I am waiting for my attorney to get back to me next week. In the meantime if anyone knows the answer to this, I would really appreciate it. I have already filed and had my court date for my Chapter 7 bankruptcy. My Chapter 7 bankruptcy will be finalized on January 30 2007, and I will be released of all unsecured debt.
On my "Debtors Statement of Intention" document, we put "Surrender" for my car, and that's exactly what I'm doing with it.
For my house we put "Exempt" which made the equity exempt and allowed me to keep the home without a forced sale. The problem and question is with my home. The mortgage company's lawyer is pressuring me to "Reaffirm" by January 30. She says of I don't sign the reaffirm agreement then it will default to "Redeem" "Redeem" seems to mean pay a lump sum or surrender the property? The question is; Is a Chapter 7 debtor's home mortgage limited to reaffirmation, redemption or surrender, after Exempt? My attorney says there is a 5th choice, do nothing.
2007-01-09 10:41:24 · 4 answers · asked by lepooche 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
Really your only options are:
1. Surrender the property
2. Redeem the property pursuant
3. Reaffirm the debt
4. Claim the property exempt (avoid the lien)
Another option you may have
5. Retain the property and continue to make payments
http://www1.ncmb.uscourts.gov/opinions/docs/05-54201.pdf
The reaffirmation agreement is mainly to protect the creditor. If you default on the loan in the future the mortgage company can still collect the debt from you because you reobligated yourself to the debt. You may want to look at the amount of equity that is in your house to decide whether you want to reaffirm or not, once a mortgage loan go into default, their fees would take a great deal of equity out of the house.
If you do not sign a reaffirmation agreement and you do fall behind on your payments, the mortgage company will most likely send your loan to their attorney to start foreclosing without giving you any notice to cure the default with them. Most mortgage companies will not send you a billing statement or contact you if you are late, because they would technically be violating the discharge injunction.
If you have the discipline to send a payment each month and keep a track of every payment that you send, you would not have to sign a reaffirmation agreement.
2007-01-11 09:29:31 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are never required to sign the reaffirmation. You can continue paying without doing so. And if you pay on time, they shouldn't just be able to foreclose. But presumably, you have fallen behind? Are you still behind? If there's a past due balance, that probably needs to be brought current. If foreclosure proceedings had begun, it might all be different.
Remember who the other lawyer works for. They want you to sign in writing asap that you'll keep paying. It's probably illegal for him to be threatening you with foreclosure while you're under the protection of the courts.
I filed Ch. 7 just over a year ago (old laws). I kept my car. I did not sign any reaffirmation. I just kept making my payments. I still have a loan, still make payments, and nothing has ever happened with it. Things could be different now than they were when I filed, since it was a brutal change for the consumer. 100% of the changes were in the banks' favor.
Ultimately, it may be too complex to answer in this forum, with the new laws, varying exemptions on real estate by state, how late you might have been, etc...
2007-01-09 10:55:12 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why do you think of happening yahoo solutions makes extra experience than chatting with an lawyer? in case you elect to offer up the homestead you have your lawyer touch the lender approximately making preparations. many times they're going to easily await the financial ruin 7 to be over. you would be discharged of the debt as quickly as you get the release on your case, surrendering v permitting them to foreclose after a financial ruin discharge won't result that.
2016-10-30 11:29:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't do it!! Your attorney should be handling these matters and all correspondence should go through your attorney. Of course, the bank is going to try to get money from you. I worked for a bankruptcy attorney during my internship and received these kinds of letters. We ignored them. Hope this helps....
2007-01-09 11:32:27 · answer #4 · answered by lawchick111 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