Collection calls/letters?

[basketsbears]

Hi,

BK was discharged in October. We did not reaffirm mortgage. Not to go into long story, but did not make 11/1 mtg payment. Will make it today. Yesterday we rec'd in mail a letter from them that they haven't been able to contact us by phone and to send them our correct phone number. I realize these are computer generated, but I am not sending them our phone number. Also, I did not think they could start calling us???? Late reminders in the mail are one thing, and I realize they can foreclose if we chose not to pay, etc, but I thought BK discharge protected us in that way?

I have heard of some people who have lived in their homes for awhile not paying anything (that isn't what we are trying to do, I just had hours cut in October) until bank foreclosed (and mtg was included in BK). In those situations did they put up with collection calls?

I had tried to talk to the bank first part of month and they told me know that we are discharged and are "fair game" and the BK does not affect them or the mortgage.

Just trying to figure out what is appropriate in our situation. Our attorney did tell us to let her know if we were more than 30 days late and they reported us to credit bureau (bank person said they will).

Sorry if this is confusing!

Lynn

P.S. If down the road we did ever just walk away from house, does the foreclosure show up separately on our credit report or is everything included in BK?

[tobee43]

hi lynn,

since you location is private i can't tell whether you live in a judicial or non judicial state. when you hear those stories about people staying in their homes for months to years it's because they live in one of the few...(i think it was JB sometime ago pointed out the total is 13 states) that are judicial, meaning they must go via the court system to foreclose. that takes time sometimes years. whereas the other states you could be out in 90 days after rec'ing your first notice. even though you may get notice from the banks if you live in a judicial state most times the process takes some time to conclude, additionally, you can fight it and stay even longer. if you have chosen to pay and stay then if you are late they can notify and call you as the stay is lifted. although, discharged you are still there and they expect their payments on time.

if you listed your mortgage on your petition and did not reaffirm the mortgage was included in the discharge. it should be showing up as IIB on your credit report. i have heard some cases that a foreclosure that proceeded a bk sometimes shows up on the credit report, however, you can fight it, the mortgage was discharged. also, it really doesn't mean much if it gets put on their within 36 months of your bk as the foreclosure stays on your credit for 7 years while a bk is 10.

[basketsbears]

Hi,

Thanks for replying. We live in Indiana, which according to my google search is a judicial state.

I was mainly wondering if the bank can start collection calls, etc to us??? I didn't think so, but the way they were when I talked with them earlier this month it sounded like it was back to business as usual.

Thanks again!

Lynn

[Drazil65]

Hi Lynn, our rental is out of state (Ohio) and in a judical state. We did not reaffirm (we were discharged this past March) and stopped making payments in June or July of 2011 so about 1.5 yrs ago. BOA did not try to contact us after we filed (December 2011) and have not since. Our attorney told us back then that if they tried to contact us just give them the case number and fax a copy of the discharge if they press as they cannot push with calls or collection efforts (no matter what they say). If its in a judical state then they have to go according to the procedure and laws, it does not matter what some CSR says or thinks they know.

If you continue on the road to foreclosure look up the timeline for your state so that you have a better idea of how long you could be in the house before it goes to sale. It might give you some peace and time to make a plan and save moving money. We were lucky our house here in NC sold a few weeks ago in a successful short sale and we moved into a nice townhome 10 months after we stopped making payments. Our bank (small local) was more than willing to approve the SS as it was only 13,000 under the mtg payoff so they got almost all of their money back. I guess they thought that was better than nothing (we did not reaffirm). So we never had to deal with collection calls from our primary home (we told them we were putting it on the market within 3 months of stopped payments and they agreed). Good Luck!

[tobee43]

Drazil's right on point here. if you mortgage was listed and is IIB, they cannot say anything if you are staying and paying .they may attempt to engage you to do a loan mod, so they can have you in there mitts again. however, if you really want to stay forever it may be something you want to consider, BUT that is ONLY if you really want to stay and it's worth it for you and your family.

it is apparent you want to at least live there for now, as you are still making the payments. but, if your intention is to leave i would stop paying and save as much money as possible and stay until the final moments...which most likely could take at least 2-3 years, or even more. although, i hear they are moving a bit faster nowadays, you can check your sheriff's site to see how quickly they are moving in your county.

[basketsbears]

Thanks!

Tobee - how do I check the Sheriff's sale site, and what am I looking for to see how long it is taking? I know when we voted, I noticed the SS notices hung on the walls, but I really didn't pay much attention to them.

Lynn

[tobee43]

Thanks!

Tobee - how do I check the Sheriff's sale site, and what am I looking for to see how long it is taking? I know when we voted, I noticed the SS notices hung on the walls, but I really didn't pay much attention to them.

Lynn

the way i have done it is i put in my old county and request the sheriff's dept, and ask for list of foreclosure properties in google. our old county, the sheriff's site comes up and provides a list of the present foreclosures one can go through and see how quickly it's moving. in our case or in our county, there was actually even ONE entire year or a bit more that there were NO foreclosures. ours lists dates and results of what happened.

you might have to google it a few different ways to get there, but you should be able to find it on line. the SS notices???

[basketsbears]

Oh sorry SS = sheriff's sale

[tobee43]

Oh sorry SS = sheriff's sale

LOL! i got it. yes, they usually also posts on boards or on the actual property. most likely you have a county website, nowadays they really or most do have one. you should be hopefully able to get the information you seek from that.