The length of time your mortgage is protected in Chapter 7 BK?

[Nevadaguy]

First of all, thank you for this forum. So many excellent posters with great information to consider.

So.

I just got off the phone with my mortgage company, and I was about 85 days late, but just made 2 payments (I am in a chapter 7 that was recently discharged), and they said that "I am protected with my account and current because of the BK".

My question for the forum: How long can a person in a Chapter 7 or recently discharged Chapter 7 go, without making a payment?

I know in a Chapter 13, people can go up to 5 years without paying their mortgage, in some cases, because the length of the Chapter 13 can go up to 5 years. In fact, I know a person who went about 6 months without paying their mortgage, filed a chapter 13, and then didn't pay for the 5 years in the chapter 13, and then got another 6 months after the Chapter 13 discharge. So, he lived in his house for six years, rent free.

Just something I was curious about, as I always like to know my options.

Thank you.

[despritfreya]

I believe that you have a misunderstanding of bankruptcy.

A Chapter 7 does not help save a home. Unless you stay current, the lender will seek the lifting of the automatic stay so that it can proceed to foreclosure under state law. The stay gets lifted at the earlier of the filing of a motion and the signing of an order granting the motion OR the abandonment by the Trustee of the property from the bankruptcy estate, whichever happens first. Once the stay is removed the lender is free to proceed to foreclose based upon state law.

A Chapter 13 helps folks save their home but, with very, very few exceptions, it requires that the debtor resume regular monthly payments the month after the case is filed and propose a Chapter 13 Plan that cures the per-bankruptcy default over a 3 to 5 year period. Failure to make post petition mortgage payments is grounds for the lender to seek the lifting of the automatic stay.

Although things happen, I doubt your friend got to live in the mortgage company's property rent free for 5 or 6 years - unless he is one of those who touts the bogus argument "I don't have to pay because the lender is not the proper party - not the holder of the note" and then plays games with the lender in various courts. You might want to get yourself a PACER account and pull up his case so that you can see what really happened and why.

Just FYI - I have been following the many cases of a lady in California who has been playing the "show me the note" game since 2012. Cases have been filed by this lady in state court, bankruptcy court and the federal district court. This has been going on for 11 years presumably without making mortgage payments and even feigning a wish to do a loan modification just to string the lender along even longer. Eventually some judge will hit her with sanctions for the fraud she is perpetrating but, until that happens, she gets to live rent free while us other slobs are doing the honorable thing by paying for the roof over our heads.

Now, how long can you stay in your home without making a payment? Assuming you are not going to go down the "show me the note" rabbit hole, it depends upon how quickly the lender proceeds under state law to foreclose. For some folks it's only a few months before the lender decides to move forward with foreclosing. For others, it can be a couple of years.

Ok. . . I am finished ranting.

Des.

[justbroke]

The length of time your mortgage is protected in Chapter 7 BK?

I just want to add that a Chapter 7 bankruptcy does not protect your mortgage. It only, temporarily, stops a lender from taking any actions to collect or continue process to collect on a debt. So the answer is 0 days.