If you received a discharge in bankruptcy then all obligations arising from pre-filing activities, including your mortgage liability, will have been extinguished. This means you cannot be held liable for any costs or short-falls related to the mortgage on your residence. However, if you remain in the property you will be subject to future liability for such expenses as homeowners' association dues and taxes that accrue post-discharge. On a practical level, many of our clients remain in their homes for some time after discharge, even while the foreclosure action continues. It is important to remember that even if you have no residual liability following your bankruptcy, the foreclosure action will continue.

Answer Applies to: Illinois
Replied: 12/22/2011

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Did you reaffirm your mortgage in your bankruptcy? If you did, then you are legally responsible for that loan after the bankruptcy is over. If you did not, then the amount of the mortgage would have been discharged in your bankruptcy and you would not be responsible for the deficiency amount due after the foreclosure.

Answer Applies to: Florida
Replied: 12/14/2011

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The only suit for foreclosure after a bankruptcy in which you did not reaffirm the mortgage would be a suit to confirm the foreclosure sale to establish an unsecured deficiency. If you reaffirmed then they can foreclose if you are in default.

Answer Applies to: Georgia
Replied: 12/14/2011

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Unless you signed and filed a Reaffirmation Agreement during your prior bankruptcy, a bank cannot sue you personally for the mortgage, as your liability is discharged without reaffirmation. If you want to keep your home and stop or prevent foreclosure, consider filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy relief.

Answer Applies to: Indiana
Replied: 12/14/2011

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Your question is not completely clear, but I will hazard an answer. Your BK discharged your debt on the home purchase loan. It sounds like you have moved out of the house. In order to gain clear title the lender must go through the foreclosure process. Due process requires that you be noticed at every step. If my assumptions are correct you have nothing to worry about.

Answer Applies to: Colorado
Replied: 12/14/2011

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You can't be held personally liable. So that's good. On the other hand, you would have to actively defend the foreclosure to have any chance of keeping your house. It takes about a year or more to complete a foreclosure, so planning to move might be a good option for you.

Answer Applies to: Illinois
Replied: 12/14/2011

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See a lawyer now. They can't sue you. That debt was discharged in bankruptcy.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 12/13/2011

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After bankruptcy you no longer have personal liability for your mortgage. The lender, however, retains its security interest in the property and can foreclose if payments are not being made.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 12/13/2011

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In order to obtain possession of the home/collateral the creditor must foreclose. This does not mean you will owe any money.

Answer Applies to: Michigan
Replied: 12/13/2011

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You may have several options to help save your home, at least for a period of time. A foreclosure defense attorney might be able to assist you in mounting a defense to the foreclosure action. You also may be eligible for a loan modification to reduce your monthly payments to a more affordable amount. If you have just completed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you may be able to file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy in which your arrears can be repaid in a 3 - 5 year payment plan, and depending on your jurisdiction, you may be able to modify your loan in this process. An automatic-stay provision would apply where your foreclosure proceeding would be stalled for a period of time. Seek the guidance of experienced local counsel to help determine your best option based on your specific circumstances.

Answer Applies to: New York
Replied: 12/13/2011

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You can file for chapter 7 bankruptcy to discharge that debt.

Answer Applies to: New York
Replied: 12/13/2011

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Some mortgages require that you be sued in order to foreclose. If I understand the facts correctly, you already filed and now your home is getting foreclosed. If that is what happened, you are protected unless you reaffirmed the debt.

Answer Applies to: Texas
Replied: 12/13/2011

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Foreclosure is just a judicial process your bank is going through to regain possession of the property. The lawsuit is only the process and you are not financially responsible for the mortgage debt if you already received a discharge in your bankruptcy and did not reaffirm the mortgage. You can also look into doing a short sale or a deed in lieu of foreclosure if you want to keep the foreclosure judgment off your credit.

Answer Applies to: Florida
Replied: 12/13/2011

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You should contact the attorney who helped you with your bankruptcy, OR, if you did not use one, you might want to call one now. The mortgage debt is part of your bankruptcy discharge and they should not be contacting you or suing you.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 12/13/2011

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Did you file bankruptcy through an attorney? If so return to that attorney and tell them what's going on. It isn't too clear from your question what is really happening. Do you mean the lender has already foreclosed on the property and you are being sued for a deficiency by a second lender? That is not allowed after bankruptcy, so get yourself to your attorney. However if you mean the lender is foreclosing on the property that is a different story. The loan was secured by the home and if you stopped making payments on the loan, they have the right to foreclose on the property this is true even if you filed bankruptcy. If the lender already foreclosed on your home and is now suing to get you out of the home, that's an unlawful detainer (eviction) and your bankruptcy doesn't protect you from that. As you can see there are lots of nuances and it is best to consult with your prior bankruptcy attorney or someone who you can explain the situation fully to and ask questions of. Good Luck.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 12/12/2011

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If the debt was discharged in your bankruptcy, then you are not personally liable for it and you have a defense in bankruptcy court if they try to collect it from you. The mortgage company is only entitled to take the house back. If the debt was not discharged, you may be able to file a chapter 13 bankruptcy to deal with it, depending on when your last case was filed.

