Reaffirm mortgage 15 mos after discharge of Ch. 7?

[BungalowMo]

Greetings all!

Last year, while going thru my bk, I got a copy of a letter sent to my atty. from my mortgage holder.  It was the reaffirmation info, and they wanted my atty to let them know if they could contact me directly.  I asked atty what this was about.  He explained & suggested against it, but the choice was mine.  I said no thanks, but continued making all my payments on time.  (I basically have a blank credit file right now)

FFWD 15 months after discharge...after much thought, I want to find another job in Michigan & move back there, sell my home in Virginia and find another there.

I have always been in good standing with my mortgage holder, even over the phone & I actually like them a lot!

If I contact my mortgage holder, do you think they would got for the reaffirmation now? Should I suggest using them when I move/buy?  This wouldn't be a bad thing.  As I mentioned, I like them. 

If they go for the reaffirm, I do realize that when my acct hits my file, it will show a much lower score than I had, but they also know I have never been late.

I welcome all advice & suggeations.

[Anonymous]

I think a reaffirmation must occur during the bankruptcy.   I don't understand  why you would want to reaffirm if you are moving. 

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[BungalowMo]

I want to sell my current home & buy another up there.

I have nothing in my credit file, so the reaffirmation should get them to start reporting again.  I need some kind of fico score & this would be 8 years of perfect payments with them.

[MileHigh96]

Unfortunately, the only time that you can reaffirm a debt in BK is AFTER your 341 meeting of creditors and BEFORE the discharge. Once the BK7 has been discharged, you can no longer reaffirm a debt.

That comes directly from my BK attorney and the mortgage lender confirmed it. Sorry.

[MileHigh96]

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@BungalowMo wrote:

I want to sell my current home & buy another up there.

I have nothing in my credit file, so the reaffirmation should get them to start reporting again.  I need some kind of fico score & this would be 8 years of perfect payments with them.

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One thing you can do is request your payment record from your mortgage lender that you have been still paying since your discarge.  My attorney had a specific name for it but I don't recall off the top of my head what she said it was, but that payment record can be submitted as proof of payment to any prospective mortgage lender and that will show that you have been paying and that it's all in good standing.

In the meantime, if you have actually no reporting trade lines, you really should apply for a card or two so you can start building up a credit history and a FICO score.

[BungalowMo]

Thanks for this!  I just sent an email to my attorney asking how to proceed with this.  I let them know that I want to move and get a place up there. 

I can see my payment history on their site, and can likely print that out. I also have the payments shown on my personal banking statements. This is all if my mortgage holder has issue sending this to my atty.

Do you think my atty would charge me more for this assistance so long after the discharge?  Or do they usually consider follow ups, even a year+ later as part of the overall fee for bk?

Lastly, to be honest, I really don't want to app for anything, as this move could likely be happening within the next couple months.

I wonder if, just for this purpose, I asked my sis to add me as an AU on one of her oldest cards?  Thoughts?

[DaveInAZ]

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@BungalowMo wrote:

Thanks for this!  I just sent an email to my attorney asking how to proceed with this.  I let them know that I want to move and get a place up there. 

I can see my payment history on their site, and can likely print that out. I also have the payments shown on my personal banking statements. This is all if my mortgage holder has issue sending this to my atty.

Do you think my atty would charge me more for this assistance so long after the discharge?  Or do they usually consider follow ups, even a year+ later as part of the overall fee for bk?

Lastly, to be honest, I really don't want to app for anything, as this move could likely be happening within the next couple months.

I wonder if, just for this purpose, I asked my sis to add me as an AU on one of her oldest cards?  Thoughts?

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Yes, that would be a good move to get added as an AU, but consider applying for a Secured Credit card, it's safer than using debit or carrying a bunch of cash, I recommend a Bank of America secured card.

And the only way to reaffirm your mortgage after discharge is to file to re-open your BK case. Your attorney is likely to strongly oppose this, and you should get in writing from your mortgage lender that they would not oppose it. But I really feel it would not be worth it, rebuilding your credit is the better way.

I filed BK in 2010 and told my prospective attorney that I wanted to reaffirm my mortgage as I could afford the payments and very much liked the home. When the attorney said he doesn't allow clients to reaffirm any debt I told him "Well I guess I need to find another attorney".He quickly changed his tune and said OK. But I didn't know anything about BK or reaffirming debt, that's why I paid big bucks to an attorney. Well, he pulled a fast one and when the bank sent a reaffirmation agreement he never sent it to me or told me anything about it. I didn't realize anything was up until after my discharge and called the bank to resume auto draft payments and they told me No, you didn't reaffirm the mortgage and it was discharged, so we can only accept payments you voluntarily send to us, we can't take it from your bank account, that can be considered an attempt to collect a debt discharged in BK.

I was so mad I filed a complaint with the state bar against the attorney, and filed on my own to re-open my BK. But the bank refused to let me re-open the BK and reaffirm. So, 11 years later I still mail my mortgage payment check, and have never been late before, during & after BK. 

[FireMedic1]

If you sell your house and get financed for the new house with the same lender. Then they have to report and the reaffirmed house missing on your report will just stay in the background. @DaveInAZ . Now. My question for the mortgage experts. If a reaffirmed house not reporting sells and the loan is closed. Does that report as closed? Never seen that come up on here yet.