We borrowed $28,000 against our home (which we owned outright!!!) in March, 1999 from a company called The Money Store (AKA 1st Union; Wachovia; HomEq). It is now March and we owe $32,000!!! We filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which went through the courts in August, because The Money Store was threatening to foreclose on our mortgage.
We thought everything would be ok, all arrearages paid through the trustee, and making our regular monthly payments starting after the bankruptcy. However... in January of we received a letter from an attorneys office saying they were starting foreclosure proceedings. I called this office, and was told that The Money Store was refusing our payments, and the attorneys assistant had them on her desk.
After doing a deed search, she said "Oh, I see you've filed bankruptcy, apparently they weren't aware of that". I explained that they were.in fact, as soon as we got home from court, I called The Money Store, and was informed that I could only contact their bankruptcy division from now on. They told me our payment was due every 30 days, not a specific day of the month, and I sent payment out THAT DAY. (We no longer get monthly bills, they are not allowed to send them after bankruptcy).
After about 2 weeks of correspondence with this law office, she said she had talked to The Money Store, and to go ahead and send my payment for that month, (I had been holding it because I now didn't know what to do with it) and she was going to put through the payments they had forwarded on to her. I assumed everything was cleared up. Wrong again.
Today we received letters in the mail from the same law office. Apparently The Money Store has requested a motion to be released from the stay, stating that from the time we filed bankruptcy (August) up to now (March) they have received NO PAYMENTS!!! When I called the attorney AGAIN to find out what was going on, she said they filed because we had made no payment in the past 9 months. They have also tacked on interest charges, which are no longer supposed to accrue, as well as misc. Fees, home valuation fees, etc.
Well, when I first contacted my lawyer inquiring about bankruptcy, he immediately filed, and told me not to make anymore payments until the bankruptcy went through. That is exactly what I did. There is even a section in their request that says (A) The Subject Property (our home) is depreciating by reason of their continued use. Therefore The Money Store will suffer real and irreparable harm!!! WHAT??? (B) Our bad faith has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to The Money Store by not meeting our financial obligation.
What about the stroke I'm ready to have??? It has only been 6/12 months since our bankruptcy (not 9) and payments HAVE been made. I am now waiting to hear from their lawyer & mine to find out what is going on. We are almost to the point of giving up & just telling them to take the house. But why should we even be put into a position that we should be thinking & feeling like this. This is our home, and we are raising 2 children here. This was the BIGGEST mistake we have ever made!!!
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