the money pit and reaffirmation

[lawmansldy]

What is the name of your state?
mississippi...
my husband and I filed bankruptcy in 2000, and received discharge in 2001. we were in a small stupor at the hearing , as i am sure most ppl are, but i remember signing something for a stand in lawyer for ours. I believe it was a letter of intent to reaffirm for our mortgage, not an actual reaffirmation agreement. According to our mortgage company, who is still sending "informational account statements" by which we pay our monthly mortgage, they have no agreement. After several setbacks , we have become behind on the mortgage, and they have sent a letter of intent to forclose giving us 30 days to pay the balance due and fees etc. The house is in a downward spiralling neighborhood, in which we will probably never get equity out of it. Is there any way to find out for sure if we are responsible for this if we walk away now? And , if we do walk away, will we be unable to get a new mortgage loan down the road?

[JETX]

Originally Posted by lawmansldy

Is there any way to find out for sure if we are responsible for this if we walk away now?

Yep. Read your bankruptcy papers. However, it won't be a 'walkaway'... your affirmation makes you liable for the debt.

And , if we do walk away, will we be unable to get a new mortgage loan down the road?

Of course you will. However, it will be harder to get qualified for financing... and if you don't care what the interest rate is!!

[Ladynred]

If you did not sign a FORMAL reaffirmation agreement, which would have been filed with the BK court, then there is no 'agreement' whatsoever. The reaffirmation process is very specific, and a 'letter of intent' doesn't reaffirm anything. No reaffirmation means the debt was discharged and you have NO liability whatsoever if you walk away from it.

Get a copy of your bankrutpcy file either from PACER or from the BK court. If a reaff WAS filed, it should be in with the rest of your BK papers.

[JETX]

Originally Posted by Ladynred

If you did not sign a FORMAL reaffirmation agreement, which would have been filed with the BK court, then there is no 'agreement' whatsoever.

The OP doesn't KNOW what he/she signed!!!
It could have been an affirmation APPLICATION... and subsequently signed by the mortgagor.... or not.

[Ladynred]

Right... so you can't make the ASSUMPTION that they are liable as you did.

The OP needs to get his/her BK file from the courts. It never ceases to amaze me that people don't get or keep such a HUGELY important thing as their BK papers

[lawmansldy]

the only papers we received from the court were the official form 18 discharge of debtor papers. There is no list attached of debts included or excluded, no specification of a reaffirmation of any debt. ( but i do still have both copies ) We never received a copy of any kind of agreement , and I have called the mortgage company and requested a copy of the agreement , and they admit they have no reaffirmation agreement on file. Our attorney has since retired, and we were told that all his records were archived. We called the court to find out if we could get complete copies, but they said it might not include everything that we are looking for. ?? thanks for the input. will try pacer and BK court for complete copies.

[JETX]

Originally Posted by lawmansldy

the only papers we received from the court were the official form 18 discharge of debtor papers. There is no list attached of debts included or excluded, no specification of a reaffirmation of any debt. ( but i do still have both copies ) We never received a copy of any kind of agreement , and I have called the mortgage company and requested a copy of the agreement , and they admit they have no reaffirmation agreement on file. Our attorney has since retired, and we were told that all his records were archived. We called the court to find out if we could get complete copies, but they said it might not include everything that we are looking for. ?? thanks for the input. will try pacer and BK court for complete copies.

Okay, lets look at this thread... just to clarify LIR and my posts.

In your initial post, you said, "we were in a small stupor at the hearing , as i am sure most ppl are, but i remember signing something for a stand in lawyer for ours. I believe it was a letter of intent to reaffirm for our mortgage, not an actual reaffirmation agreement."
First, it is important to note that there normally isn't such a document as a 'letter of intent' for an affirmation. Either you sign an AFFIRMATION agreement and forward to the creditor or not. The creditor will usually then sign or decline. That is why I assumed you were really signing an affirmation agreement and didn't know if the creditor had accepted.
Further, your own admission that you were in a 'small stupor' and signed SOMETHING that might have been a reaffirmation (you seem to have been fairly knowledgable about THAT process) also supported my ASSUMPTION.
This is where LIR and I differed.... I KNOW the bankruptcy process and normal processes.

So, now that you have FINALLY confirmed that the bank admits "they have no reaffirmation agreement on file." changes my position 180 degrees.

Without an affirmation agreement signed by both parties, then your mortgage obligation very likely WAS included in the discharge. You will likely need the services of a local attorney to review the file and answer your NEW questions as to your ability to 'walkaway' without risk.