Long Story Short: I built a new house in 2006, closed in late November. I made mortgage payments for a year and then had a reduction in income, increase in property taxes, some medical bills, etc. I stopped paying the mortgage in 11/2007. In 03/2008, I filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. For well over 2.5 years now I have paid diligently on my plan and will receive my discharge in just over 2 years. My original CH13BK plan included covering the mortgage arrears and staying in the house. After a few months of that, my attorney crunched the numbers and said if I walked away from it, the cost would be much less. I paid $273K for the house, it is now worth ~$220K (tops) and the rate was high (6.75%). Basically, my BK had damaged my credit enough that a Foreclosure, Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure or Short Sale wouldn't hurt it any more and after I received the CH13BK discharged, I would be in much better shape. In essence, I would probably have to pay $1K/month in rent versus $2.5K for the house, PMI, taxes, insurance, etc. After 5 years, that would be about a $90K savings and because of the collapse of the market for newly built homes in my area, I would not have built any equity into my home and could use the saved money later to buy a house.
We contacted the attorney for the mortgage holder (a big bank, I'm not disclosing at this time though) in 09/2008 and agreed to lift the CH13BK stay so they could proceed with foreclosure, a renogiation, or whatever. That fall I applied for a few programs with the lender but was denied. I ended up renting a house because I was naive and assumed I was automatically going to be kicked out. I paid for rent on the other place for the entire lease period but never moved out because I wasn't foreclosed upon or anything.
From about 09/2008 to 12/2009, I received the occasional call from the bank and I would explain the situation. They said I didn't qualify for any programs so we just ended the call. In 01/2010, I received a packet saying I had been accepted for the trial modification program, even though I had never applied for it. I wrote them a letter (certified!) and said I'd like to try that program but due to my CH13BK, which basically means I owe nothing from the past on it, I didn't want to trial a modification with unset terms, that I wanted a modification with set terms. They never replied except for a denial from the program.
Since then, I have stopped receiving my monthly statements, calls or any type of communications from the lender. It has been at least 6 months.
In '08 & '09 they paid my property taxes and insurance. They aren't due for '10 yet.
In summary, I have lived in this house for 3 years without a mortgage payment. It has been 26 months since the CH13BK automatic stay has been lifted. It has been at least 6 months since I've received any communication from the bank. I don't know if they will pay the property taxes or insurance this year. When I go to my online account with the bank, it always throws an error that says basically my account details are unavailable.
I'm not proud of this situation. However, I am paying a lot of $$ on the CH13BK plan and am going to complete it. I would prefer to be paying for where I'm living but my mortgage is way too high and I need to walk away from this house. I don't want to abandon it and cause grief for my neighbors so I've stayed. However, I can't take it. I want my own place and I want to pay for it. That ship has sailed on this house. I just don't know why it is taking this long.
I did a court records search and this bank is filing foreclosures against people who bought there house a year or more after my CH13BK automatic stay was lifted. It isn't like they are behind or something. I have no idea what is going on with this but I can't stay here forever and I don't want to abandon the property. I guess if they aren't going to do anything, I will stay here but my desire to stay here has really diminished except obviously it seems like a no-brainer until I'm kicked out.
Anyone have any thoughts?
We contacted the attorney for the mortgage holder (a big bank, I'm not disclosing at this time though) in 09/2008 and agreed to lift the CH13BK stay so they could proceed with foreclosure, a renogiation, or whatever. That fall I applied for a few programs with the lender but was denied. I ended up renting a house because I was naive and assumed I was automatically going to be kicked out. I paid for rent on the other place for the entire lease period but never moved out because I wasn't foreclosed upon or anything.
From about 09/2008 to 12/2009, I received the occasional call from the bank and I would explain the situation. They said I didn't qualify for any programs so we just ended the call. In 01/2010, I received a packet saying I had been accepted for the trial modification program, even though I had never applied for it. I wrote them a letter (certified!) and said I'd like to try that program but due to my CH13BK, which basically means I owe nothing from the past on it, I didn't want to trial a modification with unset terms, that I wanted a modification with set terms. They never replied except for a denial from the program.
Since then, I have stopped receiving my monthly statements, calls or any type of communications from the lender. It has been at least 6 months.
In '08 & '09 they paid my property taxes and insurance. They aren't due for '10 yet.
In summary, I have lived in this house for 3 years without a mortgage payment. It has been 26 months since the CH13BK automatic stay has been lifted. It has been at least 6 months since I've received any communication from the bank. I don't know if they will pay the property taxes or insurance this year. When I go to my online account with the bank, it always throws an error that says basically my account details are unavailable.
I'm not proud of this situation. However, I am paying a lot of $$ on the CH13BK plan and am going to complete it. I would prefer to be paying for where I'm living but my mortgage is way too high and I need to walk away from this house. I don't want to abandon it and cause grief for my neighbors so I've stayed. However, I can't take it. I want my own place and I want to pay for it. That ship has sailed on this house. I just don't know why it is taking this long.
I did a court records search and this bank is filing foreclosures against people who bought there house a year or more after my CH13BK automatic stay was lifted. It isn't like they are behind or something. I have no idea what is going on with this but I can't stay here forever and I don't want to abandon the property. I guess if they aren't going to do anything, I will stay here but my desire to stay here has really diminished except obviously it seems like a no-brainer until I'm kicked out.
Anyone have any thoughts?
Comment