Advice needed in North GA (real estate, foreclosure, mortgage broker)

[WCO1964]

Okay.

This is going to be a rather exhaustive story, but here goes.

We bought our home in 2006. Everything was going swimmingly until I first needed to do a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy (December 2010) and then, roughly two years later, I lost my job. I became employed again inside of a year's time, and am employed at this same company today. During the roughly 13-month period of time that I was unemployed, our mortgage payments fell behind. Since becoming re-employed until now, we have tried to refinance through our lender's Loan Modification program and were turned down because, around that time, my wife began working full time and we could not justify the need for this modification. We explained that there was this year-long period of time which resulted in all of our bills, including our mortgage payments, falling behind, all to no avail. We went to the HomeSafe Georgia program and were turned down for that as well - presumably because of our dual-income household.

Since that time, my wife returned to graduate school and went from a full-time employee to working a fraction of the hours she once did. Over the past year or so, we have paid one mortgage payment a month, and for the past several months, have paid a little bit over our mortgage payment. We were told, by the lender, that this overage would get deposited into an "unapplied funds" account and, once that amount equaled one of the payments that had fallen behind, that month's payment would be paid. We would keep doing this - however long it took - until all of the payments in arrears - a total of six payments - had been caught up. This worked better than the offer BofA offered us - to pay back all payments in arrears by tacking the back amount onto our existing monthly mortgage payment. This would have made my mortgage payment over double what it is, so this was not an option.

In our mail this week was a check from Bank of America - it equaled the most recent mortgage payment we made. They sent it back because it does not equal the amount we are in arrears. Bank of America has now decided to sidestep what they told us and have instead told us they will be instituting the foreclosure process. They have not formally filed this process, but have had their lawyer send us a letter stating they represent BofA. Needless to say, my wife has had her stomach tied up in knots, crying throughout the weekend. It's been hell. My children have no business being told why Mommy has such strain on her face, so we have had to proceed as if all is fine on the homefront.

We will borrow whatever amount we need in order to reinstate our loan and bring our mortgage current as this is our home. It is the home we have raised our daughters in. It is the home we have worked hard to foster our 15-year marriage. It is the home I have worked hard to keep in shape. It is a touchstone for us.

I would like to know whether or not my stepfather - a retired forensic pathologist who owns his Central California home outright, and who has a rather sizable IRA he and his wife live off of - could cosign on a refinance for me with some other lender - possibly FHA? I don't want any sort of "cash out" refinance. The value of the homes in my neighborhood have gone up. Other people have moved to do this. I wanted to follow suit. I also, as soon as humanely possible, want to have my mortgage through a company other than BofA. In my opinion, they have stopped being advocates for their customers, if they ever were to begin with.

We are good people. We have gone through difficult times but work hard to raise our children and see to our obligations. The bankruptcy was due to some medical bills that resulted after the birth of my second child. Those bills started a cascade of financial issues. Nothing new to report. In order to see to the medical bills, I had to use my credit cards. Everything fell behind and I was getting phone calls morning, noon and night from my creditors threatening me with a whole host of things if I did not pay all of them satisfactorily. Because of the emotional toll this took on me and my family, I opted for a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. This was seven years ago and it has long since been discharged.

We do not want to do a "cash out" refinance. We only want to pay the amount in arrears with the current lender, and refinance with another one. Because of my payment history with my lender, and because my payments are not current, I couldn't possibly get BofA to refinance my mortgage, and they have already turned us down for a loan modification. My payments on my mortgage fell behind not because I just decided I did not want to pay it. They fell behind because I was unemployed for that period of time.

I work my hind end off to support my family. Society often writes people who fell behind on their mortgage off as degenerates. I am not a degenerate. I work my hind end off to support my family. My mortgage fell behind during a difficult period of time that is four years in the past.

I would like some advice as to the questions I have posed here. If you have anything cruel or harsh or scolding to say to me, please know I have beaten myself up just fine for the past several months and do not need your help in doing this further.

I just want advice. That is all.

Thanks,

Scott

[English Ivy]

You might want to try speaking with a local mortgage broker to gain a better understanding of your options, and the consequences of each option.

Another idea is to post this in the real estate forum and mention the state of Ga in your title.

Best wishes.