WHen does the Mortgage Company stop accepting

[nohope]

payments? Right now I owe mortgage payments for November and December. Don't know if I'll be able to make a payment before January 1st which will make me behind for November, December and January. Been told after a certain point mortgage company (mine is with Chase) will stop accepting payments. WIll I be at that point if I'm late with a payment for January 1st? What happens after that? MY ex owes me $40K (in child support) - I've been in Court battling for it for almost two years.

[justbroke]

Mortgage companies will always accept paymnets. What they don't accept, is less the current amount due. So, if you missed December's payment and now it's January, you could not make December's payment without both December's payment and January's payment.

This is how most people get in trouble with their mortgage. Once you miss a payment, that payment must be paid along with the next payment that's due. This snowballs and most can't "catch" up. Most mortgage companies will return your payment if you send a single payment in when 2 or more are due. Some mortgage companies will keep the payment and put it into a suspense account (without applying it to the mortgage)... until you are caught up.

[jlmaca]

Nohope you're in a tuff spot being owing that much money which could leed to a mortgage default unless you can catch up on your payments. If you go past 90 days the foreclosure process usually kicks in with a notice of deficiency, they basically ask you bring your mortgage current in 20 or 30 days or they will sue for foreclosure. Now this is just my experience and may be different where you are.

[overspent]

I am at 60 days late now. I missed Nov and Dec mortgage payments, at the 45 day mark, my mortgage company sent me a request for financial stating that I might be eligible for forbearance plan. At least you have a few months before being foreclosed and if you're way under-water may not be foreclosed at all. Just do some research to see if the house is worth saving, get the financial and apply for a loan mod.

Good luck to you.

[JustFileSuit]

Keep in mind that if you get put in a bind, and they sue you, if you then file for bankruptcy protection, the 40K owed you becomes an asset of your estate. Since the ex is refusing to pay, and using the state courts for leverage to slow down the process, you can simply file an Adversary Proceeding within the Bk court (no filing fees) and file for summary judgment in the BK court proceeding, setting forth the Judgment of the State Court. Under what is known as the "Rooker-Feldman Doctrine" (you can google it), the Judgment of the State Court is simply going to be taken within the BK Court, and the Bk court is not going to have much patience with whatever your ex dreams up. So the bk court will Order your ex to remit the 40K, and if he does not, then he is in Contempt of the Court (and all that that implies). Unless, of course, your ex ALSO files for bk protection - but then you file for relief from automatic stay on public-policy grounds. (And you get that.).

So you can stop the Chase outfit, and force the issue with your ex, and keep your house, and avoid Chase's atty fees (or most of them), by use of the bk court system. That is what it is there for.

Since you have a lot on the line, and a lot to lose, be sure to obtain competent local counsel. If you have to, spend the mtge pmt money on counsel fees and file, and get that 40K from your ex. Stay away from BK Mill atty firms that advertise handling your case for $700; they are not going to put the work into it that you need. Best wishes to you.

[nohope]

Thank you all for your advice. I have equity in my house but an unable to refinance. I've been running two months late on my mortgage for the past year. My ex has made it so that I owe in lawyer's fees what he owes me. Ex is an attorney himself. And, yes, he's crying poverty.

[JustFileSuit]

Your ex is jerking your chain. Inform him that he has five days to come up with a certain amount (the two months that you need to avoid chaos) or you file a Complaint with the Bar Association Grievance (disciplinary) Committee. An attorney that does not demonstrate probity with his finances can be barred from practice. That should get his attention.

Your current attorney, whom you owe a ton to, has been very nice to you to extend all that credit. He has an incentive to collect from your ex for you. If you have to file for bankruptcy protection, his bills become an unsecured non-priority claim. The 40K you husband owes is collectable, if necessary under an Adversary Proceeding. those funds would go to pay your secured creditors -in this case the Chase mortgage.

Note that if your Mortgage is being serviced by a separate "servicing" company then they will be totally deaf to anything you beg for, and will just grind a Default Notice and start Foreclosure, even though it is not in the interest of their client (Chase). Watch out for the motivations of the various players as you struggle through this mess. Best wishes to you.

[Stilltheone]

I was/am also late like you are every month. I know with my mortgage company (Aurora), Nov 1st payment had to be made by January 1, otherwise they want BOTH (11/1 and 12/1) payments and will only accept both payments. Basically, after 60 days of the due date, they want both late payments and not just the partial.

