Please Help!

[stephanie4686]

I was wondering if anybody could clarify and tell me what I need to do, because my attourney sure as heck won't. Let me give you my situation.
-On 12/10 I had went into attourneys office for consultation. I had to think about it a little before I decided to file. The attourney told me I would need to pay my mortgage current to file a ch. 7 if I wanted to keep the house, as I was 30 days behind at that time. I decided to file so I sent a money order to the mortgage company bringing us current.
-On 12/17 I filed a ch. 7
-On 01/07/08 I recieved something from the lenders attourney saying I was 2 months past due and they were seeking relief from the stay. The hearing is on 01/31/08 This was a surprise to me. I called the money gram people and they said the money orders had not been cashed and they could reissue them to me.
-On 01/14 I finally recieved the replacement money orders in the mail so I express mailed it to my attourney like they asked. His paralegal told me that they would most definitely accept the money order and I could send everything to her and she would take care of it (Citimortgage was not taking my calls, which is another story in itself.).
-01/23/08 I have my 341. The trustee does not have my tax returns which is probably an oversight by my attourney.
-01/28/08 Call my attourney for the millionth time and the paralegal actually answers. I would say about 20% of my voicemail messages I leave are returned. I ask her if she got my fax I sent on 01/25. She says she cannot read it, which is not her fault but she should have called me way before then. She asks me what I plan to do about the motion for relief from stay...

WHAT?!?!?! YOU HAVEN'T TAKEN CARE OF THAT YET?!?!?!

The idiot completely forgot even though I mailed and called and called and called and left message after message. She has had that money for almost 2 weeks and has yet to call my lender or their attourney. They date in court for the motion for relief from stay is on Thursday. Is it to late to keep my house? I don't know what to do or where we would go if they foreclosed on me. I also don't have money to pay to have the loan reinstated. I was almost forclosed on a few months ago but I paid big bucks in fees to reinstate the loan. Do I have any recourse? What should I do? The paralegal doesn't seem worried but I have lost all trust in this attourney and hid staff.

Ps I live in GA! Does anyone know what will happen?

[dp1969]

I was wondering if anybody could clarify and tell me what I need to do, because my attourney sure as heck won't. Let me give you my situation.

The idiot completely forgot even though I mailed and called and called and called and left message after message. She has had that money for almost 2 weeks and has yet to call my lender or their attourney. They date in court for the motion for relief from stay is on Thursday. Is it to late to keep my house? I don't know what to do or where we would go if they foreclosed on me. I also don't have money to pay to have the loan reinstated. I was almost forclosed on a few months ago but I paid big bucks in fees to reinstate the loan. Do I have any recourse? What should I do? The paralegal doesn't seem worried but I have lost all trust in this attourney and hid staff.

Ps I live in GA! Does anyone know what will happen?

It's not too late but some fees might be assessed. Lenders DONT want to foreclose.
Get another attorney and find out about your current attorneys unethical practice.

[phoenyx]

First, I have to agree with dp1969 that I would be looking for another attorney. I don't know for certain, but I thought I've remembered seeing other threads that if an attorney screws up a bankruptcy, it usually royally screws over the person filing. I'm not certain if "my attorney messed up" cuts it.

Some things that might help...

Do you have your original money order receipt/carbon copy? It will be dated showing that you did in fact purchase it. It sounds like you do, since they were able to re-issue it.

Do you have any proof of mailing the original money order? Like a certificate of mailing with return receipt? If you don't, consider using one in the future for critical deliveries like this one. It's a pain since it costs like $4.80 a letter, but can avoid issues like this.

If you don't have a proof of mailing, I would either write up a Sworn Declaration or sign an Affadavit, with as much detail about the mail you sent them with the original money order. If you can remember, write down the exact date you mailed it, what envelope type was used perhaps, etc. There's a legal presumption that once something is mailed, that it correctly gets delivered. Remember, if the issue winds up being important down the line, no one at Citimortgage can truly say you didn't send in your payment. All they can say is that they have no record of receiving and processing it. An under oath written statement, followed up by under oath testimony might help.

But like dp1969 said, they don't want to go into foreclosure. My ideas are listed to perhaps fight any fees that they assess, or smooth any bumps in the road you might come across.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Phoenyx gave you excellent advice. If you can send certified, return receipt requested, a letter to your lender and lender's atty along with photocopies (NOT originals, you may need them later) of whatever supporting documentation you have, such as the carbons from the first money order, you will get much farther than trying to explain it over the phone OR even continuing to deal with the atty on it.

As far as the atty goes, I would also send HIM a certified letter, return receipt requested, along the lines of, "Dear Mr. Shyster, ever since receiving notification that my lender ____ has requested a lift of the automatic stay, I have tried to contact you many times, including [list all your phone calls, messages, etc here if you can remember them] but with absolutely no response. I have also sent further payment to the lender via your office, per the request of Ms. Paralegal, but have been unable to determine whether these payments were even sent..." and continue on in the same vein. Include pretty much what you just said in your first post, but clean it up and make it sound professional. At the end, clearly state what you want them to do (ensure pmts were sent, confirm to you when and to where pmts were sent, object to the motion the lender has filed, confirm to you exactly how they do so, etc.) and make the language as chronologically ordered, factual and cut-n-dried as you can. Keep copies, send the original.

