Mortgage Discharge 3 Years After Chapter 7 DIscharge

[flbuckeye]

I am trying to refinance my mortgage. Running in to a problem because the mortgage company didn't discharge the mortgage until 3 years after the chapter 7 was discharged. The first and 2nd mortgages are with the same lender, and they discharged in 2013, but BK was final in January of 2010 Credit has otherwise been reestablished. Many loan guidelines say a discharged mortgage has to be more than 4 years prior to being qualified to get a new mortgage. Payments throughout the life of the mortgages have been paid on time. Can this be remedied?

[LadyInTheRed]

I don't know what you mean by the mortgages being discharged after the BK discharge. If the lender wrote off the mortgages and sold them, that is different than a discharge. If they are reporting a discharge on your credit reports with the wrong date, you should dispute that. There should be no negative reporting of the mortgages after your BK filing date. If there has been no foreclosure, I believe FHA guidelines allow you to borrow 2 years after discharge. But, lenders may have additional requirements. If you are dealing with a lender who says you need to wait 4 years, then you need to find a different lender. You may also have to focus on FHA loans.

[flbuckeye]

The issue is the mortgage company continued reporting my payment history, and sending me statements until some time in 2013. It seems lenders base the discharge date on when the mortgage company stopped reporting payment history. I think the legal department or an audit showed the bk was discharged in 2010, and they continued as if nothing happened for 3 years until they stumbled across the problem. Technically, isn't the mortgage discharged at the same time as the bk? It was listed as one of the debts in the schedules. I don't think they can continue to report or send statements after the bk is discharged by law. Is it my problem the lender didn't discharge in a timely manner? BTW, the payments have been paid on time the entire life of the mortgages.

[LadyInTheRed]

Yes, the mortgages were discharged on the same date as your entire BK. Any inaccurate credit reporting is illegal. If they report on your credit reports that the discharge was in 2013 when it was really in 2010, you should dispute that. There is a danger that they will also remove your positive payment history. So, you might want to keep evidence of your on time payments to show potential lenders.