Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Wisconsin

Unfortunately, you were obligated under the terms of the mortgage before you filed bankruptcy and remained responsible even afterwards in the sense that the bank can still foreclose your name off the title if your former wife defaults on mortgage obligations. Such an action would list your name on the lawsuit and require you to be served. While all of this is unchanged by bankruptcy, the bank rights which one can change by reaffirming are that it provides the bank with the additional option of pursuing a personal judgment against you (which could theoretically lead to wage garnishments, etc.). Reaffirmation also allows the bank to report the payment record after bankruptcy to the credit bureaus. Personal judgments on residential, owner occupied, first mortgages are rarely pursued by banks in any event, so you may not have much to worry about there. The credit reporting following your wife's reaffirmation can either be a good thing or a bad thing for you, depending upon how well your former wife does on keeping up on the payments. For second mortgages (as well as 3rd, 4th, etc. mortgages), the outcome is very different. Banks nearly always will pursue personal judgments on those, as well as wage garnishments, etc., because most second mortgages are worthless these days for any home which is already close to being upside down on the first mortgage, compared to the home's value. You should probably schedule a consultation with a bankruptcy lawyer to go over all of this. If you want to bring up the forgery issue, you will need to do it soon or "forever hold your peace," as a practical matter. My answer does not automatically make me your attorney, so you need to consult with your own attorney before acting upon any of my comments and may contact my office at 333 Main St, Racine, WI 53403, 262-633-3090, during business hours, or see me on the web at www.jayknixonlaw.com. Also see 25 years of my answers to consumer questions at http://www.lawguru.com/answers/atty_profile/view_attorney_profile/jknixon. Attorney answers may contain advertising materials.