I have a confusing question I hope someone can help me with. I was recently discharged in a chapter 7 about 6 months ago and I did not reaffirm my mortgage. I am now behind on my mortgage payments and if I can't get them caught up before the bank forecloses can I save my house by filing a chapter 13? I know the debt can't be discharged and I don't have any to discharge anyway but will the bankruptcy court allow you to pay back the mortgage company under a chapter 13 plan even though I was just discharged in a chapter 7 or will it get dismissed? I also want to challenge my mortgage company's ownership of my mortgage inside the protection of chapter 13 and make them prove that they indeed have the right to foreclose on my property. Thanks for your help!
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May be a silly question, but...here goes:
Why did you settle your 2nd mortgage recently to release the lien, but then fall behind on your 1st mortgage and risk foreclosure? Isnt that why you settled your 2nd to begin with - to keep the house? It would appear that perhaps you wasted the money to settle the 2nd if you cannot afford to pay the 1st - reaffirmation or not. There isnt a deficiency if you walked away because it was all discharged in BK... ????
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I believe the only thing the 13 will do is stall the foreclosure of your home by a couple months or so and that is it. But it may give you that extra time to work a mortgage modification plan with them, but the odds of that are probably small as well.Comment
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So does anyone know if I will be allowed to go into a 5 year plan in a chapter 13 to be able to rework the terms of the loan if needed? I would like for some of the moderators to chime in on this one.Comment
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To me it sounds like you have given up your rights to own the home and it is really between you and the mortgage company if they so choose to work a plan with you or not. It sounds like you gave up the house in 7, but if you can somehow convince the mortgage company to work out a loan mod with you, perhaps you have a chance. But it also sounds like they could even do this and foreclose on you any time they want, unless you put it in writing.Originally posted by nichole04 View Post
You can try to submit a new loan mod application with them and maybe they will go for it. But I am guessing the odds are pretty low they will.Comment
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The bankruptcy court does not have the power to change the terms of your mortgage, unfortunately. What filing 13 will do is allow you to catch up on your arrears in order to keep your home. Luckily a discharge is not needed when filing for this reason. However, if you cannot afford your current payment, filing ch.13 will not help you. In order to keep your home, you'll need to pay the arrears in the 13 plan AND continue to make your regular monthly payment on time each month.Filed Chapter 13 on 2-28-10. 341 completed 4/14/10. Confirmed 5/14/10. Lien strip granted 2/2/11
0% payback to unsecured creditors, 56 payments down, 4 to go....Comment
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Momofthree is correct.
A chapter 13 will stop the foreclosure, and cure the arrears. But that is it. If you cannot pay the underlying mortgage payment within 30 days of filing your chapter 13, then there is no point in filing. Chapter 13 has no mechanism to modify the terms of the loan.
As for challenging ownership, "could" you do this in the context of a 13, yes. Are you likely to get anywhere with it, probably not. Unless you have some other reason to file chapter 13, the bankruptcy court has the option to "punt" the issue to state court since there is no bankruptcy specific issue in your case for which the chapter 13 need proceed.Comment
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I can make my mortgage payment but I cannot pay some of the deliquent amount. I had some unexpected bills I had to pay which made me short. If they try to foreclose I just wanted to be sure that I could save my home by filing chapter 13 to catch up the deliquent amount even though I have already been discharged in chapter 7. I don't need a chapter 13 discharge but may need to file to stop foreclosure.Comment
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But see - thats the problem - you have to pay both arrears AND current mortgage payment in a Ch. 13 (not to mention trustee fees); you dont get to pick and choose - which is what Momofthree and HHM were stating.Originally posted by nichole04 View Post
The bigger question is can you really afford the house, even if you get caught up? Murphy's law - you will have unexpected bills pop up over and over again; if you arent budgeting for them and must pull from your mortgage payment, then that's a problem.Comment
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If I have to file a chapter 13 I would hope to work a modification out with the bank within the stay of bankruptcy since they have not been willing to do one before filing. You could pay the arrears over time and not at once correct? I hope that I can work something out with the bank and not have to file chapter 13 but I want to be prepared just in case they try to foreclose before I CAN work something out.Comment
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I am doing just what you are talking about here. I filed the 7 and after discharge, they gave me 2 weeks notice of the auction of my house. I asked for a loan mod package, they said they would send it to me but there wasn't enough time to put that together because of the short time table before the auction would occur. The only thing I could do was to pay the entire amount I owed before the auction date (impossible of course).
So I filed the 13 and my loan mod package did arrive. I just got a call from my mortgage company asking me if I am interested in doing the loan modification and I said yes and would be mailing in the package soon.
I don't have any idea whether this is going to work or not. I will attempt to make a payment plan with them, knowing that they will likely say no or may even start one with me but foreclose on me anyways.
I am really trying to stay in the house for as long as possible (including making payments to continue staying here) until I can find a job and be in a better position to rent a new place.Comment
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