Question about Mortgage Information

[uwishtoo]

I filed for chapter 7 in July of 2005 and it was discharged on September 25, 2005. I reaffirmed my mortgage - I distinctly remember sitting there and signing the reaffirmation papers and the judge asking me about it to confirm and all of that. So here it is a year later and the mortgage company is showing the debt as being discharged in the bankruptcy on my creidt reports. I wrote the mortgage company and informed them of the error and they sent me a letter last nite saying that it hadn't been reaffirmed and that the credit reporting would stay as is until such time the loan is reaffirmed. I called and left a voicemail and said uh, look, I DID reaffirm this and I know it -if I had truly included this in my bankruptcy then what in the heck are the last year's worth of house payments for ?

SO, I guess now my question is this - since they show it as discharged and it shows that way on my creidt report if I wanted to, could I just walk away from the house ? I am sorely tempted to after some horrible repairs were done on it and I have no recourse other than to pay big bucks to have them all redone - and the house just isnt worth it to me anymore. I am getting ready to move out of town and out of state anyway - so it isnt a big deal - if this wouldnt effect my credit any more than does it really matter that I jsut walk away from the house since that is what the mortgage company shows me doing anyway ?

Thanks !

[BassBoy]

If you signed reaffirmation documents, then there's a paper trail.....may have been misplaced. Be careful here. Do some investigation before you make any decisions about leaving the property. Even though the lender may have no record of the reaffirmation doesn't mean it doesn't exist somewhere. You said it yourself, the judge asked you to confirm, so the reaffirmation exists.

[JusticeForAll]

Actually, even though it's included in Bankruptcy, it will continue to report as IBB, HOWEVER, it will also be reported as a foreclosure as well.

Since the Foreclosure and the BK are so far apart, it will affect your credit. It will bring your score down and lenders will see the two (BK & foreclosure) as two seperate items.

Even if a home is surrended in BK, the Lender still has to foreclose to get the title. But if the Foreclousre and BK are close together, it's seen as one incident (like you surrended in BK). But with a year or more in between, it makes it look like you re-affirmed, then defaulted.

However, the good news is, if you did not, in fact, reaffirm, then yes, you can walk and owe nothing. I would definately confirm this before you do as if you actually did re-affirm, you can be sued for deficit balances, legal fees, tax bills, etc.

HTH

[Minnymouth]

Absolutely, doublecheck all your paperwork...... you should have a copy of the reaffirm or one will be on file at the courthouse in your petition.....

This you need to get, read, and see if its valid.......

If you signed the reaffirm, then you can be held for the balance after the sale if any is due.......

Did you use an attorney??? Call him..... if not, follow the paper trail and locate the reaffirm agreement you signed.....

IF THERE IS NO REAFFIRM AGREEMENT ON RECORD...... possibly it never got filed, check with the clerk of courts...... if none can be found, then possibly you never signed one (but you said you did).....

SO BE CAREFUL HERE..................

[uwishtoo]

thanks

Thanks for all the advice. My credit score in spite of not having anything on there other than the bankruptcy is under 500. Even some mortgage people that I talked to said they didnt understand how my score could be so low with nothing bad showing on it since the bankruptcy and all my payments are current for everything including my home and car. I will have to contact the attorney - but he is like dealing with a brick wall. Once the bankruptcy was done and he got paid then it was no service for me other than going to court. What really ticks me off about the whole deal is that the bankruptcy was caused by Identity Theft and not ONE of the big three reporting places would even talk to me or help me dispute any of the false charges - I had perfect 100% credit til some scum bags decided to take what wasnt theirs. So now at almost 50 years old my creit is shot and my hopes of ever buying my last home for retirement is shot as well. I had planned on being in Arizona by this time in my life - now I am just barely hanging by a thread and jsut trying to keep current with everything.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Sue A