Chase Home Finance and Reaffirmation

[okiebk09]

Ok so we are supposed to be discharged monday. Original petition says to reaffirm our mortgage. After thinking on this and never hearing from chase over the last 90 days we really were set on NOT reaffirming. We were going to ride thru. So in the mail today comes a letter from Chase that if we do not reaffirm then we can no longer mail our payment nor can we go to the branch that is 10 minutes from my house and pay the payment via check. They say if we ride thru we have to pay via Western Union every time and there are fees with that. R u kidding me??? This is the most absurd thing I have heard of. Why in the world can I not go to a branch and pay the stupid payment? So now what? Anyone with ideas please let me hear them. I really DO NOT want to reaffirm as my husband is a car salesman and well we know how the car industry is. I am not planning on walking away from my house but you never know what hand you will be delt in this economy. So do we reaffirm? How will that affect our discharge on Monday? Someone please help me on this.

[eddiep]

i'm sorry banks s**k! They are basically forcing you to sign the reaffirmation! Nobody can make this decision for you, but you sound like you know what you are doing, I don't think you should give into them. Not reaffirming puts you in the drivers seat and in the long run will protect you if your husband loses his job. I wonder if you could ride through now and reaffirm in the future once the economy has stabilized.

what does your lawyer say

[chad9162]

Personally I'd go into the branch and attempt to pay, if they said no then I'd leave. I bet after a few missed payments they'd called you to work it out. Risk yes but reaffirming is a greater risk. I would not let them force me into Western Union or reaffirming.

[lrprn]

We were going to ride thru. So in the mail today comes a letter from Chase that if we do not reaffirm then we can no longer mail our payment nor can we go to the branch that is 10 minutes from my house and pay the payment via check. They say if we ride thru we have to pay via Western Union every time and there are fees with that. R u kidding me???

For the moment you have to decide if this is a hill you are willing to die on for principle or not. if you don't follow these demands for now, your house could be at risk as soon as you make one payment late after you are discharged.

Chase is doing this to pressure you to sign the reaffirmation agreement. This is against the current bk law. Reaffirmations are clearly stated to be VOLUNTARY. I'm sure the Chase lawyers have figured out some backdoor, sleazy way to ensure they've stayed within the law, but this stinks to high heaven. They are holding you hostage to get you to sign. That's wrong.

If you filed with a lawyer (and I hope you did so you'll have a legal connection to help you with this immediately), get a copy of the letter over to the office quickly and set up time asap to review the letter together and decide how to proceed.

If you didn't file with a lawyer, then contact a NACA (National Association of Consumer Advocates) attorney in your area. Most work pro bono for what they earn by taking big companies to court who are doing what Chase is doing to you right now and winning. Their fee comes out of the case winnings.

I have a feeling this demonstration of Chase arrogance in writing might lnterest a NACA consumer protection attorney a lot! Forcing someone to make a mortgage payment in such an unorthodox way that costs them extra money to comply every month.....that's right up a consumer attorney's alley! Visit the NACA website - http://www.naca.net/ - and click on the Find an Attorney tab at the top to find a NACA attorney near you.

Hey, I just caught something you said....has your 7 been discharged yet? If it hasn't and this letter came from Chase while your case is still active, then they are also in violation of your automatic stay. Bad, bad Chase - this will make the bankruptcy judge in your local court very, very angry. It also gives you more leverage to back them off if your bk case is still active.

[chad9162]

your house could be at risk as soon as you make one payment late after you are discharged.

I thought BK doesn't change Foreclosure Law, therefore one payment late wouldn't really matter. Are you saying that since there is not reaffirmation, thus no contract, that Foreclosure Law doesn't apply and that 1 late payment would constitute a default?

My understanding is that you have to "default" before they can foreclose?

[okiebk09]

LRPRN---I am confused. If I continue to pay and ride thru but I am one day late will they act on that? Or were you saying if I reaffirm and I am one day late then they will act on that? We will be hopefully discharged on Tuesday. Last day for objections is Monday. We did file with an attorney and I think this letter we got was just a courtesy letter that is a copy of what they also sent to the lawyer. It states they are not contacting me but trying to find out our intentions via our attorney. I think(without talking to our lawyer yet) that we wil ride thru. I just got the letter in the mail Friday(yesterday) at 6 pm. So a little late to contact my atty. Anyway we will contact they Monday morning but I am angry that they waited so long to contact our atty about this matter. It has been 3 months since we filed and they are just now sending a letter. So I got to thinking last night and it did not say that we could not mail a check, cashiers check, or overnight a check. So i wonder if we could do that instead of western union. Or I could open a savings account at that Chase Branch that I go to to make a payment and then tell them to do auto draft couldn't I? I dunno I guess i will have to wait until Monday to see what the atty says and go from there. I am just afraid if we reaffirm then that will delay discharge and closing.

[okiebk09]

Ok so finally heard frm the attorney today. They signed a paper that we have to fax to Chase that allows Chase to directly contact us to work out our mortgage. Dishcarge should be tomorrow so it is too late to reaffirm which is ok with me. So now how do we communicate with them regarding how to pay our mortgage. The payment is ok we don't need to modify anything. We have a 6% fixed rate already. We are not behind on any payments and we are not upside down in our house. So my problem as I stated before is the way inwhich they said to make our payments via Western Union. I looked at the prices to pay that way and it is $12.99 in person, $56.00 for online, and $69 for pay by phone via western union. Any ideas on what to ask them on payments?

[chad9162]

Any ideas on what to ask them on payments?

I don't really understand the question? If you are going to voluntarily pay Chase with Western Union then really that's it. If you're asking how not to use Western Union via Chase then call them and be firm. Like others have said you have to ask yourself if its worth $12.99 a month.

You also have to wonder how many MORE games Chase is going to play. Personally, I have friends with CHase and that's all they do, until you put your foot down.

Personally I'd tell Chase to shove it....and explain to them this is retaliation for BKing, which I believe is against the law??

[okiebk09]

Yes my question is if anyone has any other ideas of how to pay them besides western union. The only thing I can think of is:
1. pay by mail via personal check(which have always been good checks on this account wit Chase)
2. Pay via cashier's check by regular mail
3. Pay via cashier's check via overnight USPS
4. Offer to open savings account at a Chase bank and let them auto withdraw the payment each month.
5. Conitue to take the payment to the local brach and pay via cashiers check.

So I am just wondering if anyone has any other ideas on how to avoid costly stupid fees via western union or if anyone has any experience with Chase and not reaffirming their house?

[chad9162]

Personally I'd do 1 or 5 and if they rejected it I'd be shocked. I don't have Chase but my friend does.

Ironically, when you miss a payment Chase becomes your best friend and wants to work it out but when your current you're the step child they never wanted.

[uofaguy]

We rode through with Chase Home Finance a year ago. Although we no longer have access to our mortgage account online at Chase's website, we set up an online bill pay account with our bank (Wells Fargo) and pay our mortgage online each month. Haven't had a problem the past year and continue to receive mailed statements from Chase each month.

[chad9162]

That's another option... Online Bill Pay is electronic, but if they aren't in the system they are mailed a check.

[chad9162]

Personally I think Chase is trying to scare you into reaffirmatin....this is probably a new tactic since the economy sucks

[okiebk09]

ok talked to chase and we can mail a payment. thanks everyone.

[chad9162]

ok talked to chase and we can mail a payment. thanks everyone.

Nice, give us details please....guest the Western Union things BS!