Trying to settle 2nd with chase

[HOMEBODY]

I am on the phone with Chase to settle an $83,000 2nd loan on my property. I owe $716,000 on the first and the house is worth $599,000 (at least thats what the houses are going for in my area).

They had sent the loan to Ascension Capital and just 2 weeks ago they transfered back to Chase. I hope this means good news.

How much do you think I could settle for?

[HOMEBODY]

I was trying to discuss settlement just like I've learned here and its not working. I offered him $4,000 and he came back with $35,500.00 then lowered to $$17,500.00. I told him I didnt have tht kind of money and couldnt finance that much and he said "tough". I think his last offer is $17,500 which I still dont have. The most I could come up with is about $8,000 and that is all the money I have in the bank.

What do you suggest I do? If I do nothing, eventually the house will come back up and I will owe them the $83,000 again.

[magua2]

Have you filed BK?

[justbroke]

If you haven't already discharged the loan in Bankruptcy, I don't think you're going to do better than 20%. If you discharged the loan in Bankruptcy (Chapter 7), you could do as well as 5% (or less in extreme cases). If you are upside down by $117,000 on your first, then why are you even contemplating settling the second??? You are at least 20% underwater "IF" you could sell the home for $599K right this minute. I don't think the housing market has hit bottom yet, so speculating that it will, is not a good thing.

What's your end game here? If you really want to "play the game" -- and already discharged your loans in bankruptcy -- then ride through the first and don't pay the second.

[btbeme]

Looking at your earlier posts, it appears that you did not reaffirm your loans when you filed BK. If you did not reaffirm, you should consider just stopping payment on your second. Since you are upside down on the first, the second will have no reason to foreclose (unless your first and second are held by the same bank).

If you plan to stay in the home for the rest of your life you will eventually have to terminate the second with some sort of settlement. But for now, sending them any money for any reason is a waste. Don't bother even trying to settle now. After a year or two of non-payment, try again - and bank the cash in the meantime. And, write down the negotiator's response so you can use it when THEY call..."tough."

[magua2]

Since you are upside down on the first, the second will have no reason to foreclose (unless your first and second are held by the same bank).

Has anyone actually had a second foreclose instead of settling when the same bank also held the first and the first was current?

[btbeme]

Has anyone actually had a second foreclose instead of settling when the same bank also held the first and the first was current?

It is uncommon but not rare. It does happen often enough to be a factor. What is important to understand is that the second CAN initiate a foreclosure if they wish. Certain states have laws regarding this, and certain banks are pretty aggressive in protecting their assets as best they can.

[HOMEBODY]

Magua2....I filed BK and discharged a year ago. I havent paid any on the 2nd for a full year. I guess all I can do now is wait another year and try to settle again..but so far they want $17,500.00 to settle..which I dont even have. $4000 is what I can pay without taking all of my savings out of the bank.

[Pandora]

as the others have stated - save your $ and wait it out. Do not wipe out your savings... if you do that and something happens, what will you have to fall back on in an ER situation?

Start putting X amount of $ aside now each month - that way you will have the funds to offer another settlement down the line.

[newbie2]

Chase may very well sell that debt to another company for pennies on the dollar. If this happens, you may have more success in settling for a less than 20% amount.

[btbeme]

One additional thing...check your credit report to see how your 2nd is reporting. Make sure it says it was included (or discharged) in bankruptcy. A LOT of seconds and HELOCS are incorrectly reported, and that is generally why a phone drone will say "tough" rather than do a true negotiation.

But quit paying. No need to pay. No no no no no. Just some advice from your Uncle btbeme.