Wife and I disagree - Your advice requested

[Rick9972]

Filing Bk should not affect the mod if it is "complete" before you file. I have been completely open and honest with my mortgage company about my intention of filing. Just make sure it is complete before you file, the automatic stay prevents them from rewriting your mortgage documents and the mod will be canceled if you jump the gun.

I agree with the others that recommend doing a ride through. You and your wife need to stay united for this fight.

We refinanced our house and signed the documents. Walked from the closing site to our lawyer's office and signed our BK papers. Lawyer did not file for two days waiting on the new mortgage to be filed with the county office. When it was filed he filed our BK the same day.

He laughed and said it is really the best way to save your home, if you want to keep it.

[eddiep]

Filing Bk should not affect the mod if it is "complete" before you file. I have been completely open and honest with my mortgage company about my intention of filing. Just make sure it is complete before you file, the automatic stay prevents them from rewriting your mortgage documents and the mod will be canceled if you jump the gun.

I agree with the others that recommend doing a ride through. You and your wife need to stay united for this fight.

[PdxDavid]

$41,000 underwater..could be worse. What bothers me is you know your HOA dues will be going up each year due to the lower sale of condo, foreclosure, short sale & possibly others you may not be aware of now and in the future.

Here is the Mortgage after BK section of this Forum:

http://www.bkforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=18

I suggest you and your wife read some of the Threads. I believe you can obtain a FHA Loan 2 years after your condo has been deeded back to the mortgage. Now keep in mind, that date has nothing to do with the closure of your Chapter 7 BK which normally comes first. A Foreclosure could take a lot of time or could happen quick. Read some of the threads in the Foreclosure Section too, if you or DW has time.

With the economy like it is and supposed to get worse, you couldn't give me a Condo right now and I've owned one before. Sure it's nice to have the pool, boat docks, etc. but it's not fun when they impose an Extra Maintenance Fee of $2,000 and increase your dues each month by another $25 and this was over 10 yrs ago. Been there..done that.

Luci

The 41k wouldn't bother me so much if it wasn't 25% or more of the total value. The guy on the phone told me that the house appraises at 180k right now. I have a real hard time believing that since the guy that got 141k for his had a Wells Fargo appraisal that came back at 160k. And to me an appraisal means nothing if no one will offer you that amount.

The other thing is our condo has none of the things you list. There is no club house or any other extras. The HOA fee covers water, insurance, yard maint. and misc. fees. They are only 115 now but I know we are not collecting enough for reserves etc...

Thank you for your input.

[PdxDavid]

Well, are you saying you still need to file BK because of other debt too? Or is it because of the house you want to file? You can file BK yet keep the house, do a ride thru. You will need to be current on the house however. So you best hold off on the BK until you have done the modifaction, and are current. If they ask to reaffirm and you still aren't sure on the house, just don't sign the papers, but stay current. Same rules will apply as before you filed BK. Then if you decide down the road you can't stay in the house, you can still walk away. Or as we all hope, the economy does turn around, your house regains it value and you can sell it for a profit and move on.

We are filing because of CC debt, too. So you say do the mod and then file. Is there any chance that they could come back on about the house if we did the mod knowing that we were more than likely going to file BK?

Thank you for the input.

[hereforinfo]

I agree, complete the modification and get the loan current. Then if you do file bankruptcy don't reaffirm, just ride through on the mortgage. The debt will still be discharged so if you need to get out of it later on you can do so.

[LuciluS]

$41,000 underwater..could be worse. What bothers me is you know your HOA dues will be going up each year due to the lower sale of condo, foreclosure, short sale & possibly others you may not be aware of now and in the future.

Here is the Mortgage after BK section of this Forum:

http://www.bkforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=18

I suggest you and your wife read some of the Threads. I believe you can obtain a FHA Loan 2 years after your condo has been deeded back to the mortgage. Now keep in mind, that date has nothing to do with the closure of your Chapter 7 BK which normally comes first. A Foreclosure could take a lot of time or could happen quick. Read some of the threads in the Foreclosure Section too, if you or DW has time.

With the economy like it is and supposed to get worse, you couldn't give me a Condo right now and I've owned one before. Sure it's nice to have the pool, boat docks, etc. but it's not fun when they impose an Extra Maintenance Fee of $2,000 and increase your dues each month by another $25 and this was over 10 yrs ago. Been there..done that.

Luci

[justplaintired]

Well, are you saying you still need to file BK because of other debt too? Or is it because of the house you want to file? You can file BK yet keep the house, do a ride thru. You will need to be current on the house however. So you best hold off on the BK until you have done the modifaction, and are current. If they ask to reaffirm and you still aren't sure on the house, just don't sign the papers, but stay current. Same rules will apply as before you filed BK. Then if you decide down the road you can't stay in the house, you can still walk away. Or as we all hope, the economy does turn around, your house regains it value and you can sell it for a profit and move on.

[PdxDavid]

We are planning to file Ch7 in the near future. We requested and were denied a mortgage modification by Citi several months ago and again about a month ago. We gave up and are now 4 payments behind.

I answer or call them back every couple weeks just so they know we are not dead. Today I called them back and even though we have given them the same numbers each time they have called... Somehow we qualify for a modification now...

Here is where the wife and I disagree...

She wants to accept and I don't.

Our current mortgage is a 7.49 3yr/arm that is already in the adjustable period. It would have actually gone down but it is in the contract that it never goes down.

They offered a 30yr fixed at 5% on the current balance. Saving about $126/mo. No repay of the missed payments etc... Sounds great, but...

My issue is that this is not going to change the fact that we need to file BK. The other problem is we owe 182k and the neighbor just sold his exact same house for 141k. This is one of the duplex (condos) that in my opinion will take many many years to break even on again. Plus the fact that it is in an HOA that I don't want to be part of anymore. It is getting more and more difficult to get ppl to pay each month. We are a 12 unit association that has 1 foreclosed, 1 being auctioned and 1 doing a short-sale.

My wife is afraid we will never be able to buy again. I tell her that is not true, especially since we are not the only ones this is happening too. She says that we will be throwing away money on rent. I used to agree. Now we would be throwing away mortgage payments until it is worth more than we owe again.

Tell me if I am wrong or how to spell it out for my wife. I think we should take this as a fresh start, completely.