Question about 2nd mortgage after BK

[bakergrl]

I did not reaffirm my 1st or 2nd mortgage and i was wondering if you are late on a payment if the lender can still report it to the credit bureaus or charge a late fee?

I am trying to get them to tell me what the balance is because they rolled a credit card into my 2nd before we filled and now it says that the CC was in the BK on my credit report. They will not give me the balance so since they are being rude about it I do not feel like paying them on the due date in hopes it will force them to send me something with the balance on it.

[SMinGA]

They should not report late payments - but can charge & collect late fees.

[sunshinepa]

No an expert but I would be really careful about being late or missing payments since you did not reaffirm either 1st or 2nd. Unless you are planning to leave your house in the near future..........they could foreclose on you and are probably looking for any excuse since you did not reaffirm and they are already being mean!!

Just a thought!

[bakergrl]

They "use to" only collect a fee after 30 days past due, I wonder if I can push it until day 27 to see if they send me something about it being late and have the balance on it.

[bakergrl]

No an expert but I would be really careful about being late or missing payments since you did not reaffirm either 1st or 2nd. Unless you are planning to leave your house in the near future..........they could foreclose on you and are probably looking for any excuse since you did not reaffirm and they are already being mean!!

Just a thought!

I would not be missing a payment just late in order to maybe get a statement from them since they will not give me one with a balance on it. How quick can they foreclose on you if you are under 30 days late? I though there was a law that it has to be so many months behind before they can foreclose?

[sunshinepa]

I understand about the late issue and not missing a payment. I don't know the law, maybe another reader can answer that one. I will be going through the same when I file and was only speaking about what I would do........it would really make me afraid to be late once I filed as I intend to be in my house until they haul me away to the funny farm....LOL.

Good luck with whatever you decide, hope it all works out and they send what you need!!!

[bakergrl]

After the BK I would make sure it was on time because I was worried about them taking the house, but it is $70,000 under water and the only reason we stay is because the mortgage is cheaper than renting somewhere. They might have put $8000 into our 2nd and then still put it in our BK so I want to know the balance of the 2nd to see what they did and they refuse to give it to me.

I was a couple days late last month to test the waters and they sent me a payment book with no balance on it so I am hoping maybe a couple weeks late they will send me some type of statement. Today is day 4 late and nothing yet. I think it is 3 months before they can start foreclosing but I am not sure if that is only for people before BK, maybe someone knows?

I understand about the late issue and not missing a payment. I don't know the law, maybe another reader can answer that one. I will be going through the same when I file and was only speaking about what I would do........it would really make me afraid to be late once I filed as I intend to be in my house until they haul me away to the funny farm....LOL.

Good luck with whatever you decide, hope it all works out and they send what you need!!!

[SMinGA]

How far late you are in terms of when it can lead to foreclosure will depend on the type of contract you have & the state laws where you live.

Most mortgages charge a late fee after a 15 day grace period, but again it depends on the contract.

[drowning123]

I'm in NY, a judicial state. Foreclosure takes 3 or so years. I figure I have another 2 years to find some place to rent. I stopped paying my first mortgage in May. As for my HELOC, I called them in April and begged them to send me a pre-foreclosure letter so that I could get a hardship withdrawal from my 401K. They refused. Not sure if your house can be foreclosed because of a default on a HELOC. Can it? Anyway, I worked out a payment plan for 6 months, but only made 3 payments. I filed for bankruptcy on 8/19. I'm not reaffirming, but I'm staying in the house until they drag me out kickin' and screamin'. I understand that it's cheaper for you to stay in the house than renting, but it's cheaper for me to move than to stay. My utilities alone are like a mortgage payment. At least with rent, most of the utilities are included and it still works out to be less than my first mortgage.

[tcreegan]

don't be late

Hi bakergrl,

You don't want to be late. Have you sent a request in writing to the lender? Lenders have problems w/ communicating w/ a debtor due to the BK. Sending you a statement can be construed as an attempt to collect a debt. That is also why they quit credit reporting. A letter in writing is legal proof you are OK with them sending you a statement. So is a letter requesting that they resume credit reporting. After your BK case closes, it is a good idea to pull your credit reports. Make sure any acct included in the BK says "IIB" or "included in BK" and has a zero balance. The acct may say charged off, closed, etc which you don't want. On the loans you are still paying, get the credit bureaus to report them as "paid as agreed" They won't want to do any of this at first, but be persistent.

Good luck with everything,

Tom in Colo