Refinance question

[redquartz]

I applied to a credit union to refinance a mortgage that was discharged in Bankruptcy 7 back in 2009. We DID NOT reaffirm during bankruptcy. About a year ago my bank sold the mortgage to another bank and because there was an outstanding balance on my town real estate taxes, they took them over and added them to my loan. The original loan was 1200.00 a month and went up to 1600.00 per month. Because of the increase I got behind in my payments. When the credit union saw my statements with a balance due, they declined the loan. They also told me that they would have found out about the late payments when they called the loan company to get the final payoff. Is this legal? Aside from the seeing it on the statements, can the bank tell them this information? I know it is not a good idea to refinance if we did not reaffirm, but the 1600/month payments are killing me.

[despritfreya]

Why would you think an inquiry about your payment history would be a problem? Aren't potential lenders entitled to know if they are lending to someone with a history of consistent or inconsistent payments? Since you did not reaffirm, your payment history is not being reported to the credit reporting agencies therefore the only way to find out if you have been making timely payments is to ask the lender. I see no issue here.

Des.

[spidge]

Is tax the only reason the payment went up? Is it temporary? If so can you make it through until those taxes are caught up? Keep in mind the income tax benefits at the time you file your federal return.

[LadyInTheRed]

Your loan application undoubtedly included language authorizing the lender to verify the information in the application and gather information based on that information. Probably something similar to what appears on Fannie Mae's Uniform Residential Loan Application (links to PDF):

Each of the undersigned hereby acknowledges that any owner of the Loan, its servicers, successors and assigns, may verify or
reverify any information contained in this application or obtain any information or data relating to the Loan, for any legitimate business purpose through any source, including a source named in this application or a consumer reporting agency

[Drazil65]

If you did not reaffirm and you cannot afford the home in your current financial position then you may have to make some hard core decisions about what may be best. You may have to rethink what is best for your family financially and perhaps you could not afford the home to begin with. The additional $400 a month may seem like a lot of extra money but it breaks down to about $100 a week, that is not a lot of money considering you filed for a fresh start. If $400 is breaking you then what do you do if you have an emergency and something major happens? Hopefully in the last 4 or 5 years you have prepared and learned from your chapter 7 and are more realistic in your spending habits so the house may have to go like it or not for you to get back on track.

There is not a chance in the world a lender is going to refi with payments in arrears so you would want to catch them up anyway if you are seriously going to consider a refi. Be happy you did not reaffirm as it gives you the option to walk away from what appears to be a house you cannot afford anyway (sorry but that is the reality of your situation if an extra $400 is "killing" you financially). Don't refi and get yourself in a worse financial place if your are not willing to do what you need to do to do it right this time around. Step back and take a hard look at everything, it may be a relief in the end. Good luck!