27 Feb Mortgage, Car Payments Not Reported After Bankruptcy
You’ve made your mortgage or car payments after bankruptcy. Your credit report says “zero payments made”. That’s as it should be, and it’s for your benefit. (Your credit will rebuild anyway. Here’s more, and here’s even more. But it’s not all roses.) Here’s why.
A mortgage consists of two parts, the personal obligation that you could be sued upon(wages garnished, bank accounts taken), and the separate lien on your home (recovery limited to foreclosure). The bankruptcy discharged the personal obligation, so themortgage lender cannot sue you for your wages or bank accounts. The bankruptcy did notaffect the lien, so it could still foreclose if youmissed payments.
Credit reports only report the personal obligations, which is zeroafter a bankruptcy discharge. You could have “reaffirmed” the mortgage debt before yougot your bankruptcy discharge, which wouldmean that the personal obligation was not discharged in bankruptcy. But, and this is a big BUT,if something else goes wrong financially after the bankruptcy then the lendder can sue you personally despite your bankruptcy. That would be a terrible situation.
I do not recommend reaffirmations for this reason. Things go wrong. You never expected to file a bankruptcy case in the first place. The benefit of not reaffirming – the true fresh start of bankruptcy – outweighs the modest, short term improvement in credit which will improve anyway over time. However, about 10% of the mortgage and car lenders require a reaffirmation before continuing to send monthly payment reminder statements. Be sure to mark your calendar to make the payments on your own. Some lenders also may refuse to refinance with you, so you might have to go to a new lender.
The only exception is where the proposed reaffirmation significantly improves the existing loan terms. If so, then go for it. It’s rare, but it’s a great place to be.

Latest posts by L. Jed Berliner, Western & Central Massachusetts Consumer Lawyer (see all)
- Attorney-Client Privilege, Work Product, in Bankruptcy - July 27, 2013
- Massachusetts Homesteads Cannot Be Attached - May 27, 2013
- Trustee Sells Home If Defective Mortgage - March 27, 2013
- Unlisted Debts Are Not Discharged in First Circuit - February 27, 2013
- Helpful Bankruptcy Videos - January 27, 2013
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.