Changed Intention on home, now I wait

[Mark80]

I met with my attorney finally about my house. He said it was a very good idea to go ahead and not reaffirm and walk away from it. He had me sign a change of intent form, notifying the lender and courts of my "new" intention.

However he cautioned that in very rare cases you could possibly be forced out of the Chapter 7 into a 13! Although he has not seen a case do that in 15years of their practice. Just because I am super paranoid, I was wondering if anyone else has had that happen to them?

I am hoping it ends up fine and I am happy to finally be letting it all go, just worried of course that the trustee wont be so forgiving. Without the house my means test has me in a 13, although renting would negate that amount. He also mentioned that if you took 2 similar people, one with a 2k secured house payment and one with a 2k rent payment that the renter may not make it into a chapter 7!

Ugh!

[Tbornetun]

I am wondering why the attorney would change it now instead of just letting nature run its course. You could stop making payments, DON't sign a reaff, and wait for the bank to take it. This would allow you to finish your Ch. 7 and let the bank have the house afterward.

Doesn't make sense to me to advertise to the court, trustee, and creditor that you have changed your intentions. If you are current right now, your mortgage payment would factor into your expenses for the past 6 months on the means test anyway.

[Mark80]

I'm not current, I am actually a few months behind. I'm guessing that was why, because if I didn't reaffirm they would of filed with the court to speed up the forclosure anyhow?

[AngelinaCatHub]

I tend to go with the advice of your attorney. He is paid to take the blame. Play this by 'Hoyle' or you may be dismissed and you don't want that. Before you could reaffirm, your payments must be up to date. 'Hub

[Mark80]

So Hub do you think it was wise to roll the dice in my situation, rather then to try and let it forclose on its own without reaffirming?

[laurannm]

I met with my attorney finally about my house. He said it was a very good idea to go ahead and not reaffirm and walk away from it. He had me sign a change of intent form, notifying the lender and courts of my "new" intention.

However he cautioned that in very rare cases you could possibly be forced out of the Chapter 7 into a 13! Although he has not seen a case do that in 15years of their practice. Just because I am super paranoid, I was wondering if anyone else has had that happen to them?

I am hoping it ends up fine and I am happy to finally be letting it all go, just worried of course that the trustee wont be so forgiving. Without the house my means test has me in a 13, although renting would negate that amount. He also mentioned that if you took 2 similar people, one with a 2k secured house payment and one with a 2k rent payment that the renter may not make it into a chapter 7!

Ugh!

There have been a couple of people on here who had this happen to them (can't find the posts at the moment). Since you're behind with your mortgage payments you don't have much of a choice. Some trustees will ask if you are current at your 341

[Mark80]

Ok last question on this then, if its going to happen how long will I need to hold my breath until I find out if it will?

I figure it has to be brought up before the discharge date, does it happen fairly quick once the court is notified on the change?


They didn't ask me if I was current, no one honestly did. I didn't feel I had much choice either. I was sure the mortgage company would do something before discharge if I didn't reaffirm.

I guess the most frustrating aspect of getting bumped is how they expect you to pay rent and utilities somewhere and still have all this magical left over money? We have a family of 5 and all the rentals in our county run about the same price, which is only a few hundred less a month then my mortgage!


OH one last thing, can PACER show their ruling on this when it happens?

[Tbornetun]

How close is your mortgage payment to the IRS allowance?

[Mark80]

I don't even know what you mean? My mortgage payment was 1835 a month?

[Tbornetun]

The IRS standards for your state can be found at the following link:

http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/20081001/bci_data/housing_charts/irs_housing_charts_MO.htm

Without knowing your family size and the county you live in, I don't know what your allowance would be. If it is close to $1835 a month than you shouldn't have an issue.

[Mark80]

Ugh, family of 5, 1,180 rent allowance...

I am suprised my attorney feels its not going to be an issue?

I called today to find out where I should stay on my rent amount and the paralegal told me no more then my house payments was. But never told me I needed to stay around 1,180!

I have never even seen a home out here renting for that cheap, unless you go 1 or 2 bedrooms. I have a family of 5.

[Tbornetun]

If you find a rental at the same amount as your mortgage, you CAN use that actual amount. I was only giving you the IRS standards so you could see where they were at if you didn't rent right away and stayed in the house rent free.

[Mark80]

Update:

I did find a house and I'm signing the contract tomorrow.

1650 a month with 15% going towards a down payment if I decide to buy down the road. Lease agreement is for 3 years with option to renew, with down payment roll over.

Its about 200 a month cheaper then my current mortgage. Utilities are slightly higher, so I would say my living expenses maybe dropped 100 a month total.

Will the trustee take that into consideration if they decide to try and drop me from the Ch7?

How long does it usually take for the trustee to decide to dump you out of a Chapter 7 to a 13 once they find out you didn't reaffirm your house? They found out 11 days ago and I have not heard anything.

Thank you!