used to be that way when HAMP and mods first came out.
Congrats on the mod

[jange]

spidge, so glad to hear things are moving in the right direction for you. The next few months will go quickly. I'm still waiting for my discharge, but it is only a matter of time. Everything else is done.

[dmc-2008]

I agree with Sophieanne and would like to add that look at all the things you hAve accomplished! Great stuff!!!

[sophieanne]

But what a wonderful thing to learn!!!! I truly am happy for you

[spidge]

Come on Spidge...one step at a time...like how it's been for the past 5 years (everything is wait and see and trial/reward....sounds like a nice plan to me (with little incentives i would never have expected. Is the trial payment decent/what you expected???

The new payment amount will be a long awaited relief and be very manageable. The payments is much better than what I expected but I do not know all the terms. It is so low they must have extended us out to 40 years, but I cannot confirm that until the actual offer comes in following the trial payments. Even if it is 40 years I am determined to retire mortgage free so we will pay this sucker off, but not before we reward ourselves a bit. Cash only of course.

I love love love those incentives, it's almost like they are paying you back! I really got my fingers crossed for you! Woo hoo, no more tax returns to the trustee for you, that is huge!!! I was a bone head and made some mistakes and have to turn over 2000 plus this year! Gah!!!!! Taxes have been so hard the last few years because of all the changes.

You are so close!!!!!!

I agree that the incentives will be nice and be a priority. Free money!!!! Are you kidding. I'm in.

Since I was on Workers Comp almost all of last year my taxable income was almost nil. Of course we qualified for certain tax benefits and with that all previous years that we owed are now paid and the trustee kept the rest. Of course it would have been nice to use it ourselves but I expected the trustee to keep it.

So:
Back taxes paid up-----check
Mortgage modified-------check
BK payments caught up-----check
Medical benefits caught up------check
Back to work in a more satisfying position-----check
Adding to 401K again to maximize free company match moneys-------check

I set a goal to have x amount of money free and clear once our BK was finished and I think I will beat it by a landslide.

So close to where we can start living again. This I will have to relearn.

[dmc-2008]

I love love love those incentives, it's almost like they are paying you back! I really got my fingers crossed for you! Woo hoo, no more tax returns to the trustee for you, that is huge!!! I was a bone head and made some mistakes and have to turn over 2000 plus this year! Gah!!!!! Taxes have been so hard the last few years because of all the changes.

You are so close!!!!!!

[sophieanne]

Come on Spidge...one step at a time...like how it's been for the past 5 years (everything is wait and see and trial/reward....sounds like a nice plan to me (with little incentives i would never have expected. Is the trial payment decent/what you expected???

[spidge]

Well we received the modification packet today and it looks OK. From what I have read is that as long as we make the three trial payments the payment will be the same as the trial payments. This documentation does not share the specifics and only tells us that at the end of the trial a permanent mod will be offered. It looks to me like the term has been extended quite a bit, but that can be dealt with. There is also a $1K per year incentive to make the payments on time and another $5K on the 6th anniversary of the mod. These incentives would be applied to the principle and that is fine by me.

So now we wait a bit longer and go through the trial payments which will end in July. It still feels uncertain, but at least we are in touch with the lender and making headway.

The trustee would not allow us to use the tax returns to pay the extra $2K for the AP on the lien strip. That was disappointing, but I did not bank on it anyway. This year should be the last one they get.