Question needing response ASAP!

[iwillriseabove]

Hi, everyone. I am new and SO happy I found this forum. Our Ch. 13 was filed on June 4. Included in it were all of our credit cards, some medical bills, and 4 months of back house payments. Neither of our autos. Now for my question...

Did I hear correctly that if we are a day late on car or house payments (directly to the lenders) that our case will be dismissed???

Thanks to anyone with help for me!

[aa06a47]

Hi, everyone. I am new and SO happy I found this forum. Our Ch. 13 was filed on June 4. Included in it were all of our credit cards, some medical bills, and 4 months of back house payments. Neither of our autos. Now for my question...

Did I hear correctly that if we are a day late on car or house payments (directly to the lenders) that our case will be dismissed???

Thanks to anyone with help for me!

Your Chapter 13 case will not be dismissed unless you don't pay the trustee. However, your mortgage company can file for relief from the automatic stay and forclose on your home. The best thing to do is always pay 1) Trustee, 2) any secured loans being paid outside the bankruptcy, such as house / car payments.

So, case won't be dismissed, but you may lose the benefit of the automatic stay, which is pretty powerful thing to lose.

[wooisme]

i can tell you that before i was confirmed, i had to show proof that i was making all my mortgage payments on time!! as well as anything not in the plan that was secured. my car loan was in the plan but if it was not i would have had to show that i was making the car payments BEFORE they would confirm it

[lrprn]

i can tell you that before i was confirmed, i had to show proof that i was making all my mortgage payments on time!! as well as anything not in the plan that was secured. my car loan was in the plan but if it was not i would have had to show that i was making the car payments BEFORE they would confirm it

IWRA, just want you to be aware that what wooisme experienced is not typical for Ch 13 confirmations, but your trustee can request this kind of financial information from you if they want it.

[Granny]

Due to timing of paychecks or rather the lack thereof, I have made my house payment as late as the fifth and the trustee payment 2 days late without any consequences. However, I held my breath on the house until I saw the check clear the bank.

However, now that hubby has a regular paycheck, my first goal is to get one month ahead on those two payments so that I won't have to pay to have the payments overnighted.

[$$only4ever]

Great advice Granny. Before I filed, I paid an extra car payment so I am always one month ahead. Like the previous poster said the automatic stay is very powerful.

[KeepTruckin]

We always make our home/auto payments within the grace period but not technically on the due date. Could they mark us as late for that and lift the automatic stay?

[lrprn]

We always make our home/auto payments within the grace period but not technically on the due date. Could they mark us as late for that and lift the automatic stay?

It depends on how badly your mortgage company or car lender wants to get their hands on your asset.

Technically paying during the grace period *could* open the door to a mortgage company or car lender asking to lift the automatic stay since you are not paying them by the actual due date.

If you think this might be a possibility in your case, best to get your payments sent in before the actual due date to remove any chance of this happening.

[razmom]

We always make our home/auto payments within the grace period but not technically on the due date. Could they mark us as late for that and lift the automatic stay?

Can you check with your companies to find out for sure?

After reading this, I checked with our mortgage company, Regions Mortgage (we've just filed 13, my 'regular' mortgage pmt. would be due this month on the 1st, but I can't make it until the 13th); their bankruptcy dept. told me they don't pursue anything until it's 3 months past due. Which it never will be! But good to know I can pay within the month it's due and not have to worry.

[lrprn]

It's great that your mortgage company won't pursue lifting the stay and foreclosing if you pay after the due date However, there's another hidden downside to not paying by the due date.

There have been several court cases filed in the last few years where a mortgage company charged late fees for every single month a home owner was in Ch 13 because the company said they were late for one payment at the start of their plan or during their plan thus shifting all the payments after that to be late every month and generating a late charge every month. Once the 13ers were discharged and started getting regular bills again, suddenly they found that thousands in late fees had been added to what they legitimately owe.

Don't think that a mortgage company would stoop to this? See http://www.tneb.uscourts.gov/opinion...h)_03-3154.pdf .

Our lawyer and I believe that our mortgage company is deliberately posting our on-time payments one day beyond the grace period on purpose right now to force a monthly late fee. Unfortunately since our mortgage company refuses to give us an itemized bill ("that would violate the automatic stay"), we are forced to wait until our case is discharged to prove it. Our lawyer is chomping at the bit as are we - should be fun!

[razmom]

Our lawyer and I believe that our mortgage company is deliberately posting our on-time payments one day beyond the grace period on purpose right now to force a monthly late fee. Unfortunately since our mortgage company refuses to give us an itemized bill ("that would violate the automatic stay"), we are forced to wait until our case is discharged to prove it. Our lawyer is chomping at the bit as are we - should be fun!

Interesting! So, do you know for sure that you're accruing late fees?

Thanks for the info, I'll definitely keep this in mind.

[lrprn]

Interesting! So, do you know for sure that you're accruing late fees?

Well, when you send in your payment faithfully month after month electronically directly from your bank to your mortgage company between the 17th and 20th every month for a payment that's due 10 days later on the 1st, and your mortgage company consistently posts the payment on the 16th of the next month one day after the grace period ends THREE FULL WEEKS LATER, then it's pretty obvious that something weird is going on!

Our mortgage company refuses to discuss anything with us or our lawyer until discharge stating it would be a violation of the automatic stay to do so. They do say that we are not in arrears (which is ironic since our lawyer already overturned their objection in court when our mortgage company stated we were in arrears when we filed and we proved we weren't so our bk judge threw the objection out ).

Should be v-e-r-y interesting in four more years to finally see what's really going on behind the scenes. Until then, I keep meticulous notes and ensure that our mortgage payment is made well in advance of the due date every month.

[CindyLou]

they are required to provide you with an itemized statement if you request it!!! I would request it in writing!!!

[lrprn]

they are required to provide you with an itemized statement if you request it!!! I would request it in writing!!!

Thanks, Cindy - I already did. Sent them a RESPA letter to force it last February. And what we received listed our monthly payments and the dates posted to our account which meets the letter of the law. Doesn't mention the lawyer's fees they added to our account to pay for filing the objection that our bk judge threw out and doesn't explain why they are waiting to post our payments for three weeks after they are received.

Our lawyer said we can take our mortgage company to court now to force a disclosure, but nothing prevents them from continuing whatever they are doing or starting some other backdoor shenanigans if we stop them at this time. Best to take them to court once and for all when we are discharged. And everything I've read about other 13ers caught up in this kind of mess supports this approach. It's frustrating to have to wait, but we're taking the advice of our lawyer to be patient, keep making our payment well in advance of the due date through our objective and reliable bank, and then take them to court when we have the best chance to win and take some money from them to boot!

[CindyLou]

That s&*ks! It doesn't seem right that they can take your money, but not give you an itemized statement as to how they have gotten to your balance!