Bank just sent a bill for 2 missed mortgage pymts, but it was discharged?

[murphsmom]

BK7 discharged in September. We never reaffirmed the mortgage and the bank never asked. Husband lost his job December 1st, we were "staying and paying" but now have missed the December payment and will miss January as well, at least.

We got a bill yesterday for Dec/Jan payments, and I'm not sure what to do with it. I did email our attorney TWICE and he hasn't responded.

Should we contact the bank? Ignore it? Send them discharge paperwork? Basically, we are fine with foreclosure, and have a back up plan, but want to stay in the house as long as possible before they throw us out. I do NOT want the bank to start a lawsuit or keep sending billing statements, or report it to the credit bureau.

Any advice on how to proceed with this is appreciated. Thanks!

[HHM]

Don't waste time trying to get a hold of the attorney, the attorney's involvement in your case and your life ended at discharge.\

Just because the debt was discharged, doesn't mean the bank stops all communication with you. There is nothing you need to do if you are fine with letting it go to foreclosure. The bank is simply letting you know you are behind on payments...sorry to say, but what is the big deal?

[murphsmom]

The reason I contacted the attorney was to be certain that the mortgage was included in discharge, and to confirm that we somehow didn't inadvertently reaffirm the mortgage. I don't want or need any surprises where that is concerned. Since he was the one that handled the BK, I thought it may be courteous if he could confirm that for us.

It's not a big deal, just wondering if contacting them to remind them that it's been discharged was the right thing to do. Head them off at the pass, so to speak. If it's been discharged, they aren't supposed to send us bills, correct?

[NoMoreCards]

You could always check with Pacer to see if you "inadvertently" reaffirmed, however I don't see how that could be possible because the reaffirmation paperwork very clearly explains what it is and must be signed by you. The Mortgage must have been included, as ALL debts must be listed in the BK filing.

If I was you, I would just toss the bill. Odds are pretty good that somewhere on the bill it has a statement that reads something like "this is for informational purposes only".

[murphsmom]

Read the bill carefully, and it doesn't say "informational purposes" anywhere. It does say "submit payment by....payment due...late fee charged...", like any normal bill would.

I'm just concerned because it seems like the bank has no clue what's going on. They never sent reaffirmation paperwork which was odd, and now they are billing us, which tells me they are pretty clueless about the discharge. Just not sure if I should set them straight to avoid any potential pain in the butt issues, or just ignore.

[NoMoreCards]

You always have the option of calling them to get them up to speed on your BK Discharge, but I can't help but wonder if that would make them move a bit faster with the foreclosure?? Assuming you want as much time possible in that house (without making a payment), it might be best to let them simmer and toss the bill. I just figure if they KNOW they aren't getting any money, they may move faster. Just my thoughts. I am sure things will work out in the end.

[HHM]

Well, no such thing as an inadvertent reaffirmation unless your attorney is real slime. Even bad attorneys don't submit reaffirmation agreements on behalf of clients without the client knowledge.

As for including the mortgage in your BK, again, unless you have a lousy attorney (or you didn't tell your attorney you had a mortgage), ALL DEBT get's listed on the BK petition.

[mountanddo]

I don't think the bank is just going to ignore the fact that you didn't pay the mortgage even if you didn't reaffirm and are staying and paying and not contact you. I'm sure their billing system is like many others and they don't have a separate one for people that file bankruptcy. This is where they are keeping track of your payments. Do you expect that they are never going to contact you and just one day show up at your house and want you out? Why not just contact the bank and tell them you are a bit behind and "by the way you sent me a bill". It's probably the easiest way to notify you that you haven't paid the mortgage. Are you not planning on staying in the house? Can you send them a partial payment at all?

BTW, if and when you do foreclose it will show up on your credit as a foreclosure from what I've read here. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

[OhioFiler]

I find it amazing some folks don't understand their situation post-discharge. Why would you even file bankruptcy if you weren't certain your largest debt would be discharged and not reaffirmed?

[murphsmom]

I guess I should have phrased my question differently. I know it's been discharged, and I know we didn't reaffirm. I just want to make sure that when we modified the mortgage, before filing bk, that the modification didn't inadvertently act as a reaffirmation. The attorney emailed that he will call me next week to discuss. Thanks for the replies.

[HHM]

If that is your question, then the answer is no. You did not reaffirm.

[spidge]

A call to the banks BK department would likely clear this up. I would avoid speaking to any other department as the info is probably not shared, at least it seamed so in our case.
You mentioned a modification. How close to your filing date did you sign this into action. That may be an issue, but I am no expert to rely upon. I would think like a debt incurred within 90 days of filing may be scrutinized by the trustee and mortgage modifications would fall into the same category.
Would the discharge on the mortgage show on your credit report?