What do you have to do to get a response here?!

[PDXbk]

My wife and I are in dire need of advice - we can't afford an attorney. But over and over again we get no replies to our postings here. What's up? You guys got something against people from Portland?http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/images/smilies/dry.gif

Anyway - let's try this again. Does anyone know whether mortgage pre-payment penalties can be discharged in Ch. 7? According to documents I've found online, several bankruptcy courts have said they can; several others have said they can't. Those courts that approved a pre-payment fee discharge said the penalty amounts to a violation of Sec. 506(b).

Our first and second mortgages both have 5% prepay penalties. We have no equity beyond our Oregon homestead allowance. If we sell the home and must pay the pre-pay fees, we will likely lose money. If we sell without the pre-pays, we'll make about $10,000 (well below our homestead allowance).

Can we list the pre-pays as dischargeable, unsecured debts?http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/image...ies/unsure.gif

Thanks!

[freshstarter]

I haven't got a clue. Others here may not know the answer either....
How about calling the court clerk for your bk court?

[sunshine08]

I have found that most of my questions or concerns have been answered or replied to. Have you considered the fact that we may not know the answer?????
Now, to get to the root of the problem, the question that is, I don't have a clue to the answer that you are asking. But I can suggest that you contact an attorne for a "free" consultation. Write down the questions that you have, try and be as specific as possible and be ready to give him as much info as you can, because he will have questions for you.
Remember we here are not attorneys we have gone thru the process and have learned a few things along the way. But don't malign us because we can't answer your questions, it is not becuase we don't want to.
Good luck in whtever you chose to do and continue to post your questions and concerns.

[FloridaGirl]

I'm sorry nobody was able to help you with you question, PDX, but it wasn't personal. I've also asked questions which received no response, but I didn't automatically assume it was because no one gave a crap. I figured no one knew the answer, so I sought out the answer through other sources. It would be too time consuming for the moderators to go into each thread in which they didn't have answers only to tell the poster as much. Have you seen all the questions which get asked here everyday? There's just no time for them to tell someone they have no answers so it should just be assumed they don't know if you don't get a response.

In any event, nobody who visits this board is owed any kind of response, and that's how you made it sound. When I ask a question, and I get an answer, I consider it a courtesy extended by whoever takes the time to share information with me.

Anyway, I hope you do find the answer you are looking for.

[HHM]

Your asking a hyper technical legal question. No on this board can answer it. First, off, in order to incur a prepayment penalty, you have to sell the house or pre-pay the mortage. I assume you are wanting to sell the house, right?

The problem, I would think, is timing. Bankruptcy discharges debts incurred prior to filing BK, the prepayment penalty is only triggered when you attempt to prepay the balance of the mortgage. So for starters, I would guess that you would have to sell your house immediatly before filing BK, if you wait until after BK to sell, it becomes a post petition debt, and not subject to the bankruptcy. The catch 22 is, the bank, will not clear title to the property unless it is fully satisfied, so how are you going to find a buyer that is willing to wait until the debt is discharged in BK.

Just something to think about, but I really don't know the answer for sure.

[PDXbk]

MANY THANKS to all who responded to my rather rude posting. Please accept my apologies for being vaguely abusive - I've been under a lot of pressure lately.

HHM - Thank you so much for the simple clarity of your response. It's quite clear that the pre-payment penalty, if it could be discharged, is dischargeable only pre-filing, not post-filing (duh!). Even before reading this, however, we decided to sell and discovered that the home has appreciated more than we expected, which will allow us to sell AND pay the pre-pay.

Thanks again!