When your file for bankruptcy, all of the debts, including your mortgage are listed in your bankruptcy. Even if you are keeping your house, you are still required to list your home and your mortgage in the bankruptcy.
WHY DID THEY STOP SENDING ME STATEMENTS?
The opening of a bankruptcy case puts the automatic stay in place which prevents creditors from collecting on a debt. Your mortgage company will stop sending you mortgage statements in order to ensure that they are not violating the automatic stay by collecting on a debt during your bankruptcy. The mortgage company risks violating the automatic stay when they send you a mortgage statement that requests that a payment be made on a debt that was listed in your bankruptcy. When you obtain your discharge, you are also discharged from your mortgage debt. As a result, the mortgage company will also not send you mortgage statements after your bankruptcy ends. Although your mortgage may be discharged, you still have to make the payments if you intend to keep your home.
WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOU ARE NOT RECEIVING A MORTGAGE STATEMENT?
If you intend to keep your home and make the payments on the home you may be able to get mortgage statements sent to you by writing a letter to the mortgage company that requests your mortgage statements. If you are in an open bankruptcy case then you will also need the signature of your bankruptcy attorney. Below is a sample of what you can write to the mortgage company.
Re: Authorization to Receive Monthly Statements
I/we “Name” am/was a debtor in bankruptcy case. I intend to continue to make the payments on my mortgage and wish to have monthly mortgage statements sent to me. I would like to request that “Name of Mortgage company” provide me monthly mortgage statements for the following loan “loan number”.
Make sure to sign and date the letter. Your mortgage may instead have a form that they may send for you to sign and date that will authorize you to receive your mortgage statements. Once the authorization is received, they will process your request and begin sending you mortgage statements.
Some mortgage companies may still refuse to send you mortgage statements. In addition to not sending you mortgage statements, they may block online access to your account. If you do not receive mortgage statements or have online access, it is important that you keep up to date on what is happening with your account. You may do the following:
1) Request a payment history from your mortgage company.
Requesting a payment history allows you to keep up to date with how your payments are being credited and if there is any discrepancy between payments made and payments being posted.
2) Set up a system that will track payments made to ensure that you have tracking for payments made on the account.
One method is to set up an automatic bill pay from your checking account that pays every month your mortgage. You will have a record for each payment through your checking account.
Keep in mind that that in most cases your mortgage will not be reaffirmed and therefore your payments will not appear on your credit report. To learn more about reaffirmations go to: Reaffirmation Agreements. In our next blog we will address a few options on resolving this issue on your credit report. To read further on this issue go to:My Credit Report Does Not Show Mortgage Payments After Bankruptcy