Can someone clear this up for me please?

[BrokeDavis]

Hello!!! This is my first post...So I apologize in advance if this question has been asked before. I have spoken to a couple attorneys as far as filing a 13, and I have seen a few posts about adding a modification to my bankruptcy? What I want to know is, is filing a loan modification necessary when filing a 13???

I honestly don't want to, mainly because I feel with my credit being so bad it will raise my payments rather than lower them. Also I tried a remod when my loan was with BOA, and they were a joke...so useless. I wish I knew about reinstatements and forbearance before things have gone this far. Anywho, I want to file soon because I have a judgement against me for a credit card, but my son needs braces and I was going to use my tax return to get them.

I know this will be a long haul, but I believe it's my only choice to get things back on track. I know there is life after filing a BK...so I'm not going to sweat the small stuff.

Any advice or input would be appreciated...thank you in advance

[niko]

What type of loan modification are you talking about? Home Loan? Car Loan? BK trustee will not put you anything that is going to be a problematic. If that's home loan you can either include that in the payment plan ( I suggest this option) or you have an option to not to include. If that's car loan you are talking about, if it is 3 years or newer there is a set percentage (5.25 for most i know) if older no interest until the car is paid off under your plan. You may have to wait until you get your tax returns before filing because some trustee's asking the tax refund money, that way you can take care of your child needs.

[BrokeDavis]

I'm sorry I wasn't clear in my original post. This is for a home loan...

[despritfreya]

You have not supplied enough information. Why are you contemplating a Chapter 13 as opposed to a Chapter 7? Are you behind in your mortgage payments and facing a foreclosure? Are you trying to save your home?

Assuming you are behind in the mortgage payments, a Chapter 13 will allow you to cure the missed payments over the life of the Plan while you resume and maintain the going-forward payments. If you cannot afford to resume your mortgage payment AND make the Plan payment you will eventually lose the home.

The bk court cannot force your lender to enter into a loan modification agreement. That is between you and the lender. You can continue to explore that avenue while you are in the 13 but, if you fail to resume normal monthly payments the lender will request that the protection of the bk be lifted so that it can proceed down the foreclosure path.

Please give more detail.

Edt to add. . . oh, and where are my manners. . . welcome to the forum.

Des.

[BrokeDavis]

Thank you for the welcome and information. My situation is this: back in 2011 I became ill to the point I was missing a lot of time from work. It got so back since I worked 40 miles away from home, and my checks were getting smaller and smaller, I couldn't afford to put gas in my car to get there. So I put in for a transfer to a closer location...which got approved...in 3 months. I knew I couldn't hold out that long so I ended up quitting and borrowing from my 403b to catch up on my bills. That was in December...

I paid my mortgage and other necessities and kept everything current. I started working again in February 2012 for a lesser wage and hours...but hey, it was a job. Once I had my first couple of pay checks I called BOA and asked them what options were available to me because I knew I wouldn't be able to make my payments because of the change in income. They told me that I could try for a remod. I asked if I can keep making payments even though I've missed a few and was told making payments will hurt my chances of qualifying for a remod. Now that I look back at things, I can't believe how stupid I was to believe this.

Later that month a man shows up to my door stating that he was with a third party company that works with BOA and will help me with the paperwork to apply for the remod and go over what papers on my end needed to be turned in. I also asked about making the current monthly payment and was told the same story about chancing my application not getting approved, so I went with it. I remember meeting this guy at a Burger King, to go over info...but within 2 weeks the paper application was complete with all documents and was overnighted to BOA. I called a few days later to confirm receipt of the papers and ended up leaving ANOTHER message to my personal contact person with BOA. Surprisingly, he called me back the next day telling me he had the papers on his desk and they looked good and would submitted to the underwriters.

And then I wait...

I started school that June but I never heard from the bank and was getting very frustrated. I requested a new representative since the one I had never returned calls. I found out in September I wouldn't have a job as of November and started to panic. I called the bank and left a message for my new representative, and she called me back the next day. She told me that since it has been more than 30 days I would have to resubmit some of the papers because they expired. She sent them overnight through fedex, I filled them out and went to the local BOA and faxed them to her. When I called her to confirm receipt she said it was never received. Instead of making this post any longer thine it already is, I basically went through that whole process 3 times and there was always a problem.

So November rolls around and I'm jobless and in school. I collected unemployment benefits get a paper saying my application was denied because I failed to supply the papers, which was BS! I spoke with a BK attorney back then and he said I could do a 13 to save my house and car, but since I was only receiving unemployment I will face a problem with the payments. He said I could also file a 7, but would have to walk away from EVERYTHING.

Face forward to now my car got repoed, I started working, finished school and now Nationstar has my loan. I was trying to complete a remod with them and was eventually told they can't go forward with the process because I have back HOA dues. The BK attorney I spoke to said he's never heard of that, but still recommends filing a 13. I want to save my home and keep payments where they are.

[LadyInTheRed]

So, your reason for filing a Chap 13 instead of a 7 is to save your home, correct? The question is whether you can realistically afford to do that without a loan modification.

How much money would it take to bring your mortgage current? How about the HOA dues? What is your current income? Has NationStar begun the foreclosure process? Has your attorney run your numbers and told you what he things your plan payment would have to be?

[BrokeDavis]

I'm going to speak another attorney tomorrow. But yes, I want to keep my home which is why I'm filing the 13. The HOA dues are stating I owe $700. Right now after legal fees and missed payments the invoice says I owe $17K arrearage on my mortgage. My mortgage payments are $640 but idk what my payment plan will look like as yet. The foreclosure process started with BOA, but now it's with Nationstar...who clearly states they may act as a debt collector. Right now I am bringing home around $1800 a month, I only pay basic utilities and cable, and would be the $640 for mortgage...

[LadyInTheRed]

Count on your Chap 13 payment being at least $300 to cover mortgage arrears. That's assuming a 60 month plan. If your gross annual income is under median for your state and household size, you can propose a plan for anywhere between 36 and 60 months. If you are over median, you must be in a 60 month plan unless all unsecured claims can be paid earlier. You can look up the median income at http://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa...come_table.htm. A 36 month plan would require a payment of at least $500. Your payment may be even higher if you have non-exempt assets or have a higher DMI. You will probably also want to include some attorney fees in your plan. Divide the attorney fees by the months in your plan to determine how much more that will add to your payment.

If you can handle a Chap 13 payment and pay your current mortgage payments, there is no reason you have to modify the mortgage. With your income, it seems that a Chap 13 will be tight, but doable if you can stick to a tight budget and maintain your employment.

[BrokeDavis]

The first attorney did the means test and said I'm below the median so it will be the 3 yrs. I don't know if I can comfortably pay more than $1200 a month, but we shall see what this new attorney says tomorrow...fingers crossed

[dmc-2008]

Good luck!

[LadyInTheRed]

The first attorney did the means test and said I'm below the median so it will be the 3 yrs. I don't know if I can comfortably pay more than $1200 a month, but we shall see what this new attorney says tomorrow...fingers crossed

3 years is a minimum. You may need to make it longer in order to keep the payment affordable.

[BrokeDavis]

Ok that may make it workable...thank you everyone!!!