Category Archives: Real estate

Bankruptcy court litigation favors contractors over homeowners

By doug | Published: July 23, 2012

If you hire a contractor to remodel your house, and the workers show up on expensive Harley-Davidson motorcycles, that’s a good sign that the company is solvent enough to finish the job, right? Wrong. And it led to a long bout of ultimately losing litigation when the contractors filed for personal bankruptcy. Massachusetts chief bankruptcy […]

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Massachusetts bankruptcy court slices claim based on usury laws

By doug | Published: June 4, 2012

Since bankruptcy lawyers work all day in the world of debt and shady loans, you would think they would come across violations of the usury laws, concerning illegally high interest rates, all the time. You would be wrong. For some reason, although millions of people file bankruptcy every year, invocations of state usury law is […]

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Massachusetts bankruptcy court says vacation condo in Maine qualifies for homestead exemption

By doug | Published: May 24, 2012

Here’s a twist that you don’t see everyday in the bankruptcy courts: a Massachusetts couple who filed a bankruptcy case were allowed claim a homestead exemption to protect their vacation condo in York Beach, Maine. Massachusetts bankruptcy judge Melvin Hoffman ruled that the federal homestead exemption — found at 11 USC section 522 (d) (1) […]

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More problems with homes, trusts, Massachusetts homesteads, and bankruptcy

By doug | Published: March 16, 2012

Right after writing about the Stallworth case and the dangers of putting houses into trusts before filing a bankruptcy case — and telling the story of a Massachusetts man who lost a lot of home equity in bankruptcy court that way — there comes another Massachusetts bankruptcy case involving, you guessed it, trusts and the […]

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Sharp eyed bankruptcy trustee invalidates a recorded mortgage

By doug | Published: March 15, 2012

A recent dispute between a bankruptcy trustee and Citi Mortgage that went to bankruptcy court in Boston shows just how sloppy the mortgage industry got during the heady days of the real estate boom in the mid-2000s. Bankruptcy trustee Marc DiGiacomo filed a motion to eliminate a mortgage on a debtor’s home because it wasn’t […]

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Selling a house while you are in bankruptcy

By doug | Published: March 13, 2012

What happens if you file a bankruptcy case, and then afterwards suddenly find the perfect buyer (i.e. one who can get financing and will actually go through with the purchase) for your home? A lot will depend on what chapter your case is filed under. If its a Chapter 7, like the majority of cases, […]

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Gimme shelter: finding a place to live after filing a bankruptcy case

By doug | Published: March 12, 2012

The advantages of filing for bankruptcy — a clean slate, no more annoying debt collectors or court appearances — would be worthless if bankruptcy meant you ended up sleeping in a gutter. Fortunately, that sort of ending is virtually unheard of. There are so many people filing recently in the Merrimack Valley that any stigma […]

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Snafu with bankruptcy costs Massachusetts debtor his home equity

By doug | Published: March 9, 2012

Massachusetts has a generous homestead exemption, which comes in handy when a homeowner needs to file a bankruptcy case. Typically, up to $500,000 can be declared “exempt,” bankruptcy lingo for “untouchable by the bankruptcy court or trustee.” But there are always exceptions, and one South Shore homeowner who filed bankruptcy in 2009 just found out […]

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Why you may be better off filing for bankruptcy than getting a loan modification

By doug | Published: January 18, 2012

Hoping to modify your mortgage this year? The last thing this blog is about is killing hope, but good luck with that. Why are mortgage modifications so hard to get, in Massachusetts and elsewhere? Because your mortgage servicer really doesn’t want you to succeed! Amazing, but true. And that proposition now has some academic backing, […]

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Do underwater mortgage liens survive Chapter 7 bankruptcy?

By doug | Published: November 22, 2011

Here is a good simple explanation from well – known bankruptcy attorney Cathy Moran on the status of underwater liens after a Chapter 7 case is filed: http://www.bankruptcymastery.com/how-long-can-underwater-lien-hold-its-breathe/ As she explains, the lien itself is still on the books after you file a bankruptcy case. Debtors may need to take additional action to deal with […]

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