Mortgage Company still hounding me after CH13

[DavidW]

I had to file Ch13 in January of 2007 due to some real estate ventures that went south badly.

In a nutshell, in 2006 I had 9 rental properties with a modest cashflow. 1 building caught fire, and 3 units went vacant all in one month. 3 more units went vacant during the following months. Needless to say I was hopelessly in the Red.

I had to surrender all my rental units in the BK filings along with the 2 credit cards that I wasn't even behind on. All but 1 lender has taken possession of or sold via (Sherriff's Sale) the property their respective liens were on during the Summer of this year. But the 1 remaining Lender, who haulted the Sherriff Sale proceedings, has just recently started calling me and brow-beating me to pay them the outstanding balance to bring the loan current or settle with them for a "reasonable" amount of money to get the loan out of my name. Otherwise they will keep the loan in my name indefinitely while reporting me to the credit bureaus for non-payment.

Can they do this legally? I was under the impression that by filing CH13, surrendering the properties back to the lenders, and paying my Trustee faithfully on a monthly basis until such a time that my BK would be discharged, I would be protected from debt collectors and not owe anything beyond what I pay to my Trustee.

Can I do anything about this? Can I sue the Lender for extortion or at least harrassment to get them to take back the property and get the loan out of my name?

Thanks,
DavidW

[JollyGG]

Can I do anything about this? Can I sue the Lender for extortion or at least harrassment to get them to take back the property and get the loan out of my name?

No it is not legal. Have your bankruptcy lawyer contact them and tell them to cease all contact with you regarding this matter. If they continue after being informed of the automatic stay you have grounds for a lawsuit. Not for extortion or harasment but for violation of the bankruptcy stay.

Use the search tool to look for posts by CPO and by FeelingHopeless for posts from two members who have sucessfully fought creditors who were violating their rights.

[DavidW]

No it is not legal. Have your bankruptcy lawyer contact them and tell them to cease all contact with you regarding this matter. If they continue after being informed of the automatic stay you have grounds for a lawsuit. Not for extortion or harasment but for violation of the bankruptcy stay.

Use the search tool to look for posts by CPO and by FeelingHopeless for posts from two members who have sucessfully fought creditors who were violating their rights.

Thanks for the info.

What about the issue with the Lender keeping the property in my name indefintely and reporting me to the Credit Bureaus for non-payment until I pay them a settlement? Can I sue them to have the property taken out of my name? I do not want to be held liable for anything that might happen involving the property (i.e. vandals who break in and decide they want to sue me because they slipped on something and broke an arm)?

ThankYou,
DavidW

[chpxiii]

Thanks for the info.

What about the issue with the Lender keeping the property in my name indefintely and reporting me to the Credit Bureaus for non-payment until I pay them a settlement? Can I sue them to have the property taken out of my name? I do not want to be held liable for anything that might happen involving the property (i.e. vandals who break in and decide they want to sue me because they slipped on something and broke an arm)?

ThankYou,
DavidW

I don't know about keeping the property in your name, but I do know that they need to cease reporting to the credit bureaus as that is considered collection activity and is in violation of the automatic stay of federal bankruptcy laws.

Get your attorney on this ASAP. You can sue for damages.

[DavidW]

I don't know about keeping the property in your name, but I do know that they need to cease reporting to the credit bureaus as that is considered collection activity and is in violation of the automatic stay of federal bankruptcy laws.

Get your attorney on this ASAP. You can sue for damages.

As it turns out... the Mortgage Company has been reporting late payments to the credit bureaus ever since January of 2007 (when our CH 13 court appearance took place). They're adament that it's legal for them to do this... so my question is if I can sue them for damages (monetary damages, I'm assuming) how do I quantify any specific amount?

DavidW

[rrockinggramma]

do you have an attorney? they are in contempt of the auto stay and can indeed be sued. You need to get your attorney to file a motion with the BK court about this asap.

[aa06a47]

As it turns out... the Mortgage Company has been reporting late payments to the credit bureaus ever since January of 2007 (when our CH 13 court appearance took place). They're adament that it's legal for them to do this... so my question is if I can sue them for damages (monetary damages, I'm assuming) how do I quantify any specific amount?

DavidW

Yes, they are in violation of the Federal Bankruptcy Laws and the automatic stay provisions, a very serious matter. It should be handled by your bankruptcy attorney and through the federal bankruptcy courts. They will end up getting slapped with fines, court cost, and pay your attorney for you.

The amount of damages you'll get paid will depend on if you can proove they caused you to pay more for something because of there reporting. I think there is some small automatic award like 2k or something like that. What you should get taken care of quickly is the correct reporting on your credit report. Make sure that when you win, you get all 3 credit bureaus reporting correctly.