My mortgage was included in bankruptcy about 6 years ago and I never reaffirmed. Earlier this year I called Chase and they told me that my bankruptcy attorney would need to reopen the bankruptcy, and that they would not offer any incentives such as a lower rate or less due. However, I know the landscape has changed some the last 6 months and I'm thinking of asking my attorney to negotiate with them. I am wondering though if my lawyer reopens the bankruptcy, does this reset it on my credit report? It's been 6 years and "only" 4 more to go. I'd hate to have it refreshed for another 10 years. I am also wondering if anyone has any experience with negotiating down a mortgage as part of a reaffirmation. I'm paying 6% now and current rates are 4.5% and lower. I've looked at refinancing, but I hate paying all of the associated fees. Any help would be much appreciated!
Can you explain why you want to reaffirm? Are you sure you want to be held personally liable for the debt again, since you already went through the BK and had it discharged? From what I've heard, you'll be very unlikely to land better terms as part of your reaffirmation anyway.
Thanks for the response. My hope was to reaffirm and negotiate a lower interest rate as part of the process. If I refinance, it'll cost me a few thousand dollars, and I'd be held liable if I stopped paying, so I figured this wouldn't be any worse than that -- and certainly cheaper. But I talked with my bankruptcy attorney today and he said that they'd have to reopen the bankruptcy in order for me to reaffirm, and it has been way too long since the discharge for a judge to approve it. So I guess a reaffirmation is out.
