Copyright (c) 2008 Peter Baptiste
Is filing bankruptcy my only option for avoiding foreclosure? In some instances, the answer would be yes. When you have tried everything else – talking to your mortgage company, trying to negotiate a payment system, refinancing, and borrowing against the equity in your home – it may be time to think about filing bankruptcy.
If your debts are piling up and you have no where else to turn, this may be your only option if you want to keep your home. If you have been following the news lately, you cannot miss the fact that the economy is not in very good shape. More homeowners than ever are facing the cold, hard reality that foreclosure is imminent and bankruptcy may be their only answer.
Filing for bankruptcy relief can help you to save your home and keep you from literally being homeless.
There are different types of bankruptcy so you will have to know which one is right for your situation.
Before making the decision to consult with a mortgage assistance company, think about this – they will be charging a fee for telling you something that you probably can figure out on your own.
When filing bankruptcy, if you decide this is your only option, it will stay on your credit report for several years. However, if the creditors are hammering on your door, you already have black marks against your credit.
If you have tried everything else and you cannot possibly figure a way out of the mess that you are in, it may be time to file bankruptcy. Especially if you do not want to lose your home. Families with small children facing foreclosure may just be steps away from having no where to live. In this case and many others the only way they can continue to provide a home for their children and themselves is to file for bankruptcy relief.
When you file bankruptcy, Chapter 13 is the one most people choose because with the approval of the court, you are allowed to keep your home, your vehicle, and your personal belongings. This is extremely important especially if you have a family.
When you submit a proposal to the court of how you are going to get your debts straightened out, they will usually allow you to keep your primary assets. However, you must be able to make payments against the debt you owe, you must be employed and have enough income to make these payments.
This does not release you from making the payments that you owe on a regular basis either. The theory behind bankruptcy is to give you extra time to pay on the debt for which you are behind. The plan that is approved by the court must be adhered to for the bankruptcy to stay in effect.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy is another option if you want to get out from under the debt you have and start fresh. Although it does remain on your credit report, you can get relief from credit card debt, garnishments, medical bills, and usually personal loans.
Liquidation (selling) of your assets is one way Chapter 7 can help. However, if you do not have assets that you can get enough money from to pay off at least part of your debts, your appointed trustee will not worry about doing this. This is just for the non-exempt assets that you may have which many people do not even have enough to make it worthwhile. This would make the process of putting it up for sale more costly than what it would bring at sale.
You can file Chapter 7 and still be able to keep your home and your vehicle as long as you promise to make the payments. The main purpose of a Chapter 7 is to allow you to have relief from unsecured debts such as credit cards, which are the main debt for most people. Judgments are another debt. Payday loans and garnishments can drain you financially making it impossible for you to pay the bills that need to be paid to keep from losing your home and vehicle.
It is important that you understand the difference between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. The main difference is in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy you are asking the court to discharge your debts. Any property that you have that is not exempt from being collected can be taken and sold. With Chapter 13 you sit down, decide on a plan that will allow you to pay your creditors over a certain amount of time. The payments will depend on how much you make, the amount that you owe, and the property you own.
When filing bankruptcy although you may have an automatic stay to keep your creditors from seizing your home or your vehicle, you will need to talk to them and set up an agreement to pay what you owe. They can also go to the same court you have gone to and ask for relief from your automatic stay.
That is why to avoid losing your home to foreclosure, you need to work out a deal with the mortgage company that allows you to keep your home. Often times this can be done without filing for bankruptcy. However, if you want to play things safe go ahead and file.
Even when you file for bankruptcy relief, that does not excuse you from making payments on your home or car. The payments have to be made and the arrangements you make are for the past due amounts.
When you get ready to talk to your finance companies, make sure you have already written out a hardship letter. This explains to them how you got in the financial mess that you are in (whether it be through the loss of a job) or illness or death in your family. It also tells them that you what you are going to do to make sure this does not happen again.
As you can see there are various ways to try and save your home from foreclosure. The best way for you should be discussed with someone who is knowledgeable in this type of matter. Remember you are not an attorney and the last place to be when you find that out is in court.
