Need help

[hardrock20]

I am a first time poster. Filed 13 Feb. 2006. Started out paying 80%. 2 months ago went to 100%. We are paying mortgage outside BK. Today Sunday June 15, a man came to our home to take pictures for a company named emortgage logic. When I questioned him about his purpose, he stated this usually was a prelude to forclosure.

We have not been late on any mortgate payments before or after this BK.

He said this was a BPO. I don't know what's going on here. Can anyone tell me anything about this? Thanks.

[cso5@]

I googled BPO and it stands for Brokers Price Opinion. I googled Foreclosure and BPO.

Apparently it is done when houses are in foreclosure or pre foreclosure, so they can figure out how much the house is worth as it sits right now.

Maybe 'cause when you are in a 13, everything you have is part of your bankruptcy estate, and if you stop your 13, there's a chance you could go into foreclosure? Or there would be liens placed against your real property to satisfy debts upon the sale of your home?

Not sure. Can you ask your lawyer about it? Can you check and make sure all your payments are being applied to your loan like they are supposed to be?

Hope it all works out -- how scary. Let us know what happens...

[hardrock20]

need help

Are payments are current. No late fees etc. Never have been. We are contacting our lawyer in am.

We have been in this for over 2 years. However, Wachovia was only notified two months ago. They sent a letter to us saying they would no longer be sending statements and gave us another address to send payments. I called today to make sure all payments were being applied as before and they are.

We have not received anything else in the mail. This guy just shows up today.

I appreciate your information very much. I will let everyone know what happens. Thank you

[Flamingo]

First, did the man give you any contact information or just state that's who he was? Anyone legit person coming to your house taking photos on a Sunday will give you a card or be in a business vehicle clearly marked. Maybe he had the wrong house????

If you are current on your mortgage payments and have not received anything in themail from your mortgage carrier, something is screwy or what occurred is a mistake. Call your mortgage company in the morning and find out what's going on, if anything. If you have been in your Plan for two years and all is fine until this guy shows up today, that should tell you something....

[danaf]

I am not at all trying to be rude but I'm just wondering why someone would file a 13 and not include their mortgage in a 13? (just trying to learn).

[hardrock20]

need help

Our lawyer recommended we pay the mortgage outside of the bk. We also had a second mortgage that was included.

The guy just showed up with this BPO in his hand with my name on it. We were not notified prior.

We did not file because we wanted to get out of debt. It was a matter of us being on a fixed income and everything going up. We tried to negotiate with our creditors prior, but no one seemed to be interested. When Chase raised our interest to 29% and we called them and asked why they did this, since we never missed a payment, was never late and always paid some above the minimum requirement. Their reply was, "because we can". That's when we contacted a lawyer about our options. We are an older couple and saw no other recourse.

We are paying 100% and have never been late.

I am confused and upset. We are also calling the mortgatge co. in the am.

Thanks so much for your information.

[cso5@]

I am not at all trying to be rude but I'm just wondering why someone would file a 13 and not include their mortgage in a 13? (just trying to learn).

With mine, the CURRENT payments are paid outside the plan, and the PAST DUE payments are in the plan. I think that is how it is commonly done.

Now, my car is paid completely INSIDE the plan, but the loan was more than 910 days old (I think that is the right figure) so it was "crammed down".

I filed to save my house and my car. And to get a break on paying arrears of income taxes -- well, the taxes are the taxes. Ch 13 gives a break on the interest and penalties part.

Current income taxes are paid OUTSIDE the plan, income taxes unpaid from prior years' are INSIDE the plan.

If you are above the median and have to file a 13, and are not behind on your payments -- how would your mortgage be included in your plan, anyway? In other words, you are not filing to save your house, you have to do a 13 because of income.

[lrprn]

I am not at all trying to be rude but I'm just wondering why someone would file a 13 and not include their mortgage in a 13? (just trying to learn).

Danaf, there's a lot of confusion about what paying "inside" a Ch 13 plan and paying "outside" a Ch 13 plan actually means.

Any time a Ch 13 filer who owns a home files Ch 13, their home mortgage is always included on their list of creditors - it has to be because it's a debt.

When the filer makes secured loan payments to their lenders directly, that's called paying "outside" the plan. When the trustee makes secured loan payments for the same assets, that's called paying "inside" the plan.

Most Ch 13 lawyers recommend that filers pay their mortgage payments directly to the lender rather than having their trustee make the payments. That way the filer does not have to pay the trustee his/her monthly administrative fee (up to 10%) on the mortgage payment.

In other words, if a mortgage payment is $1000/month and the trustee's admin fee is 10%/month, then the filer has to provide $1010 in their monthly Ch 13 payment - $1000 for the mortgage lender and $10 for the trustee to pay his/her administrative fee to make the payment. Over 5 years, that would add $10/month x 60 months = $600 that can be avoided if the filer makes the mortgage payment personally "outside" the plan.

Hope this makes sense. Great question to ask!

[hardrock20]

need help

I talked to Wachovia this am. They told me because we had filed BK, it was necessary for them to do this. They were only verifying the condition of the residence and that we still lived here.

Said as long as we were making payments everything was o.k. This was a way of protecting their investment.

Still makes no sense why they would do this now, especially with no prior notification.

Just thought I would pass this information along, perhaps save someone else from freaking out as I did.

Thanks to everyone for their input, it means a lot.

[Sickofthe13]

wow...nothing like doing it when everything is closed and you cant call to verify. I bet that was a stressful 24hrs. When we filed, they stopped sending statements until my atty requested them. we are also in a bk13 dept with the mortgage bank. Sounds like every bank has their own procedures. The pictures would have freaked me out!

[Flamingo]

wow...nothing like doing it when everything is closed and you cant call to verify. I bet that was a stressful 24hrs. When we filed, they stopped sending statements until my atty requested them. we are also in a bk13 dept with the mortgage bank. Sounds like every bank has their own procedures. The pictures would have freaked me out!

When you file Chapter 13 and your mortgage company is notified of your filing, you are automatically transferred to their BK section. That section is usually separate and apart from where you send your normal monthly mortgage payment; instructions are usually sent out to the filer from the mortgage company as to that and where to start sending future payments because if they are sent to the previous address in your mortgage payment book, they could be severely delayed. If they stop sending monthly statements you do not stop making payments...that is the last thing you want to do if you are paying your mortgage outside of your Plan.