Mortgage not reaffirmed

[duboul]

Long story short my wife filed for chapter 7 several years ago in Florida. She did not reaffirm our mortgage. We thought since I’m the primary on it nothing would change. Her attorney didn’t explain that even though I’m the primary and not filing that our mortgage would still be discharged. Well I pulled my credit the other day and noticed the mortgage was gone. I called the company up and they said it was discharged in bankruptcy. The lady told me I better get it back in my name or the bank can take our home at anytime. We have had the mortgage for 8 yrs and never been late or missed a payment. I’m freaking out now and not sure what to do.

[justbroke]

Maybe some clarification is due.

Discharge of a mortgage note (a/k/a the promissory note) only wipes out your personal responsibility to pay. The mortgage actually stays and is fully enforceable. It does not get removed from your name unless there is a sale or a foreclosure. In case of a sale, you would have signed a Warranty Deed at closing. For foreclosure, the Clerk of the Court would issue a Certificate of Sale and a Certificate of Title (a non-warranty deed of sorts) to the buyer at foreclosure.

• the home is still in your name
• they are just not reporting it to the credit bureau
• if this isn't a small bank, you may be able to ask that they start reporting again (it may not work or they may refuse because their system will mistakenly report it as a foreclosure/loss)
• while your responsibility to pay the Note has been extinguished by the bankruptcy, the mortgage still covers the note and a foreclosure can be initiated for non-payment

Bottom line is that its still your home. Credit reporting has nothing to do with ownership of property. You may be able to ask the bank to start reporting again, and it may require a letter from your attorney.

Welcome to BKForum.

[duboul]

Thanks so much for the reply. I really appreciate it. So in the future if we decide to sell we can? And get the equity we have?

[justbroke]

Yes and yes. You own the property. Since you're in Florida you can easily verify this by going to your county Property Appraiser's website and lookup by your name (LAST FIRST) or your address.

The Chapter 7 only discharged your legal obligation to pay, but not your ownership rights.

[duboul]

Thanks again