Copyright (c) 2008 Peter Baptiste
Do you want to keep your home from going into foreclosure? Millions of people have foreclosed on homes across the nation. There are many reasons for this. There are ways to avoid foreclosure if you are serious about saving your home. These methods include loan reinstatement, forbearance, and a loan modification. The loan reinstatement is the most common way to save your home from foreclosure through the bank.
Many of the things you should consider when your home is going into foreclosure include: – The foreclosure process – Tips on Saving Your Home
The foreclosure process can take up to a year for some people. This is because there are many steps of the foreclosure process. Not every home forecloses in exactly the same amount of time. This process can take six months for some homes and a year for others.
When a foreclosure begins a bank will issue a statement of claim because you have missed at least three payments on your mortgage. Your ability to service the financing of your home will be questioned. The second phase of a foreclosure is when the statement of claim is served to you. The third step of a foreclosure is the bank demanding you sell the home. This will be stated inside of the statement of claim. The bank will give you time to try to sell the home. This timeframe can be up to six months. This period is usually called the redemption period. Toward the end of this period the fifth step is the Order of Sale. This documentation will be served to you as a homeowner. This will include a date when the bank is going to sell the home through an auction at the county courthouse in your local county. The final period is when the home is sold through the auction and you are required to move out of the home. This entire process can be very lengthy.
Some people are not serious about saving their home. Because of the length of time it takes before you will be legally removed from the home, some people live in the home for free right up until the day the home is sold at the auction. If you want to keep your home you should not let the home get past the third stage of the foreclosure process.
There are three primary methods you can save your home from foreclosure. These three methods include loan reinstatement, forbearance, and loan modification. If you are serious about keeping your home you should look at these three options and determine which method is right for you.
The forbearance agreement is a common way a homeowner can save their home. This agreement is made between the bank and the homeowner. The homeowner commonly has an emergency in the household that prevents them from making the monthly payments. They make an agreement with the bank to catch up on the arrearages by making larger monthly payments on the home loan until they are caught up. The bank will usually give the homeowner a six month period. This could double the payments in some cases and may not even be affordable for you. When you agree with the bank on a forbearance agreement it does not stop the foreclosure process. This puts the foreclosure on hold until you are entirely caught up with your payments. If you do not make the promised payments your home will go through with the foreclosure process.
A loan modification used to be the most common method of resolving the problems of foreclosure in the past. This method allows the lender to issue a new home loan agreement with you where all of the arrearages are added to the end of the loan. This would extend the life of the loan but the homeowner can continue making their payments as if they were never behind and everyone wins. This is not a common solution anymore and banks rarely agree to allowing a homeowner have a loan modification.
The loan reinstatement is the third way you can save your home from foreclosing. This method is when the lender has initiated the process of foreclosure and you find a way to pay back all of the missed payments, late fees, attorney costs, etc. These amounts must be paid back in full and zeroed out in order for it to be valid.
There are many positive sides to the loan reinstatement you might consider. These include being able to keep your home without the worry of losing it to a foreclosure. You are back at square one with your monthly mortgage payments. You are not behind and you don’t owe any additional money for late fees or anything else. This is the best method and banks are usually willing to accept this method if you can come up with the payments to catch up.
There is a downside to the loan reinstatement that you might want to consider. The downside is that if you have to borrow the money to be able to pay the bank all of the money you now owe someone else. This may be another monthly payment for you. If you are in the foreclosure process because your monthly payments are difficult to be able to afford you might have a hard time making payments on an additional loan too.
The loan reinstatement method of saving your home from a foreclosure is the most expensive way to save your home and be able to keep it. It is important to remember that if you take a loan out to save your home then you must give the bank the entire amount you owe them including the fees. Do not just pay back the monthly payments you missed or the home may continue to go into the foreclosure process. A bank will not work with you on the loan reinstatement unless you zero the balance out.
You should be sure you can afford to come up with all of the money in this process also. If you really cannot afford to do this you might be digging an even bigger hole than you expected. It may be inevitable that your home goes into foreclosure but you are denying that you really cannot afford it. It is important to know for sure that you really can afford to save your home through the loan reinstatement program.
A loan reinstatement is the most commonly accepted method of saving your home if the bank has started the foreclosure process. It isn’t common for banks to agree to other methods because they want their money. You should be sure that you really can afford your home if you can get out of the hole you are in before you decide to pay off the entire debt.