When the bankruptcy laws were reformed in 2005, one of the new requirements for some Chapter 7 cases was a “reaffirmation agreement.” A reaffirmation agreement is a document that is often filed in Chapter 7 cases. However, there are only certain circumstances when a Chapter 7 debtor should sign a reaffirmation agreement.

What is a reaffirmation agreement?

A reaffirmation agreement is a document that is signed by the debtor (the person who filed bankruptcy), the debtor’s attorney, and the representative for the creditor. The purpose of a reaffirmation agreement is to keep you (the debtor) liable for the debt you owe to that creditor, even though you are filing bankruptcy.

My mortgage company is saying I need to sign (or should have signed) a reaffirmation agreement for my mortgage/house.

If you have a house that you want to keep after your Chapter 7 case is filed, then you do not need to sign a reaffirmation agreement. The way the bankruptcy laws are written allows you to keep your house as long as you stay current on your monthly mortgage payments. In fact, in the Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and Durham) the bankruptcy Judges do not allow reaffirmation agreements to be signed on mortgages unless there is a substantial change in the terms of the loan that are benefiting the debtor.

So in other words, even if your mortgage company is pushing you to sign a reaffirmation agreement, unless they are agreeing to change the terms of the loan under the reaffirmation agreement by changing the interest rate or monthly payment, then you cannot sign a reaffirmation agreement on your house.