Feb.26,Please help us, or tell me where to go in the state of Georgia for help.

I bought a home three years ago and now am in trouble because I am about to lose it. My husband was laid off 7 months ago and we were advised to file bankruptcy and involve everything but our house and car.

We had a lawyer but we really did not understand what this would mean. We turned truck, car, and other goods in but kept one car and the house. I am in school at this time and will be for the next year. We were told not to pay payments by our lawyer until the bankruptcy was finished.

Our payments are $507 amonth and we were told by the Chase Manhatten Mortgage to pay $3,000 in September to catch us up, this was after not paying a payment for 4 months.We paid the fee, not knowing what it was for but they threatened to forclose if we didn't.

You could never get anyone on the phone when we called and they do not return messages. We never got any written bill or statement so they only thing I have to prove this is a cancelled check.

Since that time we have had a house payment returned. Our lawyer said it was because we had filed bankruptcy and it had not been released, but the house was not supposed to be in the filing.

They do not communicate with us in any way except now they say we owe them $3,321 or we will be forclosed on by March 1. We again have asked for a statement because we do not know how we could owe this much.

Please help us. It doesn't matter if we pay this bill, we may still be in the same shape in another 4 months. Please tell me where to go to get help.

We are going to lose our home if we don't keep paying them whatever they say we owe, with late charges added, and we can't get them to give us a statement
so we can see what is happening.

Since reporting them to the MBA,I have gotten a reply from Chase Manhatten Mortgage.

It seems that even though we were not allowed to pay payments until January 13, when our house was relieved from the bankruptcy (we were not notified and had recieved no information on this until February 22), the matter was turned over to a lawyer who until this time has charged $1,140.17.

We made repeated calls to find out if we could send payments to them. None of these calls were answered. From what Mr. Steve Stobel (ChaseManResolutions)tells me now, the amount for the last 6 months has now become $4,551.48, with lawyers fees and late fees.

This is after no communication from them, you could not reach them by phone for any response to our pleas to get the amount owed.

I had written another check in December to pay something on the loan, but a house payment was refused. I was just going to send a $1,000 because I have no idea how much to send.

Family members are willing and able to help, but from what Steve Stobel says we now have to pay $4,551.48 or the lawyer will again begin his work for exhorbitant fees, this is while they have accepted $3,037.68 in September, and then did not correspond with us until February 22, 2003.

This seems to be a method of taking advantage of a situation by just not communicating so the bill cannot be paid, then adding such huge fees that we cannot catch up.

At this time, because of the actions (or inactions) of the mortgage company we are charged $1,551 over the $3,042 house payments with the threat that even if we start paying payments, if we do not pay this fee in full, they will continue to let the lawyer increase our fees by filing for forclosure.

This is not a case of not wanting to pay, we have wanted to pay since we paid $3,037.68 in September. This is the way mortgage companies take homes from people who are trying to keep their home.

If they were going to do this, why did they take our $3,037.68 in the first place. At least that could have been applied to another home. We are willing to catch up on past payments, but that doesn't seem to be what they want.

Caron
Hephzibah, Georgia
U.S.A.

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