Can you give up your house during an active 13?

[becky20]

Our mortgage is outside our plan. Arrears are inside. Our atty told us we could NOT change our minds re the house in the middle of our BK13. We had to decide before filing to keep or not. If we changed our minds mid-way, we would have to dismiss and refile.

Did you reaffirm your mortgage?? I think if you reaffirmed (which I don't know if attorneys are doing, ours never even asked us to) that you would have to dismiss and start over but if you didn't reaffirm, then you could. Maybe that's why the different answers??

[Tbornetun]

Is this a matter of law or district? Attorney intrepretation?

lol, don't you know that all laws are enforced based on attorney interpretation?? It is their job to prove their way of interpretation. The bankruptcy code is the same yet it is interpreted how many different ways across different districts in the US.

[filingin08]

Did you reaffirm your mortgage?? I think if you reaffirmed (which I don't know if attorneys are doing, ours never even asked us to) that you would have to dismiss and start over but if you didn't reaffirm, then you could. Maybe that's why the different answers??

We never signed any agreement with the mortgage co. I can't imagine the atty doing that on our behalf - they don't have our power of atty (that just made me laugh).

We would only walk away from the house if husband or I lost our job. We got a good deal when we first bought it and our suburb hasn't lost as much value as some, so we're about even. Of course, that's just on paper and in practice, we might be in the hole.

Sometimes I feel like I learn a lot more from this board than from our atty. She is fairly silent unless I ask a question. For her part, she's mostly quick to respond, but not always very thorough (we do a lot via email). This board has been a sanity saver.

[filingin08]

lol, don't you know that all laws are enforced based on attorney interpretation?? It is their job to prove their way of interpretation. The bankruptcy code is the same yet it is interpreted how many different ways across different districts in the US.

Gawd yes! LOL! We had an adversary complaint filed on something our atty assured us we would be okay on. Guess the other atty thinks differently. We'll let the judge decide.

[gregorino]

Where's our moderator when we need one!

Thanks for all the replies and I agree...this board has been of great value in filing pro se.
I just received notice that the judge has granted my motion to pay motgage outside of plan! Whee!
So, now I need to strategize a little....What will happen if I withold paying the bank for a couple months AND my plan has yet to be confirmed? Would they bring a motion to move the mortgage back into the repayment plan? Would the Trustee move to dismiss? Would the judge rescind the order because I have failed to comply with the provision of remaining current? Should I keep current until after confirmation?