Help me re: reaffirming mortgage loan please

[marvy]

I filed Ch 7 on Oct. 7, 341 on Dec. 1, last day for objections is Jan. 30. I signed up for the credit monitoring service to start getting my credit back on track and to see how it all progresses with this. I am current on my mortgage and stated on my petition (pro se) that I would retain the property and continue making payments. Well a couple of weeks ago I got an alert on my credit showing that my mortgage is IIB. Now I want to have the positive tradeline showing to start rebuilding. Mortgage co has not contacted me or sent me my statement this month. Do I contact them to reaffirm? Do I have to file the reaffirmation agreement with the court or does the mtg co.? I am in Ohio Norhtern district. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is a great forum and I could not have filed on my own without you! Thanks!

[StaciMM]

Call the mortgage co. ASAP if you are certain you wish to reaffirm. Ask them to send you an agreement. You should be able to sign & file it with the court. (And might need to send something back to the mortgage co. showing it was filed.) The ASAP part is important, because you must file it with the court prior to discharge.

[bkfiler]

are you saying you want to reaffirm? if you do then you will be responsible for making the payments from here on out.

if you want to reaffirm for some reason then make sure you get that document into the court before your case discharges.

the mort co sends you the reaffirm papers, you sign it and if you dont have an attorney then there is a court meeting for the judge to look over the paperwork and makek sure you want to do it.

[Minnymouth]

You need to contact the mortgage company asap regarding the reaffirm on the mortgage. All you payments must be current and this all has to be signed before discharge.

The mortgage company is NOT sending you monthly statements because they are assuming that you are surrendering your home... (note the IIB on your credit report).....

SOOOOOOOOOO, if you plan on keeping your home and reaffirming them, you better be contacting them and making arrangements..... or you'll be getting a notification to vacate the premises for surrender......

Some states you do not have to sign a reaffirm agreement. All you have to do is keep making your regular monthly payments.......(always on time)....... As long as your payments are current they cannot foreclose on you, but if you are late - then they can start foreclosure procedures.

Remember, once you sign those reaffirm papers - you will "owe that debt" until it is paid in full...........no matter whether they foreclose on you in the future or not....

Do something before the Dec 30 deadline............

[StaciMM]

While in BK the mortgage co. is supposed to stop sending statements (due to the automatic stay, they can't bill you) and report the debt as IIB. Until there is a reaffirmation in place, the debt IS included in bankruptcy though the lien interest remains.

[bkfiler]

staci- in that case where people reaffirm the home, do the layments still need to be made/caught up, before the discharge happenes and the stay lifts for the credit report to show all payments are made on time still? or is it illegal to report it as laste during months of court mandated stays?

[StaciMM]

I've often heard that you must be current in order to reaffirm. I believe the requirement is from the BK court. Afterall, they are supposed to NOT approve a reaffirmation if they feel it is not in your best interest, and if you're behind and you're bankrupt, how are you going to get caught up? Would not be in someone's best interest to accept responsibility for continued payment in that case.

In the normal course of BK time, it would probably not be likely to file, be current & reaffirm, and then fall behind before discharge. A mortgage doesn't report as 'late' unless payment is 30 days or more 'late'. So-you're already well within the 90 day 'normal' BK timeline when you reaffirm and would have to miss your next payment and have an additional 30 days to be considered 'late'.

[bkfiler]

ok so cant reaffirm if you are behind. i thought people could pay it up and get started again.

anyways, what im askling is do you have to make payments during the bk court stay?

if you dont make the payments during that time, could be 3 months or more, what will the mortage comp show on the credit report?

[StaciMM]

I don't know, really, but I think its a mute point.

If you're behind, you can't reaffirm. If you don't reaffirm, the debt is IIB and no activity after filing should be reported.

If you don't pay during the automatic stay, as soon as discharge happens the lender can start foreclosure. (Though they will probably file a motion to lift the stay before that.) If you have the money and could have been paying all along, I can't imagine someone hoarding it and planning to pay up the day after discharge. If you're planning to move out and discharged the debt, that is probably not a major concern. Foreclosure takes time, and you knew you'd be moving eventually. If you reaffirmed OR wanted to keep the house, that is not good news...

If you plan to keep secured property, you SHOULD keep the payments current. If you stop paying as soon as you file for BK, you're not going to be able to reaffirm, and face a chance of repo or foreclosure before you're able to get caught up after the BK.

[bkfiler]

you have pretty much answerd it but missed the point.

the question is do you have to pay during your bk stay at all. do they still expect that payment sometime.

on my student loan i am not responsible for any payments or catch up for that time once the stay is lifted. why wouldnt the mortage be the same?

[StaciMM]

It all depends on the person's intentions. If they want to keep the house (or car) then yes-keep the payments current during the automatic stay. You don't HAVE to, but then, the lender doesn't HAVE to let you keep it if you're behind at discharge, and the lender CAN file to lift the stay.

Personally, I wish we had decided sooner to surrender our vehicles-we were current at filing as we had made a payment on each about 2 weeks earlier. Filed on 9/12, payment was due on the truck 9/28 and we decided to surrender about that same time so did not make the 9/28 payment. Chrysler waited a week after our payment date had passed, and then filed to lift the stay. It will vary-not all lenders will be so aggressive. Not good to gamble, though.

If they plan to surrender it, don't put another dime into it.

the question is do you have to pay during your bk stay at all. do they still expect that payment sometime.

[StaciMM]

One last thing-a student loan is not secured. They can't take back your degree or cancel your college credits. You just pay more in the end because of the extra interest building up.

It changes the motivation!

[bkfiler]

you couldnt have known what you wanted to do until you knew it. so you did what you had to do to keep options open. i understand that. i do it all the time.

i kept paying on a credit card i wanted to keep open because i had a great credit history with them. i decided not to keep the card because i decided i didnt want to be stuck with a crad that charges $6 fee each month. i knew i would get better offers after bk.

its all part of the process. our next bk will be even better and com eoff without a hitch

[bkfiler]

One last thing-a student loan is not secured. They can't take back your degree or cancel your college credits. You just pay more in the end because of the extra interest building up.

It changes the motivation!

ok maybe thats the difference. im still curious though. i thought the payments didnt have to be made and no one would cry about it. learned soemthing new maybe.

[StaciMM]

I think that with student loans, there is an unwritten policy that in times of financial distress, they'll put your loans into deferrment or forebearance as a courtesy. I guess by default, BK qualifies as financial distress! There is nothing requiring them to defer the payments, as far as I know, but it seems they all do.