Second mortgage 6 months now with no payments

[Ann]

Hi all,
I have not been here for a while and without retelling my long and boring story over again I do have a question. Was discharged in August in a chapter 7 and did not reaffirm both 1st or 2nd mortgage. We are underwater on our second mortgage by about 70,000.00...1st mortgage is now pretty close to what we may sell for if we were to go that route. We tried several times to contact our second mortgage company and ask to settle for a release of lien but they will not even respond. We have not paid that mortgage since June. We are current and have not been late with our first. What are the chances that the second will now begin to take action and try and foreclose (since there has been no payment for so long) or maybe even settle? I'm so tired of this. Anyone with some good input? Thanks!

[Wantmypeace]

I am not an expert (by any stretch), but I do know that the second won't foreclose unless it is to their benefit to do so. If they can come out ahead, they'll do it. So, If you owe 200K on your first and 170K on your second, and your house can be sold for 300K, they would still get 100K out of the deal (minus their expenses), so it would be worth it to them. However, if they can only get 225K out of the house, leaving them with 25K after they pay off the first, they probably won't move...YET...because it will cost them money to foreclose, and it wouldn't be worth it to them...YET. As the value of the home increases and what you owe on your first decreases, though, it becomes more attractive to the 2nd to foreclose. It's all business and numbers.