Did mortgage company mess up by "attempt to collect a debt" message after discharge?

[tikiman]

Not sure if this is the right place for this but here it goes--

Filed Chapter 13 a year ago. We were behind in our mortgage and foreclosre had begun. BK stopped that. Made trustee payments for several months but could not keep up (husband is in construction and the recession KILLED us). Switched to Chapter 7 with the mortgage included and was discharged at the end of August. Have not made any mortgage paymets since last November.

Got two statements from the mortgage company after we converted to a 7 that had the standard "Our records indicate one or more borrowers have filed BK. For this reason, we are sending this statement for informational purposes only. You may voluntarily decide to make the loan payments but you are not required to do so. This statement is not an attempt to collect a debt from you or to demand payments contrary to any protections you might have as a result of the BK proceedings. If you have questions contact us at blah, blah, blah". Underneath that is written in bold letters "THIS STATEMENT IS NOT AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT CONTRARY TO ANY BANKRUPTCY PLAN".

We got a notice of default letter last week by certified mail.

Today, we got another statement in the mail from the mortgage company that says this exactly--

"Your mortgage payment due on the date shown remains unpaid. A late charge has been assessed. Your past due payment amount and late charges need to be paid immediately to bring your account current and avoid additional fees. Please be advised that SunTrust Mortgage, Inc. reports all delinquent loans to the major credit bureaus. If you cannot pay the total amount due please call 1-800-000-0000, Option 2 to discuss payment arrangements."

Then, underneath that is written "This is an attempt to collect a debt. Any information will be used for that purpose".

So, do we have SunTrust on a vioaltion of the BK court since we have been discharged from this debt? Any hope of going after them for the violation? We really want to keep our house but we can't afford the monthly payment of $2400. If they would knock it down to between $1200-$1500 we could do it. With the economy and recession we lost all our equity---including the $100,000 down payment we made when we bought it 5 years ago.

Please give any advice you can. I know we are probably grasping at straws but that's all we have left. Thanks so much.

[despritfreya]

The second communication is a violation of the discharge injunction as it clearly is an attempt to collect. Call and yell at them. There is not much teeth to Section 524 but if you document each violation and your attempts to get the violations to stop, you could go back into court and seek sanctions/contempt. One or two violations is not something a Judge wants to hear. Continued harassment is.

Remember, it is not a violation of the discharge to seek recovery of the collateral. When SunTrust begins the foreclosure process under State law it will send you what ever notices/communications are required under State law. Such will not be a violation of the discharge as they are doing what the law requires to regain title to its property.

As to working with you, that is between you and the lender and the lender does not have to negotiate. If you want to keep the property you must voluntarily service the loan. The lender does not have to change the terms of the loan. If you are unable to get it to do so and you fail to service the loan, the lender will eventually take back its property.

Des.