Why the letter to the atty? Because it says that you are serious, it will be apparent to them upon receipt that you are about to escalate the situation if you are not assisted, and the letter itself will be the basis of your complaint, forwarded to the Bar Association if/when you decide to make a formal complaint against him.... which, in my opinion, you would not be out of line to do.

But deal with the lender first, as Phoenyx said. Your home is more important than kicking the atty's ass... even if the margin is slim. Good luck to you!!!!

[stephanie4686]

Thanks.

Thanks for all the help guys. What you are saying makes sense.
Tomorrow is the last day before the motion to lift automatic stay hearing, and I plan to basically "blow up" up atty's phone. I called again today, and was directed to the paralegal, who of course, didn't return the voicemail I left her. My lender shouldn't have filed any foreclosure paperwork yet, because I was only 30 days past due when I filed. I have almost been foreclosed on last year, which is what prompted me to file bankruptcy. They charged me about 2300 in fees to reinstate the loan, which I CANNOT afford this time around. If I get assessed these fees because my attourney didn't "get around" to sending them my payment I will be furious.

On another note, my lender has been absolutely the worst to deal with. Citimortgage, who coincidentally has been all over the news because they are losing a horrendous amount of money, will not take my calls. When I call, a computer voice asks for my acct number. It them says, "please hold for a representative" and then it HANGS UP ON ME! Can you believe it?! They don't even have the decency to have a human being tell you that they cannot assist you. They have a computer do it. No wonder they are going under. Personally I hope Citi goes under and my note gets sold.

**Side note to those who keep asking why do I keep the house.**
My mortgage is 750 for a 3 bedroom. The average rent for a 3 bedroom apartment is 900. A two bedroom is about $750. The subprime crisis has skyrocketed rent. Can't really get much cheaper than what I have now.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Stephanie, one last ditch effort you could make would be to show up at the hearing yourself (be EARLY!!!), explain that your attorney is not present because he will not return your calls or act according to your instructions, and basically beg for a continuance (a delay). You may also call the lender's atty and let them know that you will personally be there, just as a courtesy, because they have not received anything from your atty (I am guessing) suggesting that this would be anything but a default judgement. You could also call the judge's clerk (NOT the judge, who cannot speak with you) and let them know that you will be appearing on your own behalf, so they know to expect you.

It may not be proper, it may not be exactly how it should be handled, but you can get away with it because you're not an attorney, and at least you would have it on record that you tried and why you have not responded to the motion (which will also assist in any future Bar Association complaint you make). If you get a decent judge, I think you have a good shot at getting a short continuance, which will give you time to regroup. Dress well, show up VERY early, don't interrupt the judge and try to wait for him to call on you before speaking, and you'll do fine. At the earliest possible point, say, "Your Honor, I am here to request a continuance...." and go from there. He will himself probably ask you where your atty is, and that's when you can tell him. He may also ask you how long a continuance you require; you can ask how long he will give you, but aim for *at least* two weeks. Apologize for the lack of action by your attorney and explain that you are there solely to save your home, and had no idea your attorney was not acting on your instructions. Etc, etc. I think you'll be fine.

At this point, you need a delay, I think: you can't go in there and fight the motion on your own, and you can't afford to let the lender get a default judgement, so a delay is your best shot. Or so it seems to me.

I am NOT an attorney, just so you know. But if I were in your shoes, I would call everyone and show up, just as I wrote, because even if I made an ass of myself, I would not have lost my home without a fight.

BTW, I went through that exact same hangup sh*t with Countrywide last year. What you want to do is call them from a number that is not connected to your acct (like a throwaway cell, or your neightbor's phone, or a pay phone, whatever) and DON'T punch in your numbers. This will generally result in your call being routed to a live representative. It will take at least 5-15 minutes, so don't start it if you don't have time to sit on hold, but you should get there if you wait, say nothing, and punch in nothing.

Good luck!!!! Please let us know how it turns out, will ya?

[phoenyx]

BTW, I went through that exact same hangup sh*t with Countrywide last year. What you want to do is call them from a number that is not connected to your acct (like a throwaway cell, or your neightbor's phone, or a pay phone, whatever) and DON'T punch in your numbers. This will generally result in your call being routed to a live representative. It will take at least 5-15 minutes, so don't start it if you don't have time to sit on hold, but you should get there if you wait, say nothing, and punch in nothing.

Often what this means is that the phone system realizes your account isn't with general representatives, and is trying to transfer you to the correct department. It may be an outside agency and, often in my experience, those transfers don't go well and disconnect you. I've also had times when I've called, and the department I need to speak with closed at 4pm, and if I call after that, instead of telling me they're closed, it just disconnects.

Fresh's tactic is the same I use to get to someone as well. I never give an automated system my account number. Some systems won't transfer you to an operator unless you give an account numer, and when asked for an account number hitting the "0", "#", and "*" keys repeatedly usually confuses a phone tree to dump you to an operator.

If once you get to a rep, and they get your account number verbally and then either disconnect you or "transfer you" which winds up disconnecting you, when you call back immediately ask for a supervisor. They'll probably say they need your account number before they can transfer you to a supervisor, and explain every time you give your account number, you are hung up on - so you would prefer just to talk the supervisor. In this scenario, I've had situations where I would have to give the account number, but they would at least pass me to their supervisor... Who can then tell me why I'm being disconnected, and what my next step is.

Good luck!