reaffirmanaton aggreemnets?

[buzzstpoint]

I got reaffirmation papers in the mail from the bank today.

A few things I didn't like.. One, the Fair market value they list at more then double of what the county says it's worth.. Don't know if that matters.

But other then that it's the same amount(s) as I have now..

We are leaning toward resigning for fear of not having our house secure for the future. we have no plans on selling or leaving the house for a very long time.


My question is, Are reaffirmation agreements negotiable?
I pay 6.25% fixed now on my mortgage. But I gotten phone calls and even stopping in the bank they wanted me to refinance my loan at 3.99%
Can I call this "bank Collections" guy and see if they will put this in? or are these kind of set in stone?

[justbroke]

There is no reason to reaffirm a home mortgage so I don't know why you are even considering it. Your home is secure by continuing to pay your mortgage payments on time. A lender can only foreclose if you fail to pay or fail to maintain hazard insurance, pay taxes, and/or pay assessment (in an HOA). In in the case of not maintaining hazard insurance or paying taxes and assessment, the lender generally steps in and escrows the amount anyway, to protect their interest (in other words, they very very very very infrequently foreclose for that type of issue).

Mortgage lenders almost never change terms in a reaffirmation agreement. You would do that through a modification. If you do look at refinancing, be careful of non-fixed rate mortgages -- the so-called adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs). The initial rate is just a "tease" and this is the primary reason why the housing market crashed when all the rates reset.

Who is this "bank Collection's" guy anyhow?

[buzzstpoint]

The Bank collections guy = Anchor Bank sent me the reaffirm agreement, The person I am suppose to send the paper work back after signing is from Anchor Banks Collections Department.

As far as no reaffirming. Does all aspects of the loan maintain? Like the escrow account? Included in my monthly payment is my insurance and taxes. They send a check to the insurance company, then send me a check for the taxes for me to pay at the court house.. Does this still stay the same normally if we don't reaffirm?
Does the bank still send me my yearly statement for my income taxes for interest?

We're just worried that if we don't reaffirm the bank could come after our house at any time. (Even though many people say the bank won't).

[IamOld]

The experts will answer your other points, but the interest statement they HAVE to send you - else they'll be in trouble with the IRS!! That is something they have to provide by law. (At worst, you may have to call them and ask for it.)

The Bank collections guy = Anchor Bank sent me the reaffirm agreement, The person I am suppose to send the paper work back after signing is from Anchor Banks Collections Department.

As far as no reaffirming. Does all aspects of the loan maintain? Like the escrow account? Included in my monthly payment is my insurance and taxes. They send a check to the insurance company, then send me a check for the taxes for me to pay at the court house.. Does this still stay the same normally if we don't reaffirm?
Does the bank still send me my yearly statement for my income taxes for interest?

We're just worried that if we don't reaffirm the bank could come after our house at any time. (Even though many people say the bank won't).

[justbroke]

As far as no reaffirming. Does all aspects of the loan maintain? Like the escrow account? Included in my monthly payment is my insurance and taxes. They send a check to the insurance company, then send me a check for the taxes for me to pay at the court house.. Does this still stay the same normally if we don't reaffirm?
Does the bank still send me my yearly statement for my income taxes for interest?

Your terms stay the same. Escrow stays the same. Your annual 1098 is required by law and is not an attempt to collect a debt, so you'll get that too!

We're just worried that if we don't reaffirm the bank could come after our house at any time. (Even though many people say the bank won't).

They can't! Foreclosure is done under State non-bankruptcy law. I don't know of one State that allows foreclosure when you are current, not past due, don't owe arrears, and only filed bankruptcy and didn't reaffirm!

Not to scare you, but the WORSE that the bank could do is go back to the Bankruptcy court, re-open the case ($260), file a complaint ($250) and then attorney fees for them (thousands of dollars). The bank could only ask the bankruptcy court to FORCE you to reaffirm or surrender. At that point, just reaffirm... or surrender if you choose! Even saying this, I don't think this would ever happen. I have read only ONE case in Florida where this occurred, and Florida has a landmark (11th Circuit) case which means that we can only reaffirm, redeem or surrender real property. I did not reaffirm my mortgage, continue to pay, and the bank is happy! I was even able to get a modification without reaffirming.

I did a quick search of Anchor Bank being involved in bankruptcy and did not find anything really. It's a small mid-western bank and I wouldn't see them as being particularly aggressive about forcing a reaffirmation.

[buzzstpoint]

(At worst, you may have to call them and ask for it.)

That is nothing new to me.. In 4 years they haven't ever sent it to me without calling them.. I always found it funny when i would call on this statement, 2-4 days later I would get it in the mail.

[IamOld]

For what it's worth, guys, my atty says that he will NOT - EVER!!! - use Reaffirm (except with some car lenders like Ford/Mazda, etc.) and unless what Justbroke laid out above happens.

May I think Justbroke - that if a house - especially if a house is underwater, they would also much rather have the $$/month?

[justbroke]

May I think Justbroke - that if a house - especially if a house is underwater, they would also much rather have the $$/month?

Absolutely... but some really small "local" banks -- think credit unions -- are very very aggressive in Florida and other parts of the country. They need to be since they are member owned and can't just go sell stock on the stock market when they need more cash. They are driven by member deposits (share accounts). So, they hire really aggressive attorneys in bankruptcy cases.

[IamOld]

Absolutely... but some really small "local" banks -- think credit unions -- are very very aggressive in Florida and other parts of the country. They need to be since they are member owned and can't just go sell stock on the stock market when they need more cash. They are driven by member deposits (share accounts). So, they hire really aggressive attorneys in bankruptcy cases.

Interesting...well HSBC isn't "small"... :-)

And thank you!!!! as always!!!!

(not meaning to intrude, I started another thread about credit union aggressiveness in Ch 7...I'd live to know what you think...)

[buzzstpoint]

We may be underwater by now. The last 3 years assessments on the house it has been going down.

According to the county/city fair market is 69,600 as of November of 2010
We owe 67,900 on the house now..

But the interesting thing on the reaffirm papers, Anchor bank lists my fair market value as 113,000.. (Where was that value last winter when i wanted to refinance?)

[justbroke]

But the interesting thing on the reaffirm papers, Anchor bank lists my fair market value as 113,000.. (Where was that value last winter when i wanted to refinance?)

They probably used Zillow which is almost always inaccurate! Additionally, the best way to determine value is for someone to actually come out and, at a minimum, perform a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) or a Full Appraisal. Usually real estate agents perform the former and licensed appraisers the latter.