I am always late, generally pay on the 15th of the following month, but this month, I had to shift things around to pay for my back property taxes that my mortgage company found out about. I noticed when I tried to set up my Nov. 1st payment after Jan, it wouldn't accept just the one.

[nohope]

My "current attorney" is no longer involved - recently filed a motion to be relieved due to my large balance due and won. Ex told a judge in Court that he paid what he owed me (without producing any proof) and it's pending the trial (which the ex has had delayed a few times). I asked my lawyers several times to get at least $10K of what he owed me - they refused to do so saying it had to wait until the trial.
What happens with property taxes and house insurance if you're behind with your mortgage? The money is sitting in my escrow account with them.

[JustFileSuit]

QUOTE]My "current attorney" is no longer involved - recently filed a motion to be relieved due to my large balance due and won.

"Motions to Withdraw" for non-receipt of fees are customarily granted. Remember that judges were, usually, at one time either practicing attorneys or district prosecutors (the latter more usual). At the Appellate level, an attorney is typically NOT granted permission to withdraw for money reasons. That is why appeals involve so much up-front cash for the appellant.

Ex told a judge in Court that he paid what he owed me (without producing any proof)

And when he gets caught for this statement, he declares: "I mis-spoke." Happens all the time.

and it's pending the trial (which the ex has had delayed a few times).

Of course. The longer it is delayed, the more pain he inflicts on you. His goal is not to "not pay," his goal is to inflict pain and drive you into poverty. He is succeeding, so far.

I asked my lawyers several times to get at least $10K of what he owed me - they refused to do so saying it had to wait until the trial.

Your new attorney should have asked for "Interlocutory relief." He sets forth that the failure of your ex to make remittances as Ordered by the (previous) Court is causing you irreparable harm, and you have no other adequate remedy at law. That is the basis for interlocutory relief. He ends up with an Interim Order to make payments to you, and if he defies that (and he will not), then he is up for Contempt - and all that that implies for an attorney.

What happens with property taxes and house insurance if you're behind with your mortgage? The money is sitting in my escrow account with them.

Unless you file for bankruptcy protection, it just sits there with the servicer, who will (probably) dole it out for the purposes designated, the taxes and insurance. If the fund is "over-funded," then you could apply to have those funds diverted to the monthly payment. But do not be surprised if the Servicer ignores you on this.

Commentary: you are getting into a crunch situation. I am unclear why your new attys are not being more aggressive to advance your interests. There is something going on here that is unclear; any atty faced with an existing order for payments from the ex- and the client is not receiving it, would typically file a Motion to obtain those funds. the situation is assuredly not "no-hope;" there is always a solution - you just have to find the solution. Right now it is apparent that your ex- is jerking your chain because he can get away with it, and he can inflict economic pain on you in doing so (and he probably enjoys doing that). This is what makes divorces so uncivilized.

The "family courts" see this nonsense all the time, and (sometimes) put a stop to it by bringing down the Hammer. That is not happening for you. I suspect part of the reason is that you have no money - so your attorneys are not doing anything to advance your case. Since you cannot afford to lose your house, you may well have to file into the BK Court, and start an adversarial proceeding against your ex. If you do that, and if you do not have the funds flow outside of your ex's obliged payments that he is not making, then you may well have to consider a personal Chapter 11 Petition. The problem with a Ch 13 Petition is that you have to both make the current pmts and have to pay a fraction of the "old" payments to the trustee, and you have to pay the trustee Fees, which are typically another 10%, so you end up shellacked, and your Plan collapses in that you run out of funds - your ex simply continues to abuse the court system in withholding pmts and jerking everyone around. BUT: inside a personal Ch 11, you can hold this off, probably for a year or more,while you file an adversary proceeding against your ex and ask for both the money, and sanctions, and damages. And in that, you will likely succeed. But it is a struggle.

the other option is to move out of the house and into a cheap apartment, and concurrently bring suit against your ex (and whoever represents him - don't be shy about suing his attorneys) and then later, when you collect the Judgments (remember if you go against the law firm then their insurers come into play) you go and purchase yourself a new house. I know that that is a lot of turmoil, but it may end up that way.

