Homeward/Ocwen/BK

[ifucan]

This is a weird story that I'm still finding it hard to believe it involves me.

I filed for BK back in late 2010. I had never filed before and fought it as long as I could I guess
due to shame,etc.,but it soon became too over whelming and therefore I just had to.

Anyway I listed everything,foreclosures,debts,etc. At the 341 meeting the Trustee pipes up and
claims there's a property listed on the foreclosures but I actually still owned it!! This property unbeknowing
to me was Quitclaim deeded back to me. I had no idea as all I remember was a "recovery"company on the
behalf of the bank came in and took all the belongings. I was served the foreclosure,everything. The only
thing my attorney could figure was there was a mess up in the paperwork by the attorneys doing the foreclosure
and so they Quitclaimed it back to me. Fast forward,the Trustee files an AP against us and agreed to drop it if we
agree to not seek the discharge and the BK dismissed.

Many of the credit card debts have reached the statute of limitations and I'm not inundated with all that many
creditors, but this particular property keeps coming back to bite me. The Trustee ended up with the house. It does
not show up in my name under the county property records, yet the Mortgage company.... was Homeward and now
Ocwen is sending me statements. Now today I receive a certified letter from Ocwen offering me help to stay in my
home!!! This wasn't even my primary.They want me to send in items to qualify for the HAMP program on this property.

I could call my attorney,but frankly he is worthless and I get better advice on this forum.

For some reason this property still shows up on my credit report so I don't want another foreclosure showing up on there,
especially when it's no longer my property. I assume the Trustee has it now.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[LadyInTheRed]

I'm confused. You say that the Trustee agreed to dismiss the AP if you agreed not to seek discharge and that the BK was dismissed. Then, you say the trustee ended up with the house. Did the trustee administer your assets or was the case dismissed? It is possible for you to be denied a discharge, but have the trustee liquidate non-exempt property and distribute the proceeds to creditors. If that happens, your case would not be dismissed. It would be closed after the trustee finishes administrating the BK estate. If the house is not in your name, whose name is it in? Did the trustee sell it?

ETA: I just reread your post. You say you assume the trustee has the property. Do you mean the BK Trustee or the Trustee under a deed of trust? Don't assume anything. You need to look at the actual documents recorded with the county to find out who currently has title and what liens still exist.

[justbroke]

I'm confused as well. I would certainly follow Lady's advice and make a determination as to just who owns the property.

[ifucan]

I'm confused as well. I would certainly follow Lady's advice and make a determination as to just who owns the property.

Well that makes 3 of us so far! I am very confused as well. Frankly I was so happy that I did not have to
go back to court, continue this hell my family and I were going through,etc. Now reality is coming back to bite me.

As memory serves me:

Filed BK in late 2010. Went to attorney and filled out all the necessary paperwork to file. Attended 341 meeting to be
told that a property I had owned, and that WAS foreclosed on is still in my name. Came to find that house was Quitclaimed
deeded back to me. I had no idea and when was told we looked on County Property Records site and saw indeed it was.
The belongings left in the house were confiscated. My attorney was just cavalier and confused about it. So in essence this
property cost me my discharge. The Trustee believed I was "hiding" this property and therefore filed an AP against us. I had
to agree not to pursue the discharge and the AP would be dropped. So under the advice of me attorney I agreed not to further
this,pursue the discharge. The AP was dropped and my BK was dismissed.

Now this house I was led to believe belongs to the Trustee to sell or has sold to satisfy creditors. I just do not know.
My attorney is a joke and was eaten up by this Trustee. I'm getting correspondence from the new Mortgage holder and I
just don't want to suddenly get hit with a foreclosure that I know I do not own.

[justbroke]

The only thing that I can suggest is to see if you can get an attorney to look into this. It makes absolutely NO sense that it was actually foreclosed upon and then QC'd back to you. That would mean that you own it free and clear. There is something wrong with either the Title and/or the lien securing the property. There is no way to speculate about this or guess what the actual issue could be. The only way to tell is to examine the Title to the property. If you are in a State, like Florida, you can look up the ownership records online. You may even be able to inspect any recorded liens in your "keeper" of the records for your town/city/county/State.

You may have had a judgment of foreclosure, but the foreclosure sale never occurred. That means that it was not foreclosed. This actually occurs more often than one may realize. You really need to inspect the title and the liens. If you do, in fact, own the property and you have a few hundred dollars to throw at the problem, you could hire an attorney to see if there is some issue. You may not want to use a bankruptcy attorney, but a real estate attorney for this. Attorneys have specialization for a reason.

