Q: I am in chapter 13 and paying my mortgage and back arrears !
I have been in Chapter 13 for over a year, I have a new much paying job and I am now paying my mortgage and back arrears without missing or being late on payments. I am talking with the court to let me refinance my mortgage with another lender. The Mortgage broker has told me that my credit score is good and I am making enough money to do a refinance. My question is that I have checked out the mortgage broker and the company has been in business since 1992 and has a good reputation. If I get permission from the court to do the refinance does the back arrears get paid off too ? If I can do the refinance it will save me about $1,000 a month.
A: If you don't already have an experienced Chapter 13 attorney, then you need to get one. This is not the way to handle your case. You are NOT likely to get a refinance while in Bankruptcy and if the mortgage broker you spoke to told you that, then they are clueless or have some nefarious motivation. You need to seek a mortgage loan modification through the Bankruptcy Court's mortgage modification program, you are so far in over you head, you have no clue. Trying to represent yourself in Court is a bad idea. Not only are you emotionally involved, but you are not a trained attorney. You do not know the Court Rules, Rules of Evidence, case law, nor are you trained how to handle a legal case, especially if litigation is involved. However, if you do not retain counsel, and the opposing party does have counsel, you will could get slaughtered (figuratively speaking). Do not let geographic restrictions get in the way of retaining the best attorney. Pick the best attorney you can find and remember one rule: a good attorney is generally never cheap, and a cheap attorney is generally never good so don't choose based on price.
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