Remember the motivations of the players: your ex wants to hurt you. He is doing that. If he works in a law firm, then if you sue the partners for their participation and vetting of that conduct, e.g. malice aforethought, then the partners lose their enthusiasm for his conduct and they and their insurers have to make a tactical decision: fight or fold. then if he is independently represented by counsel and you sue his counsel for aiding and abetting his refusal to abide by Court orders of Payments, then that takes the fun out of it for those fellows and once again they either fold (and settle with you) or they have to tough it out and ultimately end up before a jury themselves.

There are alternatives. They are just not very pleasant.

As a final caution: please note that I have been sanctioned by Guru HHM for these posts, and upbraided by Frogger for being lengthy. As a practical matter, they have deported me off this Forum. I will not be addressing new Posters; this is just to finish up what I started with. If you are not happy, then I invite you to complain to Guru HHM. He hit me with two demerits and kicked me off the Forum. This Forum is reserved as his personal playpen, so I'm gone.

[nohope]

I saw several lawyers for "free consultations" when my original lawyers wanted off the case - they all said the same thing - they doubted the lawyers would be relieved - did I mention that a the "trial" was set at that time for December 23rd? Well, judge let them off the case. I just found another lawyer to help me. We were suppose to be in court on 12/17 - my ex's lawyer got it delayed until 1/8 and I just learned they have had it delayed AGAIN to late January....

[nohope]

PS Motions have been filed going back over a year ago - as I said ex claimed he paid them, did not produce any proof and the judge just ordered that it wait until the trial (originally scheduled for over a year ago..)

[JustFileSuit]

[QUOTE=nohope;364382]

I just found another lawyer to help me. We were suppose to be in court on 12/17 - my ex's lawyer got it delayed until 1/8 and I just learned they have had it delayed AGAIN to late January..

..

Yup, delays, termed "continuances," are typically liberally granted in the State Courts. Now you are scheduled for late January, and if your ex-s' atty or the ex- himself is not available for the Hearing, e.g. has a schedule conflict and needs to appear in another Court, then it gets continued again. However, if "this hearing" is a final disposition Trial, then it should (in theory) obtain preference over scheduling of other matters.

the grounds for filing and obtaining an Interlocutory Order (or "injunctive relief") are: (1) that you will suffer irreparable harm if the Order is not granted; (2) that you are facing "imminent loss;" and (3) that you have no other adequate remedy at law. At this point you have met all three prongs of the test. I would press my counsel to file a Motion for Injunctive Relief and you could have your counsel ask the Court to Order your ex to pay forthwith some defined amount, e.g. three months' payments, ex parte, based on an Affidavit from you that you have not been paid a dime for XXX months. Now that would force the issue (and certainly get the Judge's attention. It also makes the ex- look bad at the late-January hearing).

Now I predict that you new atty will not be enthused over this prospect, on the basis that the matter will be resolved in end-January (so why do all this extra work?). But here is your problem: there is no certainty that the hearing will go forward. And if it does not, you are gong to be foreclosed. So a two-prong attack is certainly one that I would pursue. And it also makes you ex look terrible going forward into the other Hearing (a nice tactical advantage).

Is your ex represented by counsel? If so, then counsel is playing with fire if he represents that you have been paid support and it is untruthful. When the dust settles, you can send the counsel to the Statewide Grievance Committee for discipline (he will not get disbarred, but he will get a reprimand, and that is a serious black mark).

[JustFileSuit]

PS Motions have been filed going back over a year ago - as I said ex claimed he paid them, did not produce any proof and the judge just ordered that it wait until the trial (originally scheduled for over a year ago..)

If the Statements in the Motions are not truthful, and he supported them by Affidavit, then be sure to have your counsel ask for Sanctions. And when the dust settles (after this case), you can sue either the ex, or his counsel, or both, for money damages for having perpetrated a fraud upon the Court. Hint: the liability insurers will pay you to go away. And your ex gets to pay the deductible. Always a nice touch. And if you lose your house in the interim, then the damages are three times the value of the lost house (known as exemplary damages; sometimes hard to get, but not in this case, if he submitted untruthful Motions to the Court and signed his name (or hos atty signed them) on the bottom line, which is a representation to the Court that he has read the document and avers that the statements contained therein are truthful).

He just figures you are not tough enough to do it, or that you don't know any better. Now you do.

[nohope]

Thanks for your advice. I made a payment on 12/31 which is for Novemebr but at least I'm still running two months behind. The $40K ex owes me if for reimbursements, mostly medical, from the kids. Ex is an attorney himself. Keeps crying poverty and that he can't claim bankruptcy as his law firm would get very upset!