Answer Applies to: Minnesota
Replied: 12/12/2011

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Bankruptcy law prohibits a creditor form suing you after you receive a bankruptcy discharge for any deficiency claim relating to an unpaid mortgage. However, a creditor may sue to seek foreclosure if he is only trying to obtain an order to proceed against the collateral and foreclose on the home without seeking personal liability.

Answer Applies to: Texas
Replied: 12/12/2011

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If you file for bankruptcy and receive a discharge, you are no longer personally liable for the balance due under the mortgage. However, that does not mean that you are off the hook for payment of the mortgage, assuming you want to keep the house. If you want to stay in the house, you will need to pay your mortgage. So, if I understand your situation correctly, the bank is now seeking to foreclose on the mortgage to take possession of the house. Assuming you want to keep the house, your options are to seek a modification of the loan with the lender, file a case under Chapter 13 in order to have time to repay the mortgage arrears (you will not be permitted an additional discharge if you filed your previous case under Chapter 7 in the past 8 years or under Chapter 13 in the past 6 years), or refinance the mortgage with another lender.

Answer Applies to: Massachusetts
Replied: 12/12/2011

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There should be no foreclosure if you no longer have the house and if discharged in the former Bankruptcy the creditor cannot now sue you if they did not object at that time. It depends on how long ago the Bankruptcy was discharged . It may be possible to re-open it.

Answer Applies to: Georgia
Replied: 12/12/2011

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It must be for a second mortgage loan because you cannot be sued on the first mortgage if the lender foreclosed using the non-judicial trustee's sale procedure as in almost all foreclosures in California. If the second mortgage was not a purchase money loan (such as a line of credit or refinance) then you are liable for the second mortgage loan after the foreclosure by trustee's sale. You can file a bankruptcy case and discharge the debt related to the second mortgage loan like a credit card bill, personal loan or medical bill.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 12/12/2011

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If you filed bankruptcy prior to the foreclosure, then you won't owe any deficiency. The foreclosure at this point is just formality.

Answer Applies to: Colorado
Replied: 12/12/2011

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Did you reaffirm the house in bankruptcy? If not then you have no liability and should be able to walk away from the home.

Answer Applies to: Utah
Replied: 12/12/2011

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Depends on what you mean you are "being sued". If the lender is trying to foreclose to sell the property, the bank can do that as the lien did not go away in bankruptcy. If the lender is trying to obtain a money judgment against you as well, then the debt was discharged in bankruptcy and the lender cannot get a personal judgment.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 12/12/2011

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The bank is entitled to foreclose on the property. They cannot seek any money from you, however. You are protected by your bankruptcy discharge.

Answer Applies to: Colorado
Replied: 12/12/2011

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Foreclosure is really just an action by the bank to take possession of the property. If you filed bankruptcy and included the mortgage, then that debt has been discharge and you will not be responsible for any deficiency.

Answer Applies to: New Jersey
Replied: 12/12/2011

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It sounds like you made a really bad move - filing bankruptcy without a lawyer. When you file bankruptcy and own a home you are not going to keep, it gets foreclosed on. That should not be a surprise. Did you think you'd get to keep it without paying? Foreclosure is how the bank gets the property back.

Answer Applies to: Georgia
Replied: 12/12/2011

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You may want to consider filing for chapter 13 protection. While you would not be able to get a discharge at the end (assuming your chapter 7 was fairly recent) it could give you the space and time needed to get caught up on the amount you are behind on your mortgage. Contact a bankruptcy attorney in your area for more infomation on what options you might have. Good luck!

Answer Applies to: Oklahoma
Replied: 12/12/2011

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If it's your primary residence then you do not owe the deficiency in the state of California.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 12/12/2011

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You are protected as long as you didn't reaffirm the mortgage after you filed. The bank has the legal right to take back the property but as long as you didn't reaffirm the mortgage in your bankruptcy, then the bank cannot sue you for any deficiency claim once it takes title back on the property. The note was discharged as well as your legal liability.

Answer Applies to: Florida
Replied: 12/12/2011

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