Lender Contacting me after Discharge

[starr004]

I received my discharge in 2014. I had a 1st and 2nd (HELOC) and did not reaffirm my house. I have always remained current on the 1st but have not paid on the 2nd since before filing. All of a sudden, for the past 2 months, I am getting letters from Chase, with the name of "my customer service rep", just to let me know they are available to "assist me" should I need their help. The letters do not say they are attempting to collect a debt, only that " if I am in BK, I should have my attorney contact them". The house is still upside down by $100k, and the 2nd has a balance of $42k = -142k and zero equity. At first I thought it was an error, but this is the 2nd letter and I wanted to see if this has ever happened to any one else or get some insight before contacting them.

Thanks for any responses!

[bcohen]

Are you planning to keep the house? If so, the time to act is when the HELOC is completely unsecured--don't wait until you have paid down the first mortgage and the property value has increased, creating equity for the HELOC. With the loan currently unsecured by over $100,000, now is the time to offer a settlement of around 5%. You should be able to settle for 5% to 10%, which will release the lien and prevent any future uncertainty.