HELP -Mortgage Workout

[livingonaprayer]

Well, we met with our attorney on Saturday and converted our case from a Ch 13 to a 7. The trustee had filed a motion to dismiss because we got behind on payments. We filed in 02/05, so our Ch 7 is being filed under old law. My husband and I were both laid off in January. He got back to work last month and it looks like I'll be working again within the next two weeks.

The attorney said that the mortgage companies are more willing to work out agreements on arrears. They typed a letter to the mortgage company letting them know it is ok to speak with us regarding a workout, modification, etc.

I spoke with Countrywide today and they said they have to wait for the Chapter 7 info to get to them so they can file their motion to lift the stay. After they are granted the relief they can then work with us. The person I spoke with said they are working hard to keep people in their homes. What do you think?

Now that my husband is back to work (and I will be soon) we can afford our house payments again. It's a fixed rate (4.0%) and we aren't upside down on it. The Ch 13 was just killing us.

PLEASE if anyone has anything they can share with us about successfully getting the mortgage company to recast, modify, etc especially relating to post Chapter 7. I could certaily use some advice and hope!

Thanks

[AngelinaCatHub]

I can say nothing except from what you stated, and today’s news, I am SURE the mortgage company will work with you. You have a good idea and a promising outcome. I wish you good fortune. This could be a blessing. ‘Hub

[livingonaprayer]

Thanks so much for your kind words AngelinaCatHub ! I really hope that this turns out to be a blessing in the end. The Chapter 13 was the hardest thing we have ever been through. We've been together for 13 years and have been through some tough times.

[livingonaprayer]

Trying to keep this thread going. I know a lot of people are trying to get out of their homes, but we want to stay.

Please share your experience with a workout program, etc during of after Ch 7.

Thank you

[TEW]

lining
I'm not sure if i have anything to add but I would also like to hear what is going on with the POs here. although i am not sure we want to keep the house. But if the right deal came about we just may. the Taxes are very high here I wouldn't mind if we got something for them. There would have to be a very sweet deal for me to stay.

[mickeysfriend]

I'm also interested in this!
We have our second mortgage with Countrywide

[sivuh5]

My situation is a little different, because we haven't filed yet, but I thought I'd post anyway to give you a little reassurance that it can and does happen...

I needed to file Ch7, wanted to keep the house, knew I'd have trouble making the mortgage payment even after filing BK.

I called the bank (Wells Fargo) to ask what could be done since I was struggling to make my payments (did not mention BK). They would not talk to me at all until I was 3 months behind on my mortgage.

So, I had to play a "timing" game - allow myself to fall behind on mortgage (wasn't hard - I was barely making it) but hold off on BK until things with Well Fargo were worked out. It was a risk - if you have to file BK due to a lawsuit/wage garnishment (which I did) and you're not current on the mortgage, the bank can start foreclosure as soon as the automatic stay is lifted. The bank typically won't/can't work with you during BK because of the laws around trying to collect a debt when you're in BK. They need to cover their butts.

I got very lucky - I was able to hold off on the BK filing and after falling 3 months behind Wells Fargo put my mortgage into forbearance, which required me to make 1/2 payments for 3 more months. They said I was in the process of a modification to address the arrearage (total of $11,000 after the forbearance period) but I had to sign the forbearance requiring me to catch up on 11/1 in order to continue the process. Another risk, because I knew I couldn't come up with $11k by 11/1.

Meantime, a creditor filed a lawsuit and the judgement/wage garnishment is looming... I filed all the required paperwork with the court to fight the lawsuit, even though I know I owe the debt, in order to buy myself more time.

I had made one payment on the forbearance agreement and finally a week ago I got paperwork in the mail from Wells saying that I qualified for the modification (they had asked for paystubs, tax returns, expenses and assets). They ended up lowering my interest rate by 2 percentage points and tacking on the arrearage to the end of the loan. This reduces my monthly payment by almost $400. Much easier to deal with!

My first payment for the modified loan is due 11/1, so I plan on waiting until after that to file BK (atty has all the paperwork now, just waiting to pull the trigger), because I don't want to jeopardize the modification. As I said, the BK stay prevents to bank from working with you to arrange a new payment plan and they will cover their butts instead of trying to help. I never mentioned BK to Wells thru all of this, and I don't plan on it.

I hope to keep the house at the new payment without a reaffirmation, but I don't know if they're going to require a reaffirm or not. I'll have to cross that bridge when I get to it.

Things are changing every day for the mortgage companies as more and more homes go into foreclosure. I don't think anyone can predict how an individual bank will react to an individual financial crisis anymore. I was one of the lucky ones who got the modification. I thought the best I could hope for was to put the arrearage at the end of the loan and go back to my regular payments. I had no idea they would lower the interest rate too.

I believe the actual deal I worked out was thru the govt's Hope Now program, which Wells Fargo participates in. It's voluntary, so I don't know if Countrywide is in it or not. The Hope Now number is what I called once I fell three months behind, based on a letter sent to me from Wells saying I could save my house by calling them. Turns out they were right!

Hope this helps.
S.

[chloe0724]

I was able to get my ARM changed into a fixed. This has been the biggest blessing because being in a 13 and having to worry about a rate adjustment in the future was terrifying!!