Category Archives: Chapter 13

A new government foreclosure plan

By doug | Published: September 9, 2010

President Obama announced earlier this week yet another federal plan for dealing with the national surplus of foreclosures. This one could take effect as early as next week, and would allow the Federal Housing Administration to give refinanced loans backed by the government to strapped homeowners. For the lenders, the kicker is that they would […]

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We are not on the short list for foreclosure relief

By doug | Published: August 6, 2010

The Obama administration announced the second round of states that will be receiving foreclosure relief aid, and neither Massachusetts nor New Hampshire is on the list. Instead, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, and South Carolina will divvy up $600M in aid. The first round of states receiving aid, which were announced in June, were […]

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“How many of those crazy fees can they really tack on?”

By doug | Published: August 4, 2010

Here’s a bankruptcy situation that is all too common: The debtors, a married couple called the Shepards, filed a Chapter 13 case in Boston in part because they were behind on their mortgage. On their bankruptcy petition, they listed the debt to the mortgage company as $227,000. The mortgage company responded by filing a secured […]

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A little bankruptcy and mathematics

By doug | Published: July 29, 2010

Picture this scenario: You are thinking about bankruptcy because you haven’t paid your mortgage in many months and are now $36,000 in arrears, and the bank has begun the first steps to foreclosure. You think your house is worth about $230,000, and the payoff balance for the entire mortgage is $240,000. A little “under water,” […]

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Walking away from a house: not a sure thing?

By doug | Published: July 23, 2010

It’s no surprise that with the economy in the dumper and the housing market at a standstill, more and more people are trying to use bankruptcy as a means to get rid of their house, rather than trying to save it. From a green-eyeshade point of view, bailing out of a home that is seriously […]

Also posted in Bankruptcy News, Foreclosure | Comments closed

“My house is in foreclosure, when do I go to court?”

By doug | Published: July 13, 2010

“My house is in foreclosure, when do I do to court?” A reasonable question, but also a trick question. If you live in Massachusetts your house can be sold at a foreclosure auction without you ever seeing the inside of a courthouse. Indeed, most are. Massachusetts has a fairly lengthy, complicated foreclosure process, but it […]

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Loan Modifications on Underwater Homes: just delaying the inevitable?

By doug | Published: July 8, 2010

You’ve just spent months trying to get a loan modification on the mortgage for your house, and today you found out you got accepted into their program. Congratulations! Or maybe not. What if your house isn’t worth as much as the loan, even the modified loan? We call that being underwater. Blub. Blub. Blub. No […]

Also posted in Chapter 7, Foreclosure | Comments closed

How much disposable income should a debtor pay in to a Chapter 13 bankruptcy?

By doug | Published: July 8, 2010

One of the longstanding rules of Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code is that debtors seeking relief under this chapter must turn over all their “disposable income” — i.e., what’s left over after paying the basic bills — to a bankruptcy trustee every month for the length of their plan, which can run as long […]

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Responsible lending and bankruptcy

By doug | Published: June 10, 2010

I heard a commentator on CNBC mention a “left-wing group” called the Center for Responsible Lending today (they were talking about financial reform legislation pending in Congress), so I decided to check them out. I wondered if this group had any opinions on bankruptcy, and I found this post from last year on their website: […]

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When do Chapter 13 plan payments start?

By doug | Published: May 24, 2010

Debtors who file consumer bankruptcy cases under Chapter 13 are usually attempting to “dig themselves out of the hole” by making regular payments to a bankruptcy trustee, who, after deducting a commission, will distribute the funds to help pay creditors. Once these debtors file a case, or right before they intend to file, they may […]

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