What is the name of your state? OH
In 1992, my wife and I filed bankruptcy on a large sum of debt owed to the federal and state for unpaid taxes.
Back on 2/5/07, we applied for a mortgage on a new home and were approved. The same day we spoke with our loan officer about finalizing everything, he had asked us about liens against us for the same amounts of money that were involved in that 1992 bankruptcy. We explained to him there should be no liens as the debts were taken care of with the bankruptcy. He said, "this shouldn't be a problem then." Shortly after (1 week), we were called by the title company and scheduled the closing date for April 9th, 2007. We put our notice in to our apartment complex, purchased furniture from a family member moving out of state, a garage door opener, landscaping materials, and alot of other items we would need for a brand new home.
On April 6th, 3 days before closing, we received a call from our loan officer stating that they weren't going to be able to finance us due to the liens on our credit report. We again explained to him that those were taken care of through the bankruptcy. They requested we send them the court documents showing the years in question and the $ amounts of each. We did. On the day of the closing, they called and said this information wasn't enough, and they would need releases from the IRS in order to finalize the loan. I spent 6 hours playing phone-tag with the IRS, and finally received a fax of the releases for all the years in question. I forwarded this information to the mortgage company on April 10th. Again, this wasn't good enough for the under-writers. Now they needed releases for each of the state tax liens showing in pubic record. I spent another 4 hours on the phone with the state of Ohio tax department, only to find out they had sold my supposed debt to an attorney's office for collection. Keep in mind, these “debts” are from 1985, 86, 88, and 89 and we have never received any notification of their attempt to collect this debt. Also, we have received state refund checks every year since the bankruptcy. You would think they would keep that money if we genuinely owed it right? To add fuel to the fire, they have refused to release the liens unless I agree to pay them off.
As I’m sure you’ve guessed, here it is now 4 days before we must be out of our apartment, and we have no resolution. We also have no place to go.
My questions are:
1.) Can we be held responsible to pay for these 20-year old taxes even though they were discharged on the bankruptcy?
2.) Is there a statute of limitations on the state attempting to collect the supposed debt? If so, has it passed?
3.) Is there any legal recourse against the mortgage company for misleading us into our current situation? We were up front with them in the very beginning, but they wait until after loan documents have already been signed and 3 days before closing to ask documentation.
In 1992, my wife and I filed bankruptcy on a large sum of debt owed to the federal and state for unpaid taxes.
Back on 2/5/07, we applied for a mortgage on a new home and were approved. The same day we spoke with our loan officer about finalizing everything, he had asked us about liens against us for the same amounts of money that were involved in that 1992 bankruptcy. We explained to him there should be no liens as the debts were taken care of with the bankruptcy. He said, "this shouldn't be a problem then." Shortly after (1 week), we were called by the title company and scheduled the closing date for April 9th, 2007. We put our notice in to our apartment complex, purchased furniture from a family member moving out of state, a garage door opener, landscaping materials, and alot of other items we would need for a brand new home.
On April 6th, 3 days before closing, we received a call from our loan officer stating that they weren't going to be able to finance us due to the liens on our credit report. We again explained to him that those were taken care of through the bankruptcy. They requested we send them the court documents showing the years in question and the $ amounts of each. We did. On the day of the closing, they called and said this information wasn't enough, and they would need releases from the IRS in order to finalize the loan. I spent 6 hours playing phone-tag with the IRS, and finally received a fax of the releases for all the years in question. I forwarded this information to the mortgage company on April 10th. Again, this wasn't good enough for the under-writers. Now they needed releases for each of the state tax liens showing in pubic record. I spent another 4 hours on the phone with the state of Ohio tax department, only to find out they had sold my supposed debt to an attorney's office for collection. Keep in mind, these “debts” are from 1985, 86, 88, and 89 and we have never received any notification of their attempt to collect this debt. Also, we have received state refund checks every year since the bankruptcy. You would think they would keep that money if we genuinely owed it right? To add fuel to the fire, they have refused to release the liens unless I agree to pay them off.
As I’m sure you’ve guessed, here it is now 4 days before we must be out of our apartment, and we have no resolution. We also have no place to go.
My questions are:
1.) Can we be held responsible to pay for these 20-year old taxes even though they were discharged on the bankruptcy?
2.) Is there a statute of limitations on the state attempting to collect the supposed debt? If so, has it passed?
3.) Is there any legal recourse against the mortgage company for misleading us into our current situation? We were up front with them in the very beginning, but they wait until after loan documents have already been signed and 3 days before closing to ask documentation.
