Question Mortgage fees/etc at the END of a Ch 13, and future new Mortgage

[afarr]

100% paid Ch 13. I've been logging into NDC and keeping an eye on things. Knew I would be done about 3 months early with all the payments (5 year plan). Made the last payment last month. 5 years is up in May '24. Be nice to have the Discharge here shortly...but....a question arose...



A couple of questions (and, yes, I let the Attorney know, so he may have the same or different answers, but he's a very busy guy and I'm only sending an email for now. Found this website and thought I'd ask here too):


My Mortgage company has this on every month's statement that I can access. Sadly I can't go back to the beginning of the Ch 13 to check everything:





Still can't figure out where the $3336.74 came from. I'm up to date on the Mortgage, at one point in the Ch 13, I fell behind, but there was a stipulation on how to catch up, including their fees, which was fully done. The Trustee filed a form 4100N 'Notice of Final Cure Payment' to Mortgage Company from the Trustee (they have 21 days to contest the amount). Shows the $17252.02 paid for their claim (and the dates paid in 2020/2021). Can we (my Attorney) contest the $3336.74 if they make a claim on it since we don't know where it came from? Just to be safe, I'm going to throw the last 3 budgeted payments into savings (more than that $3.3k) to be safe in case I do have to pay it.

Mortgage is fully current.



On to the Future:

The house wasn't 'foreclosed' on (technically). Nothing was filed with the local courts (notice was sent by the Mortgage holder's attorney of the 'right to cure (I think was the term), but nothing filed with the court...so I filed the Ch 13 because it would have been done fairly quickly.

Will that effect my getting a future mortgage (in 1-2 years)? There's a divorce that's going to be involved...wife contributed nothing both before and during the Chapter 13, despite having a reasonably good job, etc. Takes 2 to tango, so I'm sure some of the fault is mine, but it's over and done. File for Divorce, force the sale of the current house (I'm working out of the area in a much cheaper cost of living area, wife couldn't afford the house and couldn't (won't even pay on a $300 Credit One bank Visa) be able to qualify for any kind of a Refinance to get me off the Mortgage). Should have well over 20% (and even as much as 50%+) down on a new home here once we split the equity, if that makes any kind of a difference.

[BKMtgGuru]

Did you ever get an answer here about the additional fees? There are some circumstances that are common. Taxes or insurance went up, so they had to fund the escrow account more than expected and created additional arrears that were not planned for. With the amount homeowner's insurance has gone up around the country, that has been incredibly common. Additionally, mortgage servicers have found was to tack on legal fees at the end now. Meaning they are charging you for THEIR attorney fees. Not all lenders do it, but a lot are starting to.

Future mortgage will only be impacted if you start going late on bills after the bankruptcy is discharged. Even small credit card lates can create a risk so do your best to keep everything on-time and especially no 30 day lates, specifically on the mortgage and installment loans. Technically you can do a loan 1 day out of discharge so if you need it less than 1-2 years, paid the bankruptcy on time and payments after the discharge are on-time, you can certainly do it sooner than you think

[afarr]

I got the mortgage companies statement (through their law firm). An awful lot of nickle and dime fees added together ($30?) a month for a couple of months for 'property inspection', some 'late fees' (even though they've been sitting on more than a month's payment since December), etc. They cleared out the 'suspense' account (my paying over the regular payment) to cover the fees. None of the fees every showed up in any monthly statement, just after the Trustee sent his letter to the Mortgage co. I made sure it was paid up to date by the day of the discharge.

[anunezal]

afarr. I am also in 100% Chapter 13. With my little additional payment per month, I am going to finish my 5 year plan in 4 years and 6 months. I am 4 months away now to make all my 100%. Couple of questions.

Do I have to continue making payments after covering the 100%? Or the Trustee will move to completion? I want to know if once I covered all my payments, I don't have to continue till 5 years.

I also have a mortgage payment, that I pay outside the plan. In the first month when I started, they added an attorney fee ($1200.00). I called them and they told me that it will be removed once the bankruptcy is finished. I get every month my statements, and I have paid every single one with no delay. The $1200.00 shows every month. I was wondering if it will go away or do I have to eventually pay. any idea?

Thank you and congratulations for completing yours!

[afarr]

afarr. I am also in 100% Chapter 13. With my little additional payment per month, I am going to finish my 5 year plan in 4 years and 6 months. I am 4 months away now to make all my 100%. Couple of questions.

Do I have to continue making payments after covering the 100%? Or the Trustee will move to completion? I want to know if once I covered all my payments, I don't have to continue till 5 years.

I also have a mortgage payment, that I pay outside the plan. In the first month when I started, they added an attorney fee ($1200.00). I called them and they told me that it will be removed once the bankruptcy is finished. I get every month my statements, and I have paid every single one with no delay. The $1200.00 shows every month. I was wondering if it will go away or do I have to eventually pay. any idea?

Thank you and congratulations for completing yours!

@anunezal

You're probably in a different state/court district, so I can only speak to my experience (and, I'm not a lawyer, so you may want to check with yours).

I had been checking the NDC (National Data Center) on my Ch 13. I realized last year that the total claims (+ the roughly 10% the Trustee takes) would be less than the payments I would make. So, I made my February payment at the end of the month..it was roughly $500 to the 'good' (above what I had to pay). I logged on to NDC to see when the Trustee processed the payment and made the last few payments out to the creditors (say one was receiving $200 every month, the last bit to clear it was $60 on NDC with that Feb. payment). Usually trustee processes it (shows on NDC) within a week after he gets it (via TFS Billpay), then disburses (shows the payments to the creditors) it about a week later. Checked about 2 weeks after the payment, saw everyone was fully paid. I let my Atty know about the beginning of the month that all the accounts were 'zeroed' out on NDC. He got the 'official' notice in early March.

He got a refund check from the Trustee for the $500ish overage to be forwarded to me. So my 'formal' end date would have been May, but I was done in February. Got the signed Discharge early this month. Feels good. Glad I'm done early. I have a Student loan that was put into Admin Forbearance because of the Ch 13. Resumes the month after the scheduled end date (June), so it's nice to have the extra money to throw into savings for emergencies before I have to start the student loan again.

As to the Mortgage. Their law firm sent a statement (said all 'pre petition arrears' were paid, but 'post petition' showed I was a month late)...I had $150 more than a full mortgage payment sitting in their 'suspense' account for the last several months (if you pay more than a regular payment, they put it into an 'unallocated' funds account). Somehow they had fees ($20 here, $30 there..including three for 'home inspection' at $30, for three months running) that never showed up on any monthly statement, and...lo and behold, it cleared out my 'suspense' account. Still can't figure out all the nickle and dime fees. Anyhow, I paid the 'missing' month they claimed immediately upon receipt of their statement (had money put aside just in case). So...I wouldn't count on them dropping that $1200 attorney fee. My Attorney said 'your mortgage paperwork generally has stuff buried saying they can charge those fees even during a bankruptcy'.

[anunezal]

afarr Thank you for the detail information. My case is very similar. I check every month NDC, and I can see the balance left for each creditor. Same here with 10% Trustee fee, I will end 6 months early. Right now I can see, my last payment will be August 2024. My original end day is January 2025. Congratulations again