[ifucan]

The only thing that I can suggest is to see if you can get an attorney to look into this. It makes absolutely NO sense that it was actually foreclosed upon and then QC'd back to you. That would mean that you own it free and clear. There is something wrong with either the Title and/or the lien securing the property. There is no way to speculate about this or guess what the actual issue could be. The only way to tell is to examine the Title to the property. If you are in a State, like Florida, you can look up the ownership records online. You may even be able to inspect any recorded liens in your "keeper" of the records for your town/city/county/State.

You may have had a judgment of foreclosure, but the foreclosure sale never occurred. That means that it was not foreclosed. This actually occurs more often than one may realize. You really need to inspect the title and the liens. If you do, in fact, own the property and you have a few hundred dollars to throw at the problem, you could hire an attorney to see if there is some issue. You may not want to use a bankruptcy attorney, but a real estate attorney for this. Attorneys have specialization for a reason.

Thanks so much for your response. I am going to have to hire a competent attorney that can help me on this.

While I'm at it. So tonight I get a "credit alert" from "MY Fico" showing me that a new judgment has hit me!!!!

As I never got my BK discharged a bank that foreclosed on a commercial property I owned now has told me
that they would "settle" for $100 per month on a $97K deficiency or whatever ya call it. In 2 years they would
re-look at my file. Tell me that ain't a power play by the bank and their attorneys!!!! So as my "attorney" advised
me..."that's a good deal" I agreed and NOW I get a credit score alert that I have a new judgment from these S.O.B.'S!

I have absolutely NO assets and everything I have...house,car. has a lien on it................since they now have a judgment
against me....w/out ever telling me that would happen.............. should I continue to pay $100 per month? It's not a lot of
money but damn now it is the principle. I've been through enough.

[justbroke]

I would hope that your attorney explained it to you and indicated that a settlement, while a lawsuit is already underway, may actually still produce a judgment. With all the confusion, perhaps the attorney did or did not mention it. You write that you have no assets, but then say that your car and home have liens on them. Those two properties are assets.

If you stop paying, the judgment can be enforced in other ways including, but not limited to garnishment and levy actions. The extent to which this non-consensual lien impairs any exemptions you may have under your State's non-bankruptcy law is State specific. In other words, the judgment, if recorded as a lien and becoming a judgment lien, may not impact equity in your home or vehicle. (For example... in Florida, the judgment creditor could not attach the lien to your homestead.)

I was not aware that you filed bankruptcy but had your discharged denied or revoked. Deficiency judgments are nothing to take lightly. This is why I will always ask why people allow things to go to judgment and not preempt or shutdown a significant judgment dead in its tracks by filing for bankruptcy "and" receiving a discharge of the underlying debt.

[ifucan]

I would hope that your attorney explained it to you and indicated that a settlement, while a lawsuit is already underway, may actually still produce a judgment. With all the confusion, perhaps the attorney did or did not mention it. You write that you have no assets, but then say that your car and home have liens on them. Those two properties are assets.

If you stop paying, the judgment can be enforced in other ways including, but not limited to garnishment and levy actions. The extent to which this non-consensual lien impairs any exemptions you may have under your State's non-bankruptcy law is State specific. In other words, the judgment, if recorded as a lien and becoming a judgment lien, may not impact equity in your home or vehicle. (For example... in Florida, the judgment creditor could not attach the lien to your homestead.)

I was not aware that you filed bankruptcy but had your discharged denied or revoked. Deficiency judgments are nothing to take lightly. This is why I will always ask why people allow things to go to judgment and not preempt or shutdown a significant judgment dead in its tracks by filing for bankruptcy "and" receiving a discharge of the underlying debt.

Hi JB- Could you help me out with something please? As mentioned above I did not get my BK Discharge
unfortunately. Therefore a few past creditors have tried to come after me. It feels as if the nightmare is
starting all over again. Anyway these are primarily collections for credit cards which are past the NC S.O.L.
However there is a new collection that certainly has me nervous. It's for a second mortgage,home equity
line I had with Chase.They are now coming after me for $70K! I know I'm going to have to speak with an
attorney,but do you have any other advice? Thanks!

[subking]

It sounds like you need to file again, disclose everything, and let the trustee sell it off, then you'll have your discharge for everything involved, home, CC, and second.

[LadyInTheRed]

It sounds like you need to file again, disclose everything, and let the trustee sell it off, then you'll have your discharge for everything involved, home, CC, and second.

That will depend on the terms of the prior dismissal. It may be that those debts can never be discharged. ifucan, I think you should go consult with a BK attorney other than the one you used before. If you didn't know that the property was quitclaimed back to you, I'm troubled that your attorney didn't put up a better fight. When you consult with an attorney, bring copies of all the documents from your 2